Thread: Shipping from the US

Hi Neil,
Last thing I bought from the US was a new a/c compressor for my BMW , box was about 300 mm cube . Was about a year ago, can't remember the cost but was more expensive than larger packages from the UK. Was being sent by Fedex Tracking worked until it left the US , when I contacted Fedex when it hadn't arrived after a month they wouldn't talk to me , told me to go back to the seller who were no help. Took about 3 weeks of constantly calling Fedex ( think they got sick of me calling) I eventually found out there was import duty & GST to pay. This was not Fedex's fault but the fact they would not talk to me was . I have only ever had dealings with DHL about 8 years ago . arrived in Australia in reasonable time from the tracking it did the grand tour of Australia visiting almost every state & some of them twice, this was due to the fact they subcontracted the delivery to another small courier Co. Think they may be better now I see the DHL vans running around all the time.
Wayne

Hello Neil,

Since you are in Brisbane there may be a number of American car importers who bring cars across from the USA to Brisbane in shipping containers. There may be possibly some room for a piece of extra luggage?

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello again.

Just to be clear - I have had a lot of stuff shipped here from both the UK and USA through both DHL and FedEx and on the whole it has been fairly efficient although not cost less.

My worst experience was shipping some Rover parts from South Africa a few years ago that South African wouldn’t accept as personal luggage even though they were under the relevant maximum dimensions and weights. This ended up having to be sent airfreight from the terminal to be picked up at Qantas in Brisbane - the immediate cost was prohibitive but made worse by Qantas imposing a substantial daily holding fee while I got clearance from Customs. Here’s the rub - although the parts were below the GST and import duty thresholds the application had to go through an import broker - minimum fee $300 (took pity and charged me $150 to sign the forms since I did all the running around and paperwork). A very expensive lesson in there somewhere - and not likely to be repeated. I should have just left the parts at the check in counter in hindsight……

Anyway, in the present case the parts in question are nominally worth about AUD300 but the quoted DHL charge would drive that up to around AUD1200 landed at home. FedEx locally are asking for a multiple of that shipping charge which would run the landed cost up closer to AUD2000. At those rates it would likely be better to seek a local fabricator to run up something similar although I’d rather stick with the American product.

So, I’m still looking at viable options to get that shipping rate down a good bit while still not requiring the American vendor to go out of his way getting the parts out the door.

Cheers,

Neil

Originally Posted by S3ute

Hello again.

Just to be clear - I have had a lot of stuff shipped here from both the UK and USA through both DHL and FedEx and on the whole it has been fairly efficient although not cost less.

My worst experience was shipping some Rover parts from South Africa a few years ago that South African wouldn’t accept as personal luggage even though they were under the relevant maximum dimensions and weights. This ended up having to be sent airfreight from the terminal to be picked up at Qantas in Brisbane - the immediate cost was prohibitive but made worse by Qantas imposing a substantial daily holding fee while I got clearance from Customs. Here’s the rub - although the parts were below the GST and import duty thresholds the application had to go through an import broker - minimum fee $300 (took pity and charged me $150 to sign the forms since I did all the running around and paperwork). A very expensive lesson in there somewhere - and not likely to be repeated. I should have just left the parts at the check in counter in hindsight……

Anyway, in the present case the parts in question are nominally worth about AUD300 but the quoted DHL charge would drive that up to around AUD1200 landed at home. FedEx locally are asking for a multiple of that shipping charge which would run the landed cost up closer to AUD2000. At those rates it would likely be better to seek a local fabricator to run up something similar although I’d rather stick with the American product.

So, I’m still looking at viable options to get that shipping rate down a good bit while still not requiring the American vendor to go out of his way getting the parts out the door.

Cheers,

Neil

Wish I had some magic logistics source for you but will instead confirm use of DHL to good outcome most of the time, though have also experienced the custom duty owed call coming late, long after the package arrived in country a few times as well.

Although I live on the other end of the pond, I have the same problem.

I REALLY want goodyear wrangler MTR kevlar tyres. I have bought a set in 2016 and accidentally got the right ones deliverd but since they are not available in europe, not sure why. Buying them on ebay is possible but shipping adds $150 PER TYRE...

Anyway, I have been looking into it and there are LCL shippers (less than container load) that put something in a container for you like a pallet or box. There is also the USPS (united states postal service) which is WAY cheaper and does have limits on size and weight but a 235/85 R16 tyre would JUST fit that bill so perhaps your items could go that route as well. I have found USPS a LOT cheaper then the usual suspects like DHL and FedEx.

Not all sellers in the US like to use USPS though and some simply do not give you this option.

In any case, when using LCL or a service like this it is best when you provide the customs papers etc. to make life easier

Cheers and good luck!
-P

Originally Posted by S3ute

...........
My worst experience was shipping some Rover parts from South Africa a few years ago that South African wouldn’t accept as personal luggage even though they were under the relevant maximum dimensions and weights. This ended up having to be sent airfreight from the terminal to be picked up at Qantas in Brisbane - the immediate cost was prohibitive but made worse by Qantas imposing a substantial daily holding fee while I got clearance from Customs. Here’s the rub - although the parts were below the GST and import duty thresholds the application had to go through an import broker - minimum fee $300 (took pity and charged me $150 to sign the forms since I did all the running around and paperwork). A very expensive lesson in there somewhere - and not likely to be repeated. I should have just left the parts at the check in counter in hindsight……
.

I agree you're experience was made worse as Customs/Border Force are spectacularly unhelpful, as is their website, and merely advise using a customs broker if you don't regularly import items. $300 sounds right for a LCL Gen which is what I was quoted to import some Tv's from NZ, in the end I didn't need the broker as DHL took care of clearance. Also some of the govt recommended brokers just weren't interested in a small job, and didn't return calls and emails, and one actually came out and said as much.

I also had a similar experience with Qantas when departing South Africa with a briefcase full of tools and the cost to freight them then and there on a weekend was prohibitive, luckily the check in staff said it would be cheaper if arranged during the week, so a friend went back to the airport on the following Monday and sent them.

Originally Posted by tc_s1

Wish I had some magic logistics source for you but will instead confirm use of DHL to good outcome most of the time, though have also experienced the custom duty owed call coming late, long after the package arrived in country a few times as well.

My experience with DHL was also good but I did sign up to the email and text tracking alerts, so was aware of what was happening with my package before DHL's staff was. For instance I paid the import duty but it still showed as owing for another 24 hrs IIRC.