From your door in any Saudi city to any address in Turkey, Gulf International Shipping moves your cartons, parcels and suitcases one of two ways: in a groupage container by sea, sailing from Jeddah Islamic Port to Mersin and the Istanbul ports, or by air to Istanbul Airport and on to the recipient’s door. A flown carton is handed over in Istanbul after 3–5 working days and in Ankara, İzmir, Bursa or Trabzon after 4–6; by sea it takes roughly 19–27 days to Mersin and 23–35 days to Istanbul from Jeddah, because cartons wait for the shared container to fill. Our prices open at SAR 110 when a parcel weighs no more than 5 kg, SAR 230 between 5 and 10 kg, and SAR 276 once a personal carton weighs 10 to 20 kg, or by the kilo at SAR 14 in the air and SAR 17 at sea.
Most people who ask us about cartons and parcels shipping to Turkey are not traders. They are a mother sending clothes and gifts to children studying in Istanbul, an employee whose contract has ended and who wants his bags to go ahead of him, a family sending things to relatives in Bursa or Gaziantep, or a student who needs books and papers before term starts. So this guide is written in their terms: what a carton costs, when it arrives, what must never go inside, and how to write a Turkish address so the parcel does not go astray.
In short
- Two ways to send: by air to Istanbul Airport, or by sea in a shared container from Jeddah Islamic Port
- Time by air: 3–5 working days to Istanbul, 4–6 days to Ankara, İzmir, Bursa and Trabzon
- Time by sea: about 19–27 days to Mersin and 23–35 days to Istanbul from Jeddah, longer from Riyadh and Dammam
- Prices: up to 5 kg: SAR 110+ · 5–10 kg: SAR 230+ · 10–20 kg carton: SAR 276+ · air: SAR 14+ a kilo
- Documents: from SAR 46, flown in a few days
- Important: no phones in the parcel; Turkey refuses them by post or courier, so they travel in your pocket
Route: your Saudi home → Jeddah port or the airport → Istanbul or Mersin → the recipient’s door in Turkey · Contact: 0568829975
Sea or air? Choosing how to send a carton to Turkey
Three things decide it: when the recipient needs the carton, how heavy it is and how big it is. Air freight is charged per kg from SAR 14, but on whichever is greater of actual and volumetric weight, so a large, light carton full of puffy clothes or toys can be billed at more than it really weighs. Sea freight is charged per kg from SAR 17 or per carton and does not penalise size in the same way, but it waits for the shared container to fill and then sails weekly.
Do not be surprised if air and sea come out close for a small, heavy carton such as a box of books. The real difference shows with large, light cartons and with bigger quantities, where sea becomes clearly cheaper. A quick rule of thumb:
Cartons and parcels shipping prices to Turkey
These are Gulf International Shipping starting prices, set 5–10% below the published rates of competing companies. The final price follows weighing and measuring the carton and confirming the recipient’s city in Turkey, and it excludes any duty or tax Turkish customs charges on new items.
Note: a flown parcel is delivered in Istanbul after 3–5 working days and in other big cities after 4–6; a groupage carton by sea needs roughly 19–27 days from Jeddah to Mersin and 23–35 to Istanbul, with two or three days more from Riyadh and Tabuk and three or four from Dammam.
Prices for things people often pack
How is a carton’s weight worked out for air freight?
On a plane a parcel pays for the bigger of two numbers: its scale weight or its volumetric weight. To get the second, multiply the three sides in centimetres together and divide by 6,000. Take a carton measuring 50, 45 and 40 cm: the product is 90,000, so it counts as 15 kg. Weigh it at 18 kg and you pay for 18, roughly SAR 252 at SAR 14 a kilo; fill it with light cushions so it weighs only 7 kg and you still pay for 15, not 7.
Cut the volumetric weight
Vacuum-pack clothes and blankets, choose a carton that fits its contents, and do not leave a big empty space on top. If you have large, light items, send them by sea and keep air for small, heavy ones.
