Sea Freight

[LongLiveTazio]

Was thinking about importing a certain item from the US in bulk (for friends), and given the weights involved thought that perhaps sea freight would be a better option than air (it would be metal cans of drink in I presume 24-per-case quantity - I'd probably be getting at least 20 cases). Is 20ft the smallest you can buy, how much roughly is USA -> UK via sea and is there a relatively cheap method of shipping I'm missing, as this isn't really some kind of entrepreneurial effort and I know very little about this kind of thing.

[Davel]

Maybe find a groupage operator/shipper, who should be able to fill up the rest of a container and so reduce your cost!

[Malh001]

I import via sea freight from San Francisco to the UK. A single pallett weighing upto 1 ton currently costs around £650 plus vat and import duty. These people below have been recommended to me and may be cheaper but haven't had the chance to use them yet.

http://www.fsmac.com/indexx.html

[fergywales]

Contact Malcolm Francis at Air Sea Logistics, you couldn't hope for a nicer guy to deal with and you won't find better service anywhere else.

AIR SEA LOGISTICS (SOUTH) LTD.
Curtis House - 65 South Way - Walworth Industrial Estate
Andover - Hampshire - SP10 5AF
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

[JustinP1]

LongLiveTazio said:

Was thinking about importing a certain item from the US in bulk (for friends), and given the weights involved thought that perhaps sea freight would be a better option than air (it would be metal cans of drink in I presume 24-per-case quantity - I'd probably be getting at least 20 cases). Is 20ft the smallest you can buy, how much roughly is USA -> UK via sea and is there a relatively cheap method of shipping I'm missing, as this isn't really some kind of entrepreneurial effort and I know very little about this kind of thing.

I have shipped by sea from the US. It took ages and cost me a fortune. Luckily on what I was buying I did save a lot over what it would have been in the UK. I think the cost was about £600 or so for what I got shipped which is probably a similar bulk to what you are talking about.

The problem is that the cans are heavy compared to their value. Will it still be worthwhile at £1 to £1.50 per can shipping?

[LongLiveTazio]

I wouldn't necessarily be aiming to make a profit - it's importing items that you literally cannot buy in the UK. Though obviously I'd have to work out what a pack of 24 (say) weighs and then see if something like £650 would be worth it.