Gulf International Shipping ships cartons, parcels and suitcases from any Saudi city to Doha and the rest of Qatar, with a courier picking up at your home or shop and handing over at the recipient’s door. By truck through Salwa that takes a day to three from the Eastern Province, or two to four days out of Riyadh; by plane, a day or two. Prices are as small as the parcels: papers from SAR 83, a parcel up to 5 kg from SAR 92, a carton up to 30 kg in the shared truck from SAR 120, a suitcase from SAR 138 and any extra kilo from SAR 7.5.
This page is for anyone sending things to family or to themselves in Qatar, and for online stores selling to customers there: how to choose between an express parcel and a road carton, how to pack so the box does not arrive crushed, what must never go inside, and when a parcel attracts duty.
In short
- Prices: papers SAR 83 · parcel up to 5 kg SAR 92 · carton up to 30 kg SAR 120 · suitcase SAR 138 (starting prices)
- From Dammam: cartons and parcels up to 50 kg start from SAR 138
- By road: east one to three days, Riyadh two to four, Jeddah three to five working days
- By plane: a day or two to a door in Doha, urgent kilos from SAR 41
- Customs: a personal parcel valued at QAR 1,000 or less normally pays nothing, and there is no VAT
- Collection and delivery: from your home in every Saudi city to the door in Doha, Lusail, Al Rayyan, Al Wakrah and Al Khor
Route: your home → consolidation centre → Salwa → Abu Samra → recipient’s door · Time: 1–5 days by road or 24–48 hours by air · Contact: 0568829975
How much does it cost to ship a carton to Qatar?
The price depends on weight and on the kind of service: do you want the parcel to travel fast as a shipment of its own, or to ride in a shared road load that consolidates many customers’ cartons? Our starting prices undercut what rival carriers advertise; in each range the left number is where we begin and the right one is typical for heavier or farther cartons.
Note: Eastern Province cartons take one to three days by road, Riyadh cartons two to four, and Jeddah, Makkah and Taif cartons three to five working days; an air parcel takes a day or two.
Prices for other items sent with cartons
It can look odd that a 30 kg carton by road costs less than a 10 kg standalone parcel, but the reason is the service, not the weight: a standalone parcel is handled as a shipment in its own right with its own declaration and delivery, while a carton in a shared load splits the cost of the truck and the crossing with dozens of other cartons. Every city and item is listed in shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.
Standalone parcel or a carton in shared road freight?
The practical rule: if what you are sending is light and needed within two days, a standalone parcel is better. If you have more than two or three cartons of household things, shared road freight saves a great deal. Anyone moving a whole home to Qatar will find a better fit in furniture moving from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.
How to pack cartons for Qatar
Most cartons that arrive damaged were not damaged on the road; they left home poorly packed. The truck covers hundreds of kilometres, and in a shared load your carton sits between others above and below it, taking pressure from every side.
- 1Use a double-wall carton
thin cartons or used grocery boxes collapse under pressure, while double-wall boxes stand up to stacking. - 2Keep each carton under 30 kg
heavier cartons are hard to carry and split at the bottom; spread books and heavy kitchenware across several. - 3Heavy items at the bottom, gaps filled
empty space lets things shift and break, so fill it with paper or bubble wrap. - 4Wrap glass and bottles one by one
every glass piece is wrapped separately, and liquids are taped shut and sealed in a bag. - 5Tape in an H pattern
one strip along the centre seam and one along each edge, top and bottom. - 6Write name, number and contents
the recipient’s name, Qatari mobile and city on two faces of the carton, plus the carton number and a short contents list.
A list for every carton
Number your cartons (1 of 8, 2 of 8 and so on) and write what each number holds on a single sheet you send us. This list speeds up checks at the border and helps the recipient confirm everything arrived.
Volumetric weight: why a light carton may be charged as heavier
For urgent parcels and air freight, weight is not taken from the scale alone; it is compared with volumetric weight: length × width × height in centimetres ÷ 5,000. For example, a 60 × 40 × 40 cm carton of pillows and light toys weighs just 6 kg on the scale, but its volumetric weight is 60×40×40 ÷ 5,000 = 19.2 kg, so it is charged as 19.2 kg. That is why we suggest sending light, bulky items by shared road freight, where the carton is charged at its carton price rather than at air volumetric weight.
What must not go into cartons sent to Qatar?
Some things people drop into a carton without thinking are banned in Qatar, and one non-compliant carton can delay the whole shared load. The main prohibited items:
- E-cigarettes, e-shisha devices, heated tobacco and their refills
- Sweeka, snuff and other chewing tobacco
- Pork products and alcoholic drinks
- Weapons and their parts, ammunition and fireworks
- Narcotics, poppy seeds and cannabis
- Counterfeit goods and fake currency
- Jammers and unlicensed communication or surveillance devices
Items that need care
- Medicines: personal medicines are accepted with a prescription and in personal-use quantities, provided they contain no banned substances
- Food: commercially packaged food clears more easily than home-cooked or home-packed food
- Perfume: perfumes contain alcohol and may need special packing, so ask us before including them
- Cash and jewellery: a carton is the wrong place for them, and any money or valuables reaching QAR 50,000 have to be declared
- Batteries and devices: devices with batteries are usually fine by road and need prior confirmation for air
Is customs duty charged on personal parcels in Qatar?