Delivery times for cartons, by sending city
These approximate times run from collection at your home to delivery, and depend on the sailing or flight and on clearance in Turkey:
Flown parcels go out of Jeddah on direct services to Istanbul Airport (around 3 h 45 min), out of Riyadh on direct services to Sabiha Gökçen (around 4 h), out of Dammam and Madinah on daily direct flights, and out of Taif on direct flights as the airline timetable allows, or through Jeddah. Every sea container sails from Jeddah Islamic Port, so cartons from Riyadh and Dammam are trucked to Jeddah first.
Shipping suitcases, bags and students’ belongings to Turkey
A student starting university in Istanbul or Ankara, or an employee moving for work, carries what the ticket allows and then needs the rest. We collect locked suitcases and cartons from your home, weigh and photograph them, and send them to the student residence or a relative’s home. We advise students to fly certified documents and certificates, and to ship books and winter clothes by sea at least five weeks before term, because winters in Istanbul and Ankara are cold and call for clothes nobody needs in Saudi Arabia.
If the bags hold used personal belongings of someone with a residence permit or student visa, say so on the contents list and attach a passport copy. New items with receipts or in their original boxes are usually treated as imported goods and attract duty and VAT.
Phones and electronics in parcels: read this before you seal the box
Turkish rules keep mobile phones out of postal and courier parcels, even when duty would be paid. So never put a phone, new or used, inside a carton bound for Turkey, even as a gift; the traveller should carry it on the plane, bearing in mind that a foreign phone must be registered by IMEI, with a hefty fee, to keep working on Turkish networks after a set period.
- Laptops and tablets: send used ones in personal quantities, with brand and serial number on the list.
- Lithium batteries: loose batteries and power banks cannot fly in parcels.
- Screens: a “bandrol” fee may be charged when they enter Turkey.
Items that will get a Turkey-bound carton stopped
The main items refused in parcels for Turkey are weapons, weapon parts and ammunition, narcotics, explosives and fireworks, flammable aerosols, lighters, gas cylinders and paints, currency and securities, jewellery and precious stones, live or dried animals and plants and seeds, meat products, food and alcoholic drinks, medicines without a prescription, and drones. Quantities of perfume, cosmetics and cleaning products are restricted, and cosmetics are not sent in air parcels. On the Saudi side, antiquities and subsidised goods cannot be exported.
Dates, coffee and spices
Many people tuck dates, Arabic coffee or spices into a gift carton. Food is not allowed in household shipments to Turkey and may be confiscated or hold up the whole parcel. For a small gift, carry it in your luggage within the passenger allowance; commercial quantities have their own import procedure.
Turkish customs on cartons and parcels
Turkey distinguishes between used personal belongings and new goods. Used belongings of a returning Turkish citizen or a foreign resident settling in Turkey fall under the household-goods rules and their conditions, while new items and recently bought gifts pay customs duty by type and then 20% VAT. A duty-paid postal or express parcel is capped at 30 kg gross weight and must not be a commercial consignment. The recipient may be asked for their Turkish ID number, passport number or tax number to complete clearance.
If you run an online store selling to customers in Turkey, note that commercial parcels no longer go through a simplified procedure but through the normal import regime, so do not send them as “gifts”. Commercial shipping is covered in our guide to goods shipping from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, and returnees’ furniture in Turkey used household goods customs.
How to write a Turkish address so the parcel is not delayed
Turkish addresses follow a fixed order that delivery drivers know, and anything missing means calls back and forth and extra days. Ask the recipient to send their address with these parts, in Latin letters exactly as registered:
Packing a carton for a long trip
A carton bound for Turkey may be trucked to Jeddah, loaded into a container, unpacked at a consolidation warehouse in Turkey and then put on a delivery truck, so it passes through many hands. That is why you should:
- Use a new double-wall carton, not a vegetable box or a tired second-hand one.
- Give breakables a bubble-wrap jacket and sit them at the centre of the carton, clear of its walls.
- Fill gaps with paper or clothes so nothing shifts.
- Run wide tape along every seam and edge, top and bottom, not only the centre join.
- Mark two faces of the carton with the recipient’s name, mobile and city, and drop a copy of the address inside.
- List the contents of every carton and keep a photo of the list.
If you are short of time or packing materials, our crew comes to your home, packs, weighs, measures and photographs the cartons, and gives you the shipment number on the same visit.
Delivery across Turkey
We deliver cartons and parcels to the recipient’s door in every Turkish province: both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul, Bursa and Yalova, Sakarya and Sapanca, Kocaeli, Ankara and Konya, Mersin, Adana and Gaziantep, İzmir, Antalya and Alanya, and Trabzon and Uzungöl. Air parcels land in Istanbul first and are then distributed, while sea cargo is unloaded at the port closest to the recipient’s city. The courier calls the recipient before arriving to agree a time.
Sending a carton to Turkey in six steps
- 1Message us
How many cartons, roughly how heavy, where you are and where they are going in Turkey, on WhatsApp 0568829975. - 2Choose the method
We suggest air or sea depending on weight, size and timing, and send the price and shipping date. - 3Prepare the list and address
Contents list, a copy of your passport, and the recipient’s full address and mobile. - 4Collection from your home
We collect, weigh and measure the cartons, check them for prohibited items and give you the shipment number. - 5Shipping and updates
The parcel flies or joins the shared container, and we tell you the expected arrival date. - 6Clearance and handover
Once Turkish customs releases it, the driver phones ahead and hands the parcel over in person.
Ways to pay less for cartons to Turkey
- Pack into fewer, larger cartons rather than many small parcels; a 10–20 kg carton starts from SAR 276.
- Send large, light items by sea and small, heavy ones by air.
- Do not fill cartons with cheap things that cost about the same in Turkey.
- Combine your cartons with relatives’ cartons in one shipment to one address.
- Plan early so you are not forced into last-minute express air.
Common mistakes when sending parcels to Turkey
- Putting a phone in the carton: the parcel is stopped, as phones cannot enter Turkey by freight.
- An incomplete address: no neighbourhood, flat number, postcode or recipient mobile.
- Food and dates in the gift box: the parcel is delayed or the food confiscated.
- Labelling goods for sale as a “gift”: commercial parcels follow the normal import regime.
- A weak second-hand carton: it tears in the warehouse and the contents spill.
- New boxed items without warning the recipient: they face 20% VAT at delivery.
Do you also ship cars and furniture to Turkey?
Yes. Furniture travels on shared space by the cubic metre or in a dedicated container; see furniture moving from Saudi Arabia to Turkey. We ship cars to Turkey inside a closed container from Jeddah once they meet Turkish customs rules: a returning Turkish citizen may bring a car of three model years or less, registered to them for at least six months, paying ÖTV and VAT, while a foreign resident gets temporary entry only, for as long as the residence permit is valid. Car shipping starts from SAR 5,060.
What our parcel service to Turkey includes
Collection from home
In any Saudi city, with weighing, measuring and photos.
Air or sea
We pick the cheaper option for the volumetric weight and timing.
Checked before shipping
We make sure no phones or prohibited items are inside.
The right address
We check the Turkish address and the recipient’s mobile before dispatch.
Door delivery
In Istanbul, Bursa, Sapanca, Ankara and every province.
One number
Call or WhatsApp 0568829975 until delivery.
Price your cartons to Turkey
Tell us how many boxes, how heavy and which Turkish city, and you will get both the air and the sea figure.
Related articles on shipping to Turkey
- shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Turkey · air freight from Saudi Arabia to Turkey
- shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Turkey · sea freight from Saudi Arabia to Turkey
- By city: shipping from Riyadh to Turkey · shipping from Jeddah to Turkey · shipping from Madinah to Turkey · shipping from Taif to Turkey · shipping from Tabuk to Turkey
- air freight · customs clearance · all destinations
