Hi guys,
I inquired a customs broker in Australia about customer clearance etc etc and was told me it's going to cost about $800 to handle the paper work, inspection, on top is tax + GST.
From this point of view, there is not cost effective for a small business owner to import a few pallets of low value goods from overseas. May as well buy from local importers.
My question is: what sort of volume do I need to import to make it worth while? One import ageny told me, anything less than 20k is not worth it.
Replying To [jadedev]:The Customs Broker is quite correct in the approximate cost he told you. There are many charges at Australian Ports, besides Import Duty and GST, like Port Charges, Documentation Fees, CMR Fees, Maritime Security Levy, Documentation Fees, Customs Agent Charges, Terminal Charges etc., just to name the most common ones.
Once you divide these costs over the quantity of goods you bring in, the less you bring in, the more on a per item basis it will cost.
Unfortunately too many people these days (small shops etc), think they can get things cheap out of China, which you can, but they forget about all these charges.
Importers usually bring in 20 or 40' Container loads of products, where these charges only make a small difference in the quantity of goods coming in.
My suggestion is to buy locally from an Importer or Wholesaler. The little extra you pay to them is certainly worth it in teh long run. Besides that, if anything goes wrong with the product, you can contact the importer or wholesaler, rather than trying to get some compensation from a manufacturer half a world away.
Jadedev ... Grigo is right but the broker's own professional fee within the $800 you mentioned should be less than $200 regardless of quantity of goods.
Hi Aussie and Grigo,
The broker's fee is like $180, the rest is inspection fee, handling fee, the list goes on.
Actually, I didn't mind paying that amount because that's still cheaper than road freight that I normally pay. So to make it work, I should import as much goods as I can to lower the per unit cost. Now, new problem, storage, ouch.
hey guys, how many pallets can I stuff in to a 20 footer? From my calculation, 12 x 1m2 pallets, and I can stack 2-2.5m high.
Quoting from [jadedev]:Hi Aussie and Grigo,
The broker's fee is like $180, the rest is inspection fee, handling fee, the list goes on.
Actually, I didn't mind paying that amount because that's still cheaper than road freight that I normally pay. So to make it work, I should import as much goods as I can to lower the per unit cost. Now, new problem, storage, ouch.
hey guys, how many pallets can I stuff in to a 20 footer? From my calculation, 12 x 1m2 pallets, and I can stack 2-2.5m high.
oh dear.... "how much can I fit in a container?".... after asking VERY basic questions.....? hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm Sounds familiar Aus/ Grigo........ lolol
Before you try to stuff a container to the gills....... check the TOTAL WEIGHT of what you THINK might fit in..... Once the container is taken off a ship it has to be put on a truck.. ie WHATS THE WEIGHT LIMIT FOR A STANDARD TRUCK now back home?... Aussie or grigo will probably answer that straight off.
You might want to think about how you will store it before you jump in too deep as well. How much is THAT gonna cost you?
Would it work out cheaper in the long run while you build up sales to buy smaller qty's from inside Australia?
Lots of research to be done J before you spend a single cent......
Aussie and grigo can help with costing in Aus since I dont..... but don;t go juping into the deep end WITHOUT having crunched a bunch of numbers first!
Thanks for the advice Mr Foow. Yes, I will be crunhing the numbers.
At this stage, I am just fishing for knowledge. I won't be land anything just yet. Knowledge is good right?
I've been told my nearest Port which is Darwin is very remote and cost a fortune to ship LCL from China to Darwin. Perhaps I might have to look into FCL. Any suggestions guys?
Quoting from [jadedev]:Thanks for the advice Mr Foow. Yes, I will be crunhing the numbers.
At this stage, I am just fishing for knowledge. I won't be land anything just yet. Knowledge is good right?
I've been told my nearest Port which is Darwin is very remote and cost a fortune to ship LCL from China to Darwin. Perhaps I might have to look into FCL. Any suggestions guys?
DARWIN?.... Geeze........ you are trying to make it hard for yourself......Thats the middle of nowhere and yeah shipping fees are going to be high.. Going to leave ideas for Aussie and Grigo since I don;t know enough about alternatives to shipping into darwin.
My advice would be to move to somewhere where there are more people than geckos!
No geckos here dude, the crocodiles ate them all.
I personally didn't think Darwin is SO remote because there is direct shipping from Singapore every fortnight and many people import directly from China, Sg and Indo. The problem is freight people charge a fortune for LCL. So looks like I have to go FCL if I choose to go down this road.
There is also monthly shipping from a port in China, just forgotten which one, but they deal in FCL only.
Replying To [jadedev]:Foow is right jade. You can only put about 19 tons into a 20' FCL, as Trucks can only carry that much weight on Australian Roads.
Replying To [jadedev]:No, a 20' Container can only carry 28 cubic meters.