ADVICE REQUIRED FOR SHIPPING STUFF OUT OF THE US

[Lotus 47]

I have a box of miscellaneous Lotus parts I need to ship out of the US (Dayton Ohio) to the land of sunshine and sharks, Australia.

The box is about 38" x 24" x 24" and weighs about 35-40lbs. When I get online and check with UPS, Fedex, DHL etc it seems they want to airfreight it to me in 5 days for a bargain price of US$2000. For that price I may as well fly over and bring it back as hand luggage. Maybe have my first white Christmas while I'm at it!

USPS won't accept it because of the large circumference or girth.

I'm thinking it can go into a 20" container along with a 1000 other boxes and it can come by sea . I just need to find the right freight consolidator and freight forwarder.

Can anyone please point me in the right direction? I'm not having a lot of success with Mr Google.

Merry Christmas to all!

Cheers

Richard Mann

[BDA]

Wish I could help you. My only experience is trying to send my NG3 to Canada via truck and I think they wanted something like $400 one way (not including customs). That was not going to happen and thankfully it didn't need to after all. Given that you're talking air freight and going to the other side of the world, $2000 almost seems reasonable!

There's a lot to be said for a white Christmas!

[Serge]

I have some experience with this, only using a smaller parcel. I used a Dutch man living in the US that is running a mail forwarding service. He gets special rates on Fedex, USPS, ... because he sends a large amount of packets. He saved me about half the postage cost.

His rates are on the website and he's also very helpful over email.

http://www.weship-it.com/

Kind regards,

Serge

[andy harwood]

Richard,
A couple years ago, I shipped some motorcycle hardbags and some small stuff to a gent in Iceland form here in North Carolina.
First was UPS to New York, to a shipping company. If I remember correctly, had to have a form from shipping company filled out - for security purposes. Once at shipping company, packages had to be opened and inspected.
The hard bags were fiberglass, bulky but weight was fairly low. I'm thinking UPS to NY was about $100. & from there to Iceland was about $500. He paid me about $450. for the parts.
I checked my ebay mail for the info from then, but emails gone, or deleted, and I don't remember shipper details. Sorry, not much help.
When I got my NG3 from Banks last year, came FEDEX, and I think cost was less than $200.
You might want to have a look at intercargo.com

[Certified Lotus]

Find someone with a commerical account who ships overseas. They usually get a 50% discount. Your trying to ship as the guy off the street. Very very expensive that way.

[buzzer]

I have had some small parts shipped before to the Uk. it was only a few dollars weight less than 5kgs though . Have you thought about splitting into smaller packages?

[LotusJoe]

I have had good luck with this company.

http://awaship.com/

[Clifton]

I shipped a Lotus transmission from Phx, Az to Australia and it was under $100 US.  I used Fedex but it was through Ebay. I also shipped a gas tank that was 12"x16"X48"  within the US for around $30 through Fedex.

[Lotus 47]

G'day All

I thought I should report back on my success. It may help others.

Awhile back I was trying to locate a boot liner/insert thingy for my S1. Finally one turned up and I had it sent to Steve Veris. Steve filled the boot with goodies then forwarded the box to Florida

I used a service called MyUS.com. You join their organization, and they assign you a shipping address and "suite" number.

I got the box sent there, and they shipped it to Australia for around US$250, when I was getting quotes for US$2000! The box came via DHL (airfreight!!) and arrive days later - I was expecting months and sea freight. 

Richard Mann

[BDA]

Great news, Richard! I'm glad you got hooked up with Steve. I've had a few contacts with him and I think he's a great guy!

[lotusfanatic]

That's great news Richard!
It does seem that there are some outrageously expensive companies out there (or they simply don't want the work?)

regards,

Mark

[Certified Lotus]

As I mentioned before, Always ship from a commerical address with a commerical account. That is the "secret". Find someone who will ship from their business and has an account with the shipper. The cost savings difference is significant versus doing it as a normal person walking into a UPS/FedEx/DHL shop or on-line pricing.

I had to ship a Twin Cam engine across the US (CA to Maryland). The Original price I was quoted for truck delivery was $1200. I had my engine shop use their commerical account.......$285.

I just shipped a Europa steering column with steering wheel attached. Very large box, almost. 5 ft in length and 24 inches width. The pack and ship store wanted $90 to ship. My business FedEx ground account cost was $28.

[Lotus 47]

That's great news Richard!
It does seem that there are some outrageously expensive companies out there (or they simply don't want the work?)

regards,

Mark

Hi Mark,

What car is that in your picture?

Cheers

Richard
47-GT-3

[lotusfanatic]

Hello Richard,

I found the Lotus 47 on a restoration page when I was researching the model.

(loved the colour, the look and the stance of it so I used the image)

http://www.carbuildindex.com/36920/lotus-europa-47-restoration/

regards,

Mark

[Bainford]

Hello Richard,

I found the Lotus 47 on a restoration page when I was researching the model.

(loved the colour, the look and the stance of it so I used the image)

http://www.carbuildindex.com/36920/lotus-europa-47-restoration/

regards,

Mark

Thanks for posting this link, Mark. I have never heard of that site, but there are lots of rabbit holes which one may crawl down. Great car guy stuff. Cheers