Importing by Sea

[craigrobbo]

Hi guys.

I am importing my router from China, Now the factory asked me if we can do customs ourself for sea.

I am not entirely sure what they mean however is there any stipulations omporting via sea rather than air that i must be aware of?

THanks

Craig

[HankMcSpank]

Hi guys.

I am importing my router from China, Now the factory asked me if we can do customs ourself for sea.

I am not entirely sure what they mean however is there any stipulations omporting via sea rather than air that i must be aware of?

THanks

Craig

With air...it comes to your door....you pretty much know what the price is from the outset

With sea, you're faced with going to retrieve it from the sea port it arrives at....also there may be some local handling charges that you might not know about at the outset (also sea is a bit riskier...eg Somalian pirates....probably a greater risk of damage, therefore insurance likely needed etc)

I have a 200kg shipment arriving from Japan in 10 days time....I'm faced with driving down to Southampton to collect - not ideal, but 200kg by air is crazy expensive.

[craigrobbo]

With air...it comes to your door....you pretty much know what the price is from the outset

With sea, you're faced with going to retrieve it from the sea port it arrives at....also there may be some local handling charges that you might not know about at the outset (also sea is a bit riskier...eg Somalian pirates....probably a greater risk of damage, therefore insurance likely needed etc)

I have a 200kg shipment arriving from Japan in 10 days time....I'm faced with driving down to Southampton to collect - not ideal, but 200kg by air is crazy expensive.

Thanks for that.

I live in manchester, can my shipment come via manchester ship cannal, i'm unsure if there is a shipment sea port here?

[HankMcSpank]

I live in manchester, can my shipment come via manchester ship cannal, i'm unsure if there is a shipment sea port here?

I don't know but I seriously doubt it .....the main point about sea shipment is it comes on a huge ship (this is the ship that is carrying my latest shipment .....http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shi...mmsi=352822000 - that won't fit up a canal! BTW, sea shipment is pretty slick...I can see where the ship is at any given time en-route .... http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def...date=lastknown!

So the cargo has to be unloaded when it arries in port ...once it's unloaded, then it would be expensive to put it on a narrowboat!. So you're faced with travelling to the port where it arrives at (probably Southamptom or Felixestowe etc...you might be able to have it sea shipped to Liverpool?) or having a courier deliver it to your door from the UK sea port ...but if it's heavy then that's gonna cost.

[craigrobbo]

I don't know but I seriously doubt it .....the main point about sea shipment is it comes on a huge ship (this is the ship that is carrying my latest shipment .....http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shi...mmsi=352822000 - that won't fit up a canal! BTW, sea shipment is pretty slick...I can see where the ship is at any given time en-route .... http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/def...date=lastknown!

So the cargo has to be unloaded when it arries in port ...once it's unloaded, then it would be expensive to put it on a narrowboat!. So you're faced with travelling to the port where it arrives at (probably Southamptom or Felixestowe etc...you might be able to have it sea shipped to Liverpool?) or having a courier deliver it to your door from the UK sea port ...but if it's heavy then that's gonna cost.

Thanks for that, makes a little more sence now.

I will ask if it can come to the liverpool port, i belive that comes direct from Sea

[John S]

No don't do that, as soon as it gets unloaded in Liverpool the Scousers will either nick it of have the wheels off it.

[craigrobbo]

No don't do that, as soon as it gets unloaded in Liverpool the Scousers will either nick it of have the wheels off it.

HAHA!

But in all seriousness ithink its proberbly the best bet.
?
Do i have to deal anything with customs or fee's or anything like that, ie how do i prove the item is mine when i pick it up etc

[motoxy]

[QUOTE=HankMcSpank;31264]

So the cargo has to be unloaded when it arries in port ...once it's unloaded, then it would be expensive to put it on a narrowboat!.

I dont think they allow narrow boats on the shipping canal....its for ships????

[HankMcSpank]

HAHA!

But in all seriousness ithink its proberbly the best bet.
?
Do i have to deal anything with customs or fee's or anything like that, ie how do i prove the item is mine when i pick it up etc

The shipping agent should have your contact details & when the ship arrives they'll be in touch. Additionally, you'll likely have the' bill of lading' from the sender in email. You don't just turn up & say...."Mate, if there's a CNC machine on that boat it's probably mine ...gizzit".

You'll have VAT *and* import duty (about 10%) to pay when it arrives (it's unavoidable...but you might want to get creative with the guy sending to see what fiction he can dream up for the accompanying docs!)

I dont think they allow narrow boats on the shipping canal....its for ships????

Indeed, now that I've looked at it...it is (I'm a bloke that brings in a bit of stuff from abroad, that doesn't make me a 'shipping lanes of the UK' expert!) , still it appears to cater for small ships...not trans-ocean liners!

[motoxy]

But if your buying on a budget then it can cope with sampans and junks