A common question we get asked is whether we can get Amazon deliveries in Mexico (or more specifically, in Puerto Morelos).
The answer is a definitive Yes!
We used to order everything from Amazon when we lived in the US. Heck, when we remodeled our kitchen, I literally ordered a kitchen sink.
So when we moved to Mexico, we were unsure if we could still take advantage of the convenience of Amazon. Luckily, we’ve been able to, and it’s worked out great.
As I’m writing this post, it happens to be Amazon Prime Day
Amazon US and Amazon MX
We can actually order from Amazon US (amazon.com) and from Amazon Mexico (amazon.com.mx). We’ve ordered from both, and have had no problems with receiving shipments from either.
Each site has different items, so it’s best to search both sites and see who has what you’re looking for.
In addition, be sure to compare the prices, including shipping. Sometimes it’s cheaper to order the same item from the US, including shipping and import fees, as opposed to ordering from MX.
Refine Your Search
When searching on Amazon US, I find I have the best luck when refining my searches so that I look for products that Ship to Mexico and are Sold by Amazon.
Refine your search
If I can’t find what I’m looking for, then I may expand my search to other sellers. But this tends to be my default search criteria.
Shipping and Import Fees
When looking at a product on Amazon US, it will show a Price, and also the Shipping & Import Fees.
Shipping & Import Fees
Amazon will charge you up front what it expects the import fees (sometimes people call this the customs fee or duty) to be.
I have never had Amazon come back later and request additional import fees – but I have had them reimburse me some of the import fee – although usually it’s only a few pennies.
Every penny counts
Ships to Mexico – Maybe
Also – just because it says “Ship to Mexico”, that doesn’t mean that it will ship to us in Puerto Morelos. Looking at the individual product page, you might see “This item cannot be shipped to your selected location.” Bummer.
This item cannot be shipped to your selected location. Womp Womp.
Addressing
One of the other things that I’ve found is that the shipping address needs to be perfect. This may sound obvious to my US readers, but it’s not always the case here in Mexico.
The likelihood of your package being delivered is a combination of how it’s addressed, and how well the driver knows the area. We get Amazon deliveries via FexEx and DHL, as well as local last-mile carriers.
In other parts of Mexico, an address may be as simple as a street address and a number, and maybe a neighborhood, such as Avenida Politécnico 18, Colonia San Angel.
But here, it may look like Supermanzana 25, Manzana 28, Lote 4, Avenida Politécnico 18.
My understanding of the supermanzana/manzana/lote style of addressing is that a supermanzana is a group of blocks, a manzana is a block, and a lote is a lot within that block.
Luckily for us, our house has an actual address (such as Avenida Javier Rojo Gomez 77) as well as a Supermanzana/Manzana/Lote address (typically written with abbreviations such as SM6 M2 L77)
So, when we address packages for delivery, we ALWAYS include both:
Avenida Javier Rojo Gomez 77
SM6 M2 L77
77580
Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
Mexico
Using this style of addressing has worked out great for us, and when we address in this way, we always get our deliveries.
Note: this is NOT our actual address. But if you want to send us something (like some Speculoos Cookie Butter), drop me a line and I’ll share our actual address.
Wrap Up
Although we don’t order from Amazon as often as we used to when we lived in the US, we still do, and it’s super convenient.
We can’t get everything shipped here, but we’ve definitely been able to get what we need, and then some.
Photo Credits
- Yes Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
- Blue Door Photo by Concha Mayo on Unsplash
Just read your last three posts and they couldn’t have come at a better time! We’ve sold our house here in Austin… closing is on Oct 3 and we’re trying to get all our ducks in a row for moving to Akumal. We were issued Residente Temporal and will be driving our car with our two dogs through the crossing at Nuevo Laredo somewhere around Oct 9. We will be retracing your path. With us still operating our own business and NOT retired, we are dealing with the same kind of banking and mail forwarding situation. We bank with Chase as well and I’m going to check out your Mail Forwarder (be looking for that beer money!) Hope to meet you in a few months!
Thanks Laurie – glad our posts are helping!
That’s exciting news about your house sale and move down here – it can be a bit of a stressful time, but you can do it!
