Mandy Smith

Hi we have been in WA for three weeks now and are eagerly awaiting our container, including our car. Now we knew there would be additional costs at this end (import duty, GST, potential cleaning) but our shipping agent here has just listed moreincluding the cost of a broker to handle our car! Paying for a broker is news to us and an additional cost we can't really afford.... can any advise do you have to use a broker? I've done lots of searching on line and see what has to be done and it looks like we need a valuation, quaratine clearance and a safety test (sort of mot) but I can't see anything about how/who can do these things. So can't we sort these things out for ourselves and cut out the cost of a broker? Anyone been through this who can advise please. We came prepared for a certain amount of layout on arrival down under but everything is so expensive our money isn't going as far as we expected. Grateful for any advice/experiences, thanks Mandy

Think we using the same company.... The packers in the UK were two nice enough blokes but we soon found out they don't actually work for the shipper, they are sub-contractors who actually do work for many of the big shipping companies. So the personal service you think you are getting with the chosen shipper isn't necessarily what you get. We have some concerns about the way some of our belongings were packed and have raised this with the shipper, who are being suitably vague at this point. Our consignment is yet to arrive in Perth so guess we will know in a few weeks time. We too had the free storage offer and having spoke to the agent here have now realised there are handling fees if we take it up. We did take the offer of the "free" air freight but we agreed to pay the £80 option for door to door delivery. As we weren't entitled to the 40 kilo baggage allowance with our airline this worked out a good option. The airline were charging something like £30 a kilo where as we got 25kilo for £80 delivered to our door, and it arrived only a few days after we did. Like you say, check everything out as best you can in advance as there seems to be hidden costs at every turn. We are just finding out now about the possible additional costs for importing our car, what a minefield!!! Good luck with your consignment, where in Perth / WA are you?

Hi, think it depends if you have already entered Australia on your visa. We just experienced this dilemma. Because we had already entered Australia to activate our visas we missed the boat on the double luggage allowance on this permanent entry. However, I told Singapore air that I preferred to fly with them but was considering flying with Emirates as they offered 30 kilo as standard, Singapore air agreed to give me the 30 kilo per person. Give it a try they may offer you a bit more. good luck Mandy