The Wholesale Forums

[jonouk]

Hi there,
I would like to ask if engaging a shipping agent is an absolute necessity? I have some goods that are to be shipped out from China in the near future FOB and I have been quoted an additional freight charge organized in China to get it to Glasgow. I have read that in fact it is often better to do it this way rather than ask a UK based shipper to arrange a cost for the freight as it is way cheaper arranged in China. So, that would mean that I would be required to pay the duty and the vat at the port, I assume at the customs department, if i collect myself rather than arrange a courier for instance, the initial quantity is small you see.
But does that way pose any problems, do I need to, or is it better to engage a shipping agent to deal with the import duty and tax paperwork, rather than doing it myself.

What do you think? Oh and if it is better to get an agent to deal with the final import customs paperwork etc. What is their average charges, ballpark figure?

thanks again

jonO

[theimporter]

It will be alot cheaper if the whole move is arranged from China, you will need to pay the freight charge and any handling fees only, if you are buying on FOB terms then it is the responsibility of your supplier to get your goods to the airport/port of your choice AND make sure Chinese Customs are taken care of.

A UK forwarder arranging the move would have to collect the goods from your supplier and pay off customs and that is why it will be more expensive and sometimes more of a pain.

If your chinese supplier is reliable and honest then he will know good forwarders as his goal will be to keep his customer happy and comming back for more.

When the goods arrive here you HONESTLY do not want to be going down to the airport or port to customs clear them filling out the forms is not easy and in most cases they wont allow it, Birmingham airport is one place where it still is however this is only because it is a customs training centre, I very much doubt the ports do but could be wrong as ive never been down to pick up a container, wouldnt fit in my car!

Its alot easier for the forward on this side to clear the goods, then if you want to collect it from their shed carry on but keep in mind fuel costs etc, it may be cheaper to get it delivered to your door.

If you let the agent do it this is what they will do:

Goods come into UK, call you,
Present the goods to Customs
Pay Customs Duty and VAT

You can either goto where they are at the port/airport and pay them onsite (provided they are on site) and pick up your goods from their warehouse or you can get them to deliver, delivery will probably be a nominal charge, well worth asking, may save you alot of time, fuel, and stress in traffic jams.

Let me know where your good are comming from I may be able to recomend a forwarder that we use in china if it is in the same areas.

Hope some of that has helped.

Best Regards

Khalid

[theimporter]

Customs Presentation : £30 - £45
Airline Handling : £30 - £40
Security Containers : £10 - £30

[jonouk]

Excellent information Khalid, thanks very much. I should have mentioned the product range is electric driven bicycles, foldable as well so quite compact and light, as bicycles go that is.

One of the suppliers is situated in Howxiang Town Danyang City Jiangsu Province China.
Another supplier is situated in Lanansenlin Jingjin Road,Beichen District, Tianjin, China City : Tianjin





They have both offered reasonable freight charges already to my port of request, Glasgow in Scotland, the both appear to be efficient and good at their job, I am just checking out some final facts on the companies. They are both Truspass registered and Gold suppliers in verified by Authenticated and Verified by
Huaxia D&B China




So I am reasonably sure so far it will be going ahead.
thanks JonO

BTW I looked over your website, very interesting, you have an available pdf file of electric bicycle manufacturers and traders for less than £10 I see. The lists of Chinese suppliers, you state 95% are verified, is that current and carried out by your own organization, or is this from a third party source who does the verifications.
Seems like a very informative site. With in country pre-inspections if necessary.
I shall bookmark it and refer to it as necessary, if I e- mail that site can I put it for your attention?
BTW ...again, with respect, your front page reads "Weclome" oops, might want to change that

[TYLOLA]

Originally Posted by theimporter

It will be alot cheaper if the whole move is arranged from China, you will need to pay the freight charge and any handling fees only, if you are buying on FOB terms then it is the responsibility of your supplier to get your goods to the airport/port of your choice AND make sure Chinese Customs are taken care of.

A UK forwarder arranging the move would have to collect the goods from your supplier and pay off customs and that is why it will be more expensive and sometimes more of a pain.

If your chinese supplier is reliable and honest then he will know good forwarders as his goal will be to keep his customer happy and comming back for more.

When the goods arrive here you HONESTLY do not want to be going down to the airport or port to customs clear them filling out the forms is not easy and in most cases they wont allow it, Birmingham airport is one place where it still is however this is only because it is a customs training centre, I very much doubt the ports do but could be wrong as ive never been down to pick up a container, wouldnt fit in my car!

Its alot easier to the the forward on this side clear the goods, then if you want to collect it from their shed then carry on but keep in mind fuel costs etc, it may be cheaper to get it delivered to your door.

If you let the agent do it this is what they will do:

Goods come into UK, call you,
Present the goods to Customs
Pay Customs Duty and VAT

Then you can either goto where they are at the port/airport and pay them onsite (provided they are on site) and pick up your goods from their warehouse or you can get them to deliver, delivery will probably be a nominal charge, well worth asking, may save you alot of time, fuel, and stress in traffic jams.

Let me know where your good are comming from I may be able to recomend a forwarder that we use in china if it is in the same areas.

Hope some of that has helped.

Best Regards

Khalid

Khalid - are you on msn? could use your help as you seem very familiar with the importing process.

Steve

[theimporter]

Hi JonO,

Thanks for pointing the typo out to me, thats being fixed as I type this, cant belive I didnt spot it and that the bloody spell check didnt pick it up!

All the suppliers that I have catalogues and contact details for have been vetted in house, a vast majority of them I have visited at some point, some I have been introduced to but all are big players and not agents etc.

We do not use any third party information at all as even the most reliable info can be wrong and I am not the kind to promise something unless I personally know I can deliver and if I am going on someone else's word if they **** up its my reputation on the line so unless its checked in house we dont bother with it.

If we deal with a supplier then it is normal practice to go and see their operation in person, we make sure that we only ever pay small amounts in incremental stages and monitor production during the stages, regardless of if we have never traded with the supplier before or if we have traded with the supplier for the last 10 years, we do not take a chance with our money or that of our clients, its simply not worth taking the risk in our eyes.

The regions where your product is coming out of is not somewhere we have traded before, I can assist with most issues if they occur in: Shunde, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Donguan, but please bear in mind China is a massive country and getting to places is not easy at the best of times.

For a professional verification we use SGS they are known, trusted and anyone with any serious intention of doing business with china will have been to see SGS at some point in time (including myself).

You can address emails to me or you can get me direct on: khalid@theimporter.co.uk

Glad that some of the info has been of use to you, I think you have done your homework too and fingers crossed all should go well, if it does kick off into something big it may be worth meeting up at some point and discussing shipping by the container.

Best Regards

Khalid

[jonouk]

Thanks again Khalid, appreciated. I will probably send a mail to you within the next few days re the status I am at right now, and get some more info on your pdf published reports and how to purchase etc. I have a pdf file of a company certification which as yet I don't know is good or bad to be honest. I have asked around and although people have been helpful, so far I don't have a concrete answer. I have some of their CE certificates and bank details as well. But they may already have been verified in one of your reports anyway and of course the report /listings will undoubtedly give me a good start on evaluating suppliers for future plans.
Thanks again
JonO