We’d love to meet when y’all get here – that would be great!
Can I order from Amazon us and ship it to Mexico?
Yes.
You can actually order from Amazon US (amazon.com) and from Amazon Mexico (amazon.com.mx). We’ve ordered from both, and have had no problems with receiving shipments from either to our house in Mexico.
Each site has different items, so it’s best to search both sites and see who has what you’re looking for.
In addition, be sure to compare the prices, including shipping. Sometimes it’s cheaper to order the same item from the US, including shipping and import fees, as opposed to ordering from MX.
Hi there,
What’s your experience with dropping off items at your building, and if youre not home to take it what happens? Like if you’re in an apartment building off a busy street.
Thanks very much! Great post!
We don’t have any experience with that. We live in a house, and we’re home most of the day, so someone is usually at home when the delivery driver arrives. Sorry.
Hola, I will be moving to Ajijic (Lake Chapala) in about 3 months. I am having difficulty in determining what is really possible & not possible. On this same website it said that most items CANNOT be shipped to Mexico by Amazon. They said 2/3 of the distributors don’t even bother to ship internationally. I am overwhelmed all the possibilities. Can you suggest websites or companies that I can use? I am vegetarian & can’t get a final answer on refrigerated & frozen items & whether the Mexican government allows this type of shipment. There is a ‘store front’ Amazon in Ajijic. Also, I have been told by many people that older movies which are not on Amazon Prime have to be recorded by me & brought to Mexico. Any help you could suggest would be greatly appreciated!!! Rob in Colorado (970-946-2495-C.
Hi Rob – I’m really not sure about shipping refrigerated or frozen items. That might be possible from amazon.com.mx. I doubt you’d be able to ship those items from amazon US though – it’s likely a customs issue.
and even if you could, you could have items sitting in customs for a period of time, which isn’t good for perishable items.
As far as movies – I guess it all depends. We use Amazon Prime, Netflix, and we also have a laptop running Kodi, so we can watch almost anything we want.
Hope this helps – and good luck!
Does anyone know who Amazon uses to deliver packages in Mexico? After just having been unable to receive a half-dozen packages from eBay in the Yucatan to either my residence or PO box, I’m leery of wasting my time again with Amazon, especially if they use Estafata, the most incompetent delivery service in the universe, worse than the Mexican Postal.
Most of our Amazon deliveries are either FedEx or DHL. Occasionally, we get another company – a last-mile company. I don’t think it’s Estafata. But the majority of the time, it’s FedEx or DHL for us.
I have no idea about other parts of Mexico.
I too am an American living in Mexico and I order from both Amazon.com and Amazon.mx
Last night Mexico City customs detained a simple DVD I ordered from Amazon.mx The DVD was an import from the U.S., but I already paid the import/shipping fees upon purchase. Why would they detain a non-hazardous item and how long will they hold the item?
Thanks,
-Daniel
No idea why that’s held up in customs Daniel. It could be due to geographic restrictions on movies, but that’s just a guess.
Hopefully your item gets released soon.
Hi. There was a comment about importing DVD Movies, and I saw a list on another site that lists DVDs as prohibited items. Could be copyright violations.
I’ll be in Mexico City for a couple weeks and was wondering if either of the Amazons would deliver to our hotel?
Thanks,
Henry
I’ve had good success using Amazon Prime In Mexico. However, how would one go about returning an item? Is this even possible in Mexico? Gracias.
It is possible. I’ve returned items to Amazon US and to Amazon MX. Same process as in the states – they give you a shipping label, and then you drop it off at the appropriate vendor (UPS, DHL, etc.)
I came across your article at the perfect time, Gary. We just moved to PM, living in the Colonia area and getting situated. We were avid Amazon users in the US (of course!) so it’s good to know we can get products here, too.
Welcome to Puerto Morelos Norm!
