Ship my laptop home to the US from Mexico?

Question

I'm a US citizen and resident who will be traveling in Mexico later this month. The first half of the trip will be in a luxury rental in a beach town; the second half will be an "adventure travel" tour on sea kayaks in the Sea of Cortez. I'm flying in and out of Mexico from different airports.

I'd like to have my laptop computer with me for the first half of the trip, but not the second - I don't want it to get wet, don't want the weight, and we'll be off the grid anyway.

Would it be reasonable to ship it back to my home address? Are there customs issues I need to be aware of?

There are one or two similar questions, but don't seem to address high-value items like a laptop computer. And I would of course leave multiple backups of the data behind.

Answer 1

Go with a reputable company such as DHL, estafeta, or redpak, like many others have suggested. These companies procidr quotes online. Of course get insurance on it. Customs are not due when shipping from mexico to US, its usually the other ways around. The shipping company will tell you if there will be any custom fees though. They would be paid once in the states. DhL will bill you via mail. I can tell you though it will be expensive, paperwork sent to me was like 50 bucks. Also, packaging isnt usually available for purchase at these places like in the states. You would have to have purchased your own shipping box and tape prior to going to the shipping office cause thats another thing, they dont have pick up service.( this is true for 3 non-turist cities in mexico, hermosillo, culiacan and tijuana) So if you can leave the laptop at home, that would be your best choice if you want to save some time and money. Otherwise take ur packaging materials, expect to pay more than 500 pesos and ask the hotel reception for assistance if you dont speak spanish. One more thing the peso exchange rate is 15 havent seen it this high, you may want to exchange some pesos now. Its expected to get up to 16 in june of this year though if u want to take ur chances. Hope this info helps, have a safe trip :)