From port to destination

[evoesque]

Hi guys,

Hoping someone with some experience of having items shipped into the UK can help.

If I were to have a ton of goods arrive in Southampton from China what are the next steps?

I'm guessing their are handling fees at the port? How much would a ton on a pallet cost to move to a waiting van?

How do I go about paying the tax?

I'm trying to get some costs together for a budget but have no idea where to start with this stage of the logistics.

The supplier has told me that shipping / insurance is free. Is this common??

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Evo

[maser_spyder]

evoesque said:

Hi guys,

Hoping someone with some experience of having items shipped into the UK can help.

If I were to have a ton of goods arrive in Southampton from China what are the next steps?

I'm guessing their are handling fees at the port? How much would a ton on a pallet cost to move to a waiting van?

How do I go about paying the tax?

I'm trying to get some costs together for a budget but have no idea where to start with this stage of the logistics.

The supplier has told me that shipping / insurance is free. Is this common??

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Evo

First step - Contact the line who probably have an agent they normally use for clearance/onward shipping.

Handling fees at the port depend on how much/how it's packed/where it's packed. If it's part-load on a container, expect it to be quite expensive, as the charges amount to the same as a container, plus the extra labour for unloading it. A full container handling us much cheaper than part load, because you would be unloading yourself at your own warehouse. Fees at a very, very rough guesstimate would be £500-£800 inc. shipping to your door.

Don't even think about moving it to a 'waiting' van. They almost definitely won't allow it, even if you can arrange it, it will work out more expensive than shipping. They would have to move the goods from inside the bonded area to an outside warehouse, they'll charge you as much for this as they would to deliver to a UK address. Forget it, it's not worth the hassle. You simply can't pop down to the port to pick up your stuff, it doesn't work like that. Been there, tried it, done it, wasted the time for you. Don't make the same mistake.

The agent will work out the tax/duty/shipping for you. Their fees are cheap in comparison. Probably about £30-£50 docs fee (all the admin etc.).

Shipping/insurance isn't 'free'. They may include it in their price, but if you were a shipping company, would you move stuff for free? Well, not for long you wouldn't....

If you're looking for a cheaper part-load option, and UK logistics (individually shipping your products to your customers), pm me, I can probably help. We have containers coming in every week, so might be able to work something out for you.

Hope that helps.