international shipping question

[gruns]

While for my own uses this question pertains to legitimate
international shipping - gourmet medicinal mushrooms to
be exact.   I humbly ask any individual with international
shipping experience to answer any questions that they can,
as this might also prove of interest to other people on
this board.


Let me explain my situation.  I wish to import multiple
KG's of a particular mushroom, and among the trade terms listed
by this particular exporter lists a minimum trade of 1000KG.
(Funny, they list it different in another part of the site,
as 1000 (kg/pcs))
Is it likely that they will bend on this and allow an
initial smaller shipment, totalling perhaps between 10 and 50 KG's?  The lowest grade they sell goes for US$16/kg,
making their minimum priced shipment US$16.000 - which
I don't have right now, maybe a few months down the line.



Also, could anybody help me decipher this packing
information listed for this particular product?

1) 5KGs/polybag packaging:
N.W:20KGs/G.W:22KGs, Meas:76x43.5x56cm, 3000KGs/150CTNs/1x20'CNTR, 6000KGs/300CTNs/1x40'CNTR. 
2) 10KGs/polybag packaging:
N.W:10KGs/G.W:12KGs, Meas:56x38x45cm, 3000KGs/300CTNs/1x20'CNTR, 6000KGs/500CTNs/1x40'CNTR. 
3) 100g/poly-bag packaging:
N.W:5KGs/G.W:8KGs, Meas:55x42x44cm, 1400KGs/280CTNs/1x20'CNTR, 2800KGs/560CTNs/1x40'CNTR.