A personal parcel valued at QAR 1,000 or less normally passes without duty according to Qatar’s customs authority (GAC), and no VAT is added because Qatar does not apply it. If the value exceeds that limit, or the quantity looks commercial, such as twenty pieces of the same item, the shipment is treated as goods and the usual 5% duty falls on whatever was made outside the Gulf.
Saudi-made products sent in commercial quantities are usually exempt with a GCC certificate of origin; details in goods shipping from Saudi Arabia to Qatar. Anyone moving used household belongings after relocating to Qatar for a first job benefits from a separate exemption, with its conditions explained in Qatar used household goods customs.
Declare the real value
Understating the value of a carton’s contents saves nothing; it can hold the shipment if a difference shows up on inspection, and it limits any compensation if you insured the shipment. Declare the value as it is.
Shipping online-store orders to Qatar
Many Saudi stores selling abayas, alcohol-free perfumes, accessories and homeware have customers in Doha, Al Wakrah and Lusail, but sending each order alone as an urgent parcel eats into the margin. Our answer is consolidation: we collect the week’s orders from your shop or warehouse, send them in a single road shipment with a commercial invoice and an order list, and then distribute them to customers’ addresses in Qatar or hand them over at one point, whichever suits you.
This way the store pays the carton or per-kg price of shared freight instead of a standalone parcel price for every order. We need the customers’ names, their Qatari mobile numbers and addresses, and a clear description and value for each order.
Where do we collect your cartons in Saudi Arabia?
We collect from homes, offices and shops in the following cities; cartons are then consolidated and head for the Salwa crossing:
Note: figures are rounded road distances that move with the route and pick-up point. The road itself is covered in land freight from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, and the city pages are shipping from Dammam to Qatar, shipping from Riyadh to Qatar and shipping from Jeddah to Qatar.
Air freight for parcels to Qatar
When a parcel is urgent, such as official papers, prescribed medicine or a gift for an occasion coming up, it flies to Hamad International Airport and reaches the door in 24 to 48 hours. The flight takes about 55 minutes from Dammam, about 1 hour 20 to 35 minutes from Riyadh and about 2 hours 25 minutes from Jeddah, and there are direct flights from Madinah. Urgent kilos start at SAR 41 with us; once an air shipment grows, it is priced per cubic metre from SAR 1,110. See also air freight from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.
Door delivery across Qatar
We deliver cartons in Doha, including Al Dafna, West Bay, The Pearl, Old Airport and Bin Mahmoud, in Lusail, Al Rayyan, Al Wakrah and Al Wukair, and in Al Khor, Al Dhakhira, Al Shamal, Umm Salal, Al Daayen, Al Shahaniya and Dukhan. So the courier reaches the door without repeated calls, send us with the shipment:
- The recipient’s name as on their QID and their Qatari mobile number
- The building, street and zone numbers shown on the blue address plate in Qatar
- The flat number and floor, or the house location on a map
- A convenient delivery time if the recipient works during the day
Steps to ship cartons and parcels to Qatar
- 1Send the carton count and weights
with the collection city and delivery city in Qatar, on WhatsApp 0568829975. - 2We confirm price and pick-up
shared road or urgent parcel, depending on weight and urgency. - 3Pack and number
as shown above, with a contents list for each carton. - 4Collection from your door
the courier arrives, weighs the cartons and gives you a receipt with the count. - 5Crossing and delivery
the cartons cross Salwa and Abu Samra and are delivered to the recipient, and we send you proof of delivery.
Common mistakes when shipping cartons to Qatar
- A carton with no name or number: if the label falls off, the carton is lost among dozens of identical ones
- Perfume or liquid not sealed: it leaks and spoils the rest of the contents, and possibly other people’s cartons
- Sending e-cigarettes “for personal use”: they are banned in Qatar even in small quantities
- Choosing urgent parcels for non-urgent things: you pay several times the road price for no reason
- Only a Saudi mobile for the recipient: the courier in Qatar needs a Qatari number to get in touch
Why Gulf International Shipping for your cartons?
Collection from home
In Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Tabuk, Madinah, Makkah and Taif.
Priced by service
We recommend shared road or urgent parcel based on what you actually need.
Consolidation for stores
Your week’s orders in one shipment instead of dozens of separate parcels.
Delivery to the door
Hand delivery across Qatar: Doha, Lusail, Al Wakrah, Al Rayyan, Al Khor and the smaller towns too.
Got cartons ready for Qatar?
Message 0568829975 with how many cartons, what they weigh, where you are and where they are going; you get a price and a pick-up slot back.
Related articles
- shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Qatar
- land freight from Saudi Arabia to Qatar
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- air freight from Saudi Arabia to Qatar
- shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Qatar
- Qatar used household goods customs
- our air freight service
- all shipping destinations from Saudi Arabia
