Can anyone recommend a freight forwarding company

[TeeBee]

Hi,
I'm starting up a business and have found a supplier for some stainles steel goods in India. I need to get these to the UK and am looking for a shipping company. I have been online and have reqested quotes from 3 companies, but nobody has got back to me. The carton will be 80cm cubed and will weigh 50KG - is this too small for a shipping company to deal with?

Can anyone recommend a shipping company.

Thanks for any help.

Tony

 

[GraemeL]

Yes it is too small for an FF.

Use air.

G

 

[TeeBee]

Thanks Graeme,

Are there companies I can contact who provide this service? Or am I being daft and should try UPS

Thanks
Tony

 

[GraemeL]

To be honest Tony, for one shipment this size, go direct to UPS or Fedex or DHL.
They will take care of customs clearance for you. You will need to ensure your supplier puts genuine contents and cost information on a copy invoice attached to the carton. The freight company will then request payment for freight/VAT and any duties before they make the final delivery to you.

G

 

[PowerForwarding]

Yea as above this is too small really to send via a forwarder, best to send through a courier.

 

[TeeBee]

Thanks for the info. Just trying to understand the process and any hidden costs- are these the steps?
Supplier tells me goods are ready for collection from their warehouse and tells me size and weight of the carton.
Supplier puts appropriate customs documents on the outside of the carton.
I arrange for collection with courier
Courier collects carton from the supplier and ships it to the UK
When my carton arrives in the UK, the courier tells me how much I have to pay to clear the goods at customs.
I pay the courier.
Courier delivers carton to me

I have checked the trade tarrif on the UK Gov site and the items have an import % charge of 8%. So, if I order £1000 worth of goods, the costs to get them to my door would be £1000 + courier shipping price + 8% plus VAT. Am I missing anything - sorry if this is basic stuff, but I'm all new to this!

Thanks

Tony

 

[GraemeL]

This is assuming the factory had quoted you an ex works (ex factory) price.

Courier might want some payment up front from you - you will have to find that out.

The VAT you will pay is 20% of (Product cost +insurance+tariff (You say 8%) + freight)

 

[TeeBee]

Thanks Graeme. I have quotes from Fedex etc based on my estimate of the weight of the carton and the supplier has said they can arrange shipping so I will see how their charges compare.

I really appreciate your help.

Regards

Tony

 

[GraemeL]

Tony - dont use supplier for shipping.

G

 

[TeeBee]

Thanks Graeme. I will arrange my own DHL or UPS etc.

Tony

 

[Xie]

Hi Tony, Did you try air cargo? It is a lot cheaper than express service and you will need to have your own agent to clear the customs for you. It is by air so it is almost as fast as DHL, Fedex... Hope this helps.

 

[janib4all]

Agree with Mr. @GraemeL; I have had bad experience with a spammer last year. Since then, I use world wide express llc for most of my freight forwarding needs. I don’t know if this suits your requirements, my last deal contained 2 containers of rice, good service from them.

 

[Holland Alarms]

Hi. I'm fairly new to the forum.

I don't yet import but I've done a fair amount of exporting to the Middle East and Far East. I'm based in North Somerset and use a company based in Weston-super-Mare called Western Logistics. They've been absolutely brilliant and helped with everything including paperwork.