New or used: what 'personal and household effects' actually covers

Every rule about what belongs in a balikbayan box eventually rests on one phrase. The box is for personal and household effects. Senders meet that phrase constantly and rarely see it defined, which leaves an ordinary question sitting unanswered: whether a box of clearly used things counts, or whether the privilege quietly assumes everything inside is new.

CAO 01-2018 defines both halves of the phrase, and the definitions answer it in their opening words. This article explains those two definitions. It carries no value ceiling, no quantity threshold, and no prohibited list, because those are sourced, dated figures on what you can and can’t pack and what not to send home.

Two definitions, not one

The phrase is a pair. §3.21 defines Personal Effects and §3.15 defines Household Effects, and they cover different things.

One covers what a person uses: clothing, adornments, gadgets, toiletries. The other covers what a home is furnished with: furniture, dishes, linens, books. Both close on the same idea from different directions, personal use in the first and personal or family use in the second, and §4.2 requires that boxes “contain personal and household effects only”.

The three words that settle the second-hand question

“Whether new or used” sits at the front of §3.21, before any of the examples. Condition is not what the definition sorts on. A well-worn jacket and the same jacket bought that morning are both commodities for personal use, and the definition treats them identically.

That has a practical consequence worth stating plainly. Sending clothes the family already wore, shoes with wear on them, or a gadget that has been in use is not a defect in the box under this definition. It is the case the definition was written to include.

The same sentence sets the boundary

The clause that opens the definition also bounds it, and quoting only the first half misreads it. §3.21 reads “whether new or used, for personal use or consumption and not for commercial purposes”. Both halves are the definition.

So condition is not the test and purpose is. Used goods held for personal use sit inside the definition. Goods of any condition heading toward sale sit outside it, and second-hand stock is a well-known trade rather than an exception to that. §4.2 states the same thing in the operative language, requiring that the contents be personal and household effects only and neither in commercial quantities nor intended for barter, sale or for hire. Where quantity turns a personal box into a commercial one is a separate definition with its own aggregation rule, covered in why splitting a gift between cousins doesn’t split the test.

Two details in the lists that are easy to miss

“Electronic gadgets” is named in §3.21, inside the definition of personal effects. A phone or a tablet is therefore a personal effect by the CAO’s own example, which is a different question from whether a given device carries a separate import requirement of its own. Those sit on a different axis entirely and are treated in prohibited, restricted, regulated, with the sourced value thresholds on sending phones and gadgets through customs.

“Libraries” is named in §3.15. Books are usually thought of as gifts rather than as household furnishings, yet the definition files them with furniture, dishes and linens as things a household is equipped with.

Common questions

Can you send used clothes in a balikbayan box? CAO 01-2018 §3.21 defines personal effects as “commodities whether new or used, for personal use or consumption and not for commercial purposes, such as wearing apparel, personal adornments, electronic gadgets, toiletries, or similar items” (CAO master copy on customs.gov.ph, checked 2026-08-08). Wearing apparel is named in the list and condition is not a criterion in the definition. The limit in the same sentence is purpose: goods for personal use rather than for commercial purposes.

What does “personal and household effects” mean for a balikbayan box? It is two defined terms. §3.21 covers personal effects, being commodities whether new or used for personal use or consumption and not for commercial purposes, such as wearing apparel, personal adornments, electronic gadgets and toiletries. §3.15 covers household effects, being furniture, dishes, linens, libraries and similar household furnishings for personal use or family use (CAO master copy, checked 2026-08-08). §4.2 requires that a box contain personal and household effects only.

Are electronics personal effects under the customs rules? “Electronic gadgets” appears in the §3.21 list of personal effects in CAO 01-2018 (checked 2026-08-08), so a device for personal use falls inside that definition. That is separate from whether a particular item is subject to import regulation, which is a different mechanism under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and is decided by the type of good rather than by the personal-effects definition. The sourced value thresholds for gadgets are kept on the balikbayan box hub.

Does it matter whether the things in the box are new? Neither definition sorts on condition. §3.21 opens with “whether new or used” and §3.15 sets no condition at all (CAO master copy, checked 2026-08-08). What both carry instead is purpose: personal use or consumption in §3.21, personal or family use in §3.15, with “not for commercial purposes” stated in the first. Quantity is governed by a separate definition and is the more common way a box leaves the personal-effects character behind.

Where the sourced rules live

This article carries the two definitions and nothing that moves. The maintained, dated pages are here:

• What you can and can’t pack — the customs-governed contents and quantity rules, sourced.
• What not to send home — the restricted and high-risk items.
• What to send your parents — the sender’s list on the Gifts hub.
• Pasalubong vs. a Philippine summer — what physically survives the trip, which is a separate question from what the definitions cover.