Australia Shipping Help!

Hi all,

So I am in the process of ordering an emp kit from Van’s. I’ve got to the point where I’m receiving shipping quotes and they are varying wildly in costs. I am somewhat confused as to what I am going to end up paying for shipping and can’t seem to get a straight answer from anyone.

Would it be possible for anyone who has shipped part of a Van’s kit to Australia to help me understand the process, as well as the costs involved? I know there will be 10% GST on the cost of the kit & shipping, but can’t get a grip on the rest!

For instance, here are the 3 quotes I’ve received:
Aussie Car Imports (Sea freight):
A$775 plus GST on the cost of goods and shipping. This price includes insurance during the US transport.

I am not sure if this includes all the other port fees etc? I have asked.
[Edit: Reponse from Indy “A$775 plus GST on the cost of goods and shipping

Don't make it harder then it has to be! If there were additional costs, I would bring them up.” So this is BY FAR the cheapest option it seems]

FedEx Air Freight:
FED EX ECONOMY would cost $1370 (USD) Door to door by Air Thats $1800 AUD (over double)

Again - don’t know what this includes? Are there port fees on FedEx etc? How do you pay the GST? Do I get an invoice from FedEx?

CH Freight from LA:
These guys were the most open about the charges but were also the most expensive. All up it was $2100 AUD (Over triple the first quote). They were however much more open about the fees - is that what FedEx will end up costing anyway once they have hidden fees added?

This ends up being almost half the kit cost in shipping and gst! Terrible.

Their quote can be found here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sECUR7JEFVOJFZidVhKrnWi_5FeQrze3

I would be very grateful to anyone who can help me understand how this all works / give any hints and tips to help me not get ripped off.

Hi Trent,
FedEx will not have the GST in their quote. I got a call from them with the GST charge to pay when my empennage arrived a few years ago. Just paid it over the phone when they called.
You will learn really quickly, shipping to Oz is a killer, not just for the big pieces, but all the small orders you get through the tool/parts companies. There are a couple of local builders near me and we let each other know when we are ordering stuff from Vans or the other companies, and share the cost of shipping. Find out if there are any builders local to you that you can share with.
Cheers,
Joe

CH freight are great to deal with, and their prices are good.

I've heard good things about Aussie Car Imports for the bigger kits, but no personal experience here.

At the end of the day, shipping and GST is going to add a chunk to the cost of your build.

There isn't a whole lot you can do to avoid paying GST unfortunately. Some of the lower value or smaller items can slip through without GST being charged, so you may get lucky with your empennage kit, depends on who is working at Customs on the day.

Any questions - Give me a ring - 0427 775 891

Enjoy the build

Hugh

Also Trent - I'd double check that quote, it sounds way too high

Genereally, you will pay two separate freight charges - Vans to LA (Vans will add this to your kit bill), and then LA to Australia (you will pay this direct to the freight company)

The freight quote will include all customs costs etc, but will not include insurance or GST.

I recently paid $1450 AUD ($310 Vans - LA + $1140 LA - Brisbane) for a wing kit and propeller through CH freight. Your quote is way high for just an empennage kit.

Insurance for $19,500 AUD value cost me about $200.

Hugh

I have had a quote from CH Freight that turned out to not be competive with another similar shipper. Christine at CH explained that her quote was for direct ship from US port to my Australian port, and she got a cheaper quote that was competetive once I said I was ok with the container being transhipped in an Asian port from one ship to another ship then it came to my port in Australia. That was for a container that was my stuff alone.
Not sure if that is why CH are more expensive for you. Christine at CH is easy to talk to and will probably look into why her quote is higher.
I have also used Aussie Cat Importers some years ago. They were good and cheaper than others. I can’t remember for sure if any extra charges to pay on arrival, but my hazy memory is their were no extra charges. It was only a relatively small but heavy item for me. Aussie are slower as they waited for a container to be required to go to my port and depends on who is shipping a car.

Quotes

Hi,

If the Aussie car importers are correct, get them to sign a document that states that any additional charges levied against you for this shipment are to be paid by them and are covered $775 and that they will be responsible for these additional charges.

Let them know that you will advise the people levying these charges of this and they will in turn be invoiced.

If that price is correct then they will have no issues signing that off.

Just a thought. If you are getting close to the $2000 range, it may be worth just flying over and paying extra baggage costs? You may be able to bypass some other fees. Just a thought that may be worth looking into.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help guys.

When I read the email chain for CH, it turns out Van?s gave them a -10 dimensions. Going with the -14 dimensions reduced the quote with to $1600 AUD plus i have to pay $200usd to Van?s to get it to LA. Plus there is some $194 AUD ?nominal customs fee? on top again. Argh! So we are looking at over 2k anyway.

To confuse things more, all ports international came back to me with $1400 AUD all up (by far the cheapest air)!! So I?m confirming with them this is the final price.

Aussie Car Imports no longer have a base near Van?s, so I?m unable to get the kit onto the next container leaving next week - shame!

Thanks again for all the help. It seems petty squabbling over $500-1000 at the end of the day considering the total cost, but that goes a long way toward tools, paint etc so I think it?s worth it.

I just let Vans organise it for me. It was not particularly expensive in the overall scheme of building an aeroplane. All the boxes arrived on the scheduled day. A few days out the agents contacted me with a bill for the GST, and whatever customs and quarantine charges. Unavoidable, but not as bad as I expected.
The best thing is to ship as much of the kit as you can afford, as you will be shifting more for your money.
Cheers,
DaveH

I think i'm still suffering from price shock - wouldn't it be so easy to be in the states..

I wouldn't be inclined to use Aussie Imports based solely on their response to a valid question. DHL or Fedex have internal customs brokers that make the process very simple at not a significant premium.

Hi Trent,
Another thing to consider is a virtual mailbox/freight consolidator.
As you progress there will always be many little parts or tools required.
Individually the freight really adds up. I now buy whatever I need when I think about it and have it shipped to Nevada. When I get to the point where I desperately need something that?s in my Nevada mailbox I have them unpack it all, consolidate and ship. It?s very convenient. Other members of my household get some utility out of it too.
I use www.shipito.com but there are plenty of similar services.
Cheers
Richard

Interesting Richard - I?ve been told about these services a couple of times, but to be honest they always seem pretty dodgy when I look online. Interesting to hear of someone with first hand experience.

Never had any issues. Been pleasantly surprised actually.