Books
My Experience Buying Books from BookXcess Malaysia and Shipping to the Philippines (Review)
Will Philippine Customs charge an additional fee? Does the "international delivery" option deliver door-to-door or end up at the post office? I couldn't find answers to my questions online so I decided to go ahead and try it myself: buy books online from BookXcess Malaysia and have them shipped to the Philippines.
Some of the best books my son has ever owned came from the Big Bad Wolf book caravans that were held annually for a couple of years pre-pandemic here in Cebu. Their reference books, in particular, are both interesting and beautifully illustrated and they’ve been very useful during our COVID-imposed Montessori homeschooling. It hasn’t been too hard to get my son interested in history, for example, because of his colorful, informative, and funny BBW-sourced sticker books on topics like the ancient Greeks, Vikings, and medieval life.
For info on how to order from BookXcess Malaysia when there are no online sales, please read on.
Now that the pandemic has put a stop to the Big Bad Wolf sales, I’ve been itching to order books online from BookXcess Malaysia. They’re the bookstore/company behind Big Bad Wolf and they have a website where you can order a lot of the same books that were sold during the book caravans. They accept international orders and even have promotions like free shipping to West Malaysia and flat shipping rates for delivery to Singapore and Brunei. For shipping to the Philippines, customers can choose expedited shipping by DHL or the cheaper “international delivery” option care of Aramex.
The books in the BookXcess website are really cheap! And the total price is reasonable even after adding the delivery fee. The only reason I was previously hesitant to buy from BookXcess was that the Philippine Customs and postal systems sometimes operate in mysterious ways and I didn’t want to have to pay unexpected charges that would make the total cost balloon and end up too expensive.
But after Googling for reviews and asking around for people’s personal experiences with buying from BookXcess and shipping to the Philippines — both of which yielded zero useful information about what would happen with Customs — I figured, what the heck, I might as well try it out myself.
What happened with my BookXcess Online order from Malaysia to the Philippines?
I decided to try ordering the Murderous Maths set of 10 books because they’ve been on my Shopee wishlist for a long time. On the BookXcess website, they are priced at ₱1,539.95.
To save on shipping, I chose international delivery (Aramex) over expedited (DHL).
I paid with PayPal and, including shipping, they cost a total of ₱2,232.22.
It’s not as cheap as I would have liked but still cheaper than if I had bought the books on Shopee, where they’re ₱2,400-₱2,500 excluding shipping.
I placed the order on January 24, and on the same day I got an email saying that the books were ready for shipping, with an Aramex tracking number provided so I could monitor their progress. Aramex picked up the books on January 25. They passed by Aramex’s Singapore sorting hub on the 27th and arrived in the Philippines a few days after.
(I held my breath and crossed my fingers at this point.)
Then, on February 5, I got a call from an Aramex kuya asking for landmarks to our house. They made it without incident!
I received my Murderous Maths book set 10 days after ordering without extra charges — yay!
The books were protected by several layers of bubble wrap. They came in their original box, which showed what BookXcess refers to as “shelf wear” — see pics below — but the books themselves were in excellent condition.
All in all, I’m quite happy with my purchase and look forward to ordering again soon.
Notes from my second order:
I ordered a children’s book and several sticker books on February 20, which was a Saturday. Unlike my first order, which was ready for shipping the same day, I got the shipping out email notification on February 22 (Monday). The package was delivered to our house on March 10, 2021 — 18 days after I placed my order. So…this one took a bit longer, but it wasn’t an emergency purchase or anything like that, so I was still quite happy with it. Just letting you guys know that their turnaround times might vary and to give yourself a healthy leeway between the day you order and the day you expect to need the books.
Notes from my third order:
I ordered several books again on March 27 (Saturday). I got a shipment notification on the afternoon of March 28 (Sunday). Based on the tracking history in Aramex, the package arrived in the shipping company’s sorting hub in Singapore on March 31 (Wednesday), after which there was no update whatsoever on the tracking information for over 9 days. I submitted an update request on April 8 (Thursday) and the confirmation email for that request said that somebody from the customer service team will contact me within 48 hours. No one ever did. There was, however, an update dated April 9 (Friday) in the tracking information on the Aramex website, saying that the package had been received in the Philippines. Another 5 days went by with no update in the tracking information, and then an update on April 14 said that the package had already left Singapore(!) which…duh. It would have had to leave Singapore before it arrived in the Philippines, wouldn’t it? Then there were four updates, all from the “Paranaque, Philippines” location, all saying “Shipment arrived at Aramex destination facility – will be updated once ready for collection/delivery.” I eventually received the package on April 17 (Saturday). That makes it exactly 21 days from the order date to the date I received the books. Still not really an absolute deal-breaker in terms of transit time, but the silence from Aramex when I followed up isn’t every encouraging. In the future, I would probably restrict purchases to books that I must absolutely have, or books that are a really, really good deal, and otherwise just wait for the Big Bad Wolf caravan to come back to Cebu (whenever that may be).
Frequently asked questions about buying from BookXcess and shipping to the Philippines
What is the BookXcess website?
Their website is here: https://www.bookxcessonline.com
The homepage features current promotions, bestsellers, and new arrivals. There’s a search bar where you can look for specific books or you can explore their titles by category.
Is BookXcess the same as Big Bad Wolf?
As far as I can tell, yes. BookXcess put together the Big Bad Wolf book caravans and their website still carries a lot of the books that I was so glad I bought during the last BBW sale here in Cebu.
Is BookXcess legit?
Well…I received what I ordered without any problems!
Why is BookXcess so cheap then?
They sell remaindered books — books that the publishers have too much stock of and want to move quickly. The books are all brand new but may show signs of “shelf wear” and/or marks of having being remaindered by the publisher.
How can we pay BookXcess online? Do they have a cash on delivery (COD) option?
I paid for my purchase with PayPal. They also say they accept credit and debit cards. I don’t think they offer cash on delivery.
Update: I paid for my third purchase with a BPI e-credit card and had no problem with it.
Does BookXcess deliver to the Philippines?
Yes! You can choose between the cheaper international delivery option (by Aramex) and the faster DHL.
I haven’t tried the DHL option so I can’t comment personally on it.
Aramex delivered my books to my home 10 days after I placed my order.
Does BookXcess offer free shipping to the Philippines?
Unfortunately not! For that reason, I’m jealous of people living in West Malaysia (who get free shipping with a purchase of 80 MYR) and Singapore and Brunei (who currently enjoy a flat shipping rate promotion).
Are the books delivered to the post office?
Thank God, no.
That was one of the things I was afraid of but my order was delivered right to my door.
How do we track our BookXcess purchase?
When you place your order, you will receive a confirmation email from BookXcess. Then they will email again when they’ve arranged shipment. In my case, since I chose international delivery, the second email gave me an Aramex tracking number.
What sort of books does BookXcess sell? What are their bestsellers?
Their bestselling fiction books include Marvel Avengers titles and Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and Magnus Chase series.
For nonfiction, cook books, design books, and a Star Wars crochet instruction book (!) seem to be a big hit.
Children’s book bestsellers include book sets, lots of titles for very young kids, and a bunch of Montessori books.
BookXcess has Montessori books??
Yes! Most are for really young kids — books on stuff like shapes and colors and feelings — but there’s one on the human body for kids 5 and up.
Are there Usborne books in BookXcess?
Omg, yes! A lot of the stuff in my sticker book wishlist are from Usborne. There’s also a picture book gift set, an art activity book, a Junior Illustrated Grammar & Punctuation, and lots of other wonderful stuff.
How about DK books?
Oh, yes! There’s stuff like How The Body Works, Help Your Kids With Science, Help Your Kids With English, a Maths sticker workbook, titles from the DK Eyewitness series (from Ancient Rome to the Periodic Table), and loads more.
Is BookXcess in Shopee?
No, which is why I took the risk and ordered directly from their website. I wish they’d set up their own official Shopee store! There are sellers in Shopee who seem to be reselling BookXcess titles but the books they offer are limited and (obviously) marked up.
Do they have the Bridgerton books?
Lol. Unfortunately, no, they don’t seem to have Julia Quinn’s books.
Do they have Shadow and Bone and the other books from the Grishaverse?
Also no, unfortunately. I have the ebooks but I’m also on the market for hard copies and I really hope BookXcess will stock Leigh Bardugo’s books soon. Then again, are the Grishaverse books likely to be remaindered at this point, with a Netflix series coming up? Probably not.
My BookXcess Wishlist
Aside from the books I’ve linked to above, my BookXcess wishlist also includes:
- Dinosaur Train My Library 4 Book Slipcase
- 20 Shakespeare Children’s Stories: The Complete Collection
- A Novel Journal: The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (a combination journal and twelve-story book!)
Also, I already have the ebooks but in case anyone’s interested, BookXcess has copies of Patrick Rothfuss’ The Slow Regard of Silent Things (but none of the main Kingkiller books) and Guy Gavriel Kay’s Children Of The Earth And Sky.