Hi, Gary! I’ve been living in Merida for 5 months. Since my arrival, my shopping for needed items has come to a halt. Soon after I got here, my daughter had to forward me a replacement phone (through my cell ins. plan). It was $100 on her end and $50 to pick it up–I was shocked!; fortunately, I was able to get my broken phone muled back to the states. Needless to say, I dropped the insurance and would buy a new phone locally. What product categories–if any–do you simply not buy from Amazon since you can usually find what you need here and/or what product category typically has such a high import fee that it’s not worth it? Thanks, Gary!
Hi Cindy,
The only ones I’ve found to be overly expensive are electronics.
But it just depends. If I’m buying anything that’s at all expensive, I’ll check a bunch of sites, including Amazon US, Amazon MX, Mercado Libra, Costco MX.
I’ll often do that on some lesser priced items as well.
It’s worth looking at the entire cost of an item – including shipping and duties.
If the person does not have an actual address and picks up from a store how should I address it?
Hi Margie – I’ve not done that before, so I don’t know. Maybe check with the store that you’re sending to?
HI, I am confused about Amazon Vs Amazon Prime. I’m moving to San Miguel de Allende next week, and wondering if I need to pay for Amazon Prime in either or both locations, US and Mexico, to order on Amazon, and what are the advantages if I were to do so.. can you give me any information and help? Thank you so much!
You don’t have to pay for Amazon Prime. One of the main benefits is faster shipping, which can be worthwhile if you order a lot.
Check out the Amazon website for all of the benefits you get from being a Prime member.
But you can certainly order, from either Amazon US or MX, without being a Prime member.
Im wondering is I order something from USA and could be delivery in mexico? im asking because of the pandemic how the processes and when I select location only show me mexico but what about cities do you drop it at home.
Yes. We frequently order from both Amazon US and from Amazon MX. And many of the items on Amazon MX are imported (it’ll say importacion on the page).
We’ve not seen any issues with deliveries due to the pandemic. We get deliveries to our house.
I just moved to San Miguel de Allende (SMA) from Austin, TX. Historically, a very frequent Amazon shopper. Now living in SMA, do I need to have a separate membership to Amazon.com.mx ?
You don’t need a separate Amazon Prime membership, but if you order a lot from Amazon MX, it may be worthwhile.
We’re frequent Amazon shoppers, so we have Amazon Prime for both US and for MX.
Very helpful, thank you!
What is your insight on delivery timeline if you’re ordering from Amazon US to ship to MX? Does it take longer to get through customs or do you find it’s pretty on par with the estimated delivery date Amazon gives at checkout?
The Amazon US delivery estimates are pretty accurate. Occasionally an extra day or two, but that’s it.
On an Amazon USA to Todos Santos, Baja California Sur shipment DHL has informed me that I owe MXN 766.91 import duty/tax and clearance fees. The invoice value is USD 42.99. This seems excessive especially since I already paid Amazon USD 9.91. The item is a car part. What recourse do I have?
Yea, that does seem excessive. The two fees combined are about 100% of the cost of the part!
I buy from Amazon US often, and have it shipped to MX. I’ve never had to pay import duties/taxes. That’s always been handled by Amazon.
When I order goods from other companies in the US – yes, I often have to pay duties/taxes. But I expect that. Some items (such as electronics) seem to have higher duties/taxes.
You might try contacting Amazon US customer service, and see if they can help.
Hi Gary, my husband and I are currently in Mexico looking to live here, we are unable to ship our personal household goods over using the Menaje de Casa as we would need to return to the embassy in the UK to complete the paperwork. it is our intention to use DHL to ship these items in can you advise if i select the personal use on the waybill will i still need to pay any taxes and duties on a Midi Hifi system?
Thanks
Hi Sue,
Sorry – I’m unsure of the exact taxes/duties, if any, that would be needed when receiving personal items.
If they’re used items, for personal use, under a certain value, my guess would be that there shouldn’t be any taxes or duties.
But, I haven’t done this, so I don’t have any personal experiences to draw from.
Sorry – wish I had a definitive answer for you. Good luck!
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the reply will give it a go and see what happens.
How do I get a delivery to mi Casa on “Calle sin Nombre”. I’ve heard that the DHL and Fedex drivers will use GPS coords and then phone when they’re in range. Sounds too good.
Good question, but I’m unsure. Maybe ask your neighbors how they do it?