How much is a balikbayan box from Singapore to the Philippines?

Jolly-B Box Express posts S$105 for a Medium sea box (22x22x21 in, up to 40 kg) to Metro Manila, S$115 to Luzon A and B, S$125 to Luzon C and D, S$140 to the Visayas, Cebu or Davao and S$170 to its hardports list, on a board headed "Effective: July 1st 2026" (jollyb-box.com/rates, checked 2026-10-19). Its Bee Box starts at S$75 to Metro Manila. LBC Express Singapore prices by calculator, and SpeedBox, AFreight and Metrobox quoted by booking form in the 2026-09-06 survey. The customs ceiling is ₱150,000 total FCA value per sender per calendar year (Bureau of Customs, CAO 01-2018 §4.2, checked 2026-08-30).

How long does a balikbayan box from Singapore take to arrive?

The Singapore couriers checked on 2026-10-19 post no fixed door-to-door sea window on their rate pages; the estimate comes with the booking and depends on the consolidation schedule and the Philippine destination region. Jolly-B Box Express marks Cebu and Davao as direct sailings and Cagayan de Oro and the hardports as via Manila on its sea board (jollyb-box.com/rates). The stage-by-stage timing is on the page on how long a balikbayan box takes.

Is there one fixed price for cargo from Singapore to the Philippines?

No single SGD figure fits every sender. The total is built from the box tier, pickup or drop-off, the Philippine destination region, and sea or air. On Jolly-B Box Express's own board the same Medium box is S$105 to Metro Manila and S$140 to the Visayas, a S$35 gap set by destination alone (derived from jollyb-box.com/rates, checked 2026-10-19). LBC Express Singapore computes its rate by size and destination. Same-day written quotes for one box, ordered by total door-to-door cost, show which line moves the price.

Can a balikbayan box be sent from Singapore through a kabayan cargo on a day off?

Box forwarding from Singapore runs through community cargo operators as well as larger couriers such as LBC Express Singapore, with drop-off or a scheduled pickup, and the choice changes the SGD figure before the box ships. Jolly-B Box Express posts a S$10 penalty for a pickup cancelled without one day's notice (jollyb-box.com/rates, checked 2026-10-19). The customs terms are the same for every operator: personal, non-commercial contents, and a duty-free ceiling of ₱150,000 total FCA value per sender per calendar year, availed up to three times (CAO 01-2018 §4.1 to §4.2).

Do Singapore box couriers post their rates online?

Some do. As of 2026-10-19, Jolly-B Box Express posts a full SGD sea board by box tier and Philippine region, headed "Effective: July 1st 2026" (jollyb-box.com/rates). LBC Express Singapore lists box dimensions and computes the rate by size and destination (lbcexpress.com/sg/sea-freight). In the 2026-09-06 survey, UMAC Express Cargo Singapore's posted sea board was dated "Effective August 08, 2022", and SpeedBox, AFreight and Metrobox quoted through a booking form.

Balikbayan box courier rates, Singapore to Philippines

Jolly-B Box Express posts S$105 for a Medium box (up to 40 kg) to Metro Manila, effective July 1, 2026 (jollyb-box.com/rates, checked 2026-10-19). The same box is S$140 to Visayas or Davao, on a sea-freight board headed “Effective: July 1st 2026” that lists the box at 22×22×21 in. The SGD lines in a quote appear in the next table, ahead of the customs ceiling.

The lines inside a Singapore → Philippines box quote Posted terms — see sources

Cost line	What the quote lists	Posted example or note
Box size tier	SGD price for the exact box by its dimensions	Jolly-B Box Express: one SGD price per tier with a posted weight limit (Medium 40 kg); LBC Express Singapore: computed by size and destination
Origin coverage	Pickup or drop-off, and any scheduled-pickup fee	Jolly-B posts a S$10 penalty for a pickup cancelled without one day's notice
Destination region	Metro Manila, provincial or island delivery	Jolly-B Medium: S$105 Metro Manila to S$170 hardports
Sea or air	Sea priced per box; air priced by weight bracket (5 kg to 25 kg)	Jolly-B posts its air board separately on the same page, headed Effective June 1st 2025
Transit time	Door-to-door estimate, in writing	Not posted on Jolly-B's sea board or LBC Singapore's sea-freight page (checked 2026-10-19)
Insurance / coverage	Whether contents are covered and the declared-value cap	Coverage of cash is a courier policy term. Separately, the Bureau of Customs lists currencies, checks, money orders and traveller's checks as not allowed in a balikbayan box (client.customs.gov.ph FAQ id=40, checked 2026-08-30)

Courier figures appear only where the courier posts them on its own site (jollyb-box.com/rates; lbcexpress.com/sg/sea-freight, checked 2026-10-19). This page is re-checked at least quarterly.

The duty-free ceiling is the one figure here that stays put whatever the courier. CAO 01-2018 counts it across each sender’s calendar year, whichever courier carries the boxes, and adds a separate cap on availments:

The customs ceiling — per sender, per calendar year Posted terms — see sources

Rule	Posted term	Source
Value ceiling	Total FCA value for all balikbayan boxes per sender in any calendar year must not exceed ₱150,000	CAO 01-2018 §4.2
Times per year	Privilege may be availed up to three (3) times in a calendar year	CAO 01-2018 §4.1
What counts as one availment	Boxes in one consolidated shipment covered by one master bill of lading or master air waybill count as one availment	CAO 01-2018 §4.6
De minimis interaction	A shipment above the ₱10,000 de minimis value is automatically one availment	CAO 01-2018 §4.1
Excess value	Any amount in excess of the allowable non-dutiable and non-taxable value is subject to the applicable duties and taxes	CAO 01-2018 §3.1

Bureau of Customs, CAO 01-2018 master copy on customs.gov.ph, checked 2026-08-30. FCA (Free Carrier) is the value basis §3.11 uses. This page is re-checked at least quarterly.

Three Jolly-B boxes sent in one year with ₱60,000 of FCA value in each come to ₱180,000, above the ₱150,000 ceiling, though no one box comes close to it. The three-availment cap runs alongside, so the value or the count can run out first. The exclusions that follow from both sit on what you can and can’t pack.

What actually drives the price

A Singapore box price adds up five lines, and they move separately:

Box tier. Jolly-B Box Express sets one SGD price per tier, each with a posted weight limit, from the Bee Box (20 kg) to the Family Up-sized (80 kg); LBC Express Singapore computes its rate by size and destination (jollyb-box.com/rates; lbcexpress.com/sg/sea-freight, both checked 2026-10-19).
Origin coverage. Singapore is a city-state, so pickup or drop-off and any scheduled-pickup fee move the SGD figure more than the pickup district does.
Destination region. Jolly-B’s Medium box is S$105 to Metro Manila, S$115 to Luzon A and B, S$125 to Luzon C and D, S$140 to the Visayas, Cebu, Davao or Cagayan de Oro, and S$170 to the hardports; Ifugao and Mt. Province are marked “NOT AVAILABLE”.
Sea or air. Sea is priced per box and air by weight bracket, on separate boards; Jolly-B’s air board, headed “Effective June 1st 2025”, runs from 5 kg to 25 kg.
Insurance and declared value. Coverage and its cap vary by courier, so the declared-value line differs between two quotes for one box. Cash coverage is a courier policy term. Packing cash has a published answer: the Bureau of Customs lists currencies, checks, money orders and traveller’s checks as not allowed in a balikbayan box (client.customs.gov.ph FAQ id=40, checked 2026-08-30). That list is BOC guidance on contents and is silent on courier coverage.

Because the total is those lines added up, one courier can be lower for a Metro Manila box and higher for a Mindanao box from the same Singapore pickup. Written SGD quotes for one box on the same day line the figures up.

What the Singapore couriers post

Singapore is one of the corridors where a kabayan forwarder posts a full rate board. LBC Express Singapore’s rate page is a calculator that lists box dimensions and no price (lbcexpress.com/sg/sea-freight, checked 2026-10-19), and SpeedBox, AFreight and Metrobox quoted by booking form in the 2026-09-06 survey. Jolly-B Box Express posts a complete SGD board on its own site, and it is the one corridor board carrying a current effective date (“Effective: July 1st 2026”; jollyb-box.com/rates, read 2026-10-19). Its sea-box tiers to Metro Manila:

Jolly-B Box Express — posted SGD sea-box tiers to Metro Manila (own site, 'Effective: July 1st 2026'; read from the courier's posted rate image 2026-10-19) Posted terms — see sources

Box tier (courier's naming; weight limit)	Posted SGD (to Metro Manila)
Bee Box (22×22×10.5 in; ≤20 kg)	S$75
Medium (22×22×21 in; ≤40 kg)	S$105
XL (30×22.5×22.5 in; ≤65 kg)	S$120
XXL (38×23×23 in; ≤70 kg)	S$125
Jumbo (42×23×23 in; ≤80 kg)	S$140
Family Up-sized (45×23.5×23.5 in; ≤80 kg)	S$155

One forwarder's own posted board, shown as evidence that a readable, dated SGD sea-box rate exists on this corridor and listed without ranking. These are the Metro Manila prices; the courier posts higher rows for Luzon, Visayas, Cebu, Davao and other regions, and a separate air per-kg board, on the same page. Figures were read from the courier's posted rate image, which shows older prices struck through beside the current ones; only the current figures are used. Source: jollyb-box.com/rates, effective July 1, 2026, read 2026-10-19.

In the 2026-09-06 survey, UMAC Express Cargo Singapore’s own site carried a sea board dated “Effective August 08, 2022”, so whether those figures still apply is one to confirm with the courier. A posted board still differs by destination region and can change.

How to read this

The SGD total for one box depends on the pickup arrangement, the destination province and which tier is booked. So this page carries Jolly-B’s dated board, the cost lines and the customs ceiling. Same-day written quotes for the same box, ordered by total door-to-door cost, show where two couriers part ways. The fixed, sourced figure is the Bureau of Customs annual value ceiling, kept current at least quarterly; it is the same for a box from Singapore, the US or anywhere else, and only the freight and the currency change.

For the US corridor and the same method, see courier rates US → Philippines. For the December deadlines on this route, see the Singapore Christmas 2026 cut-off dates. For the box-tier dimensions and weight limits the quotes are built on, see box weight & size limits by courier. For what is allowed inside, see what you can and can’t pack, and for sending a first box end to end, see the first-box checklist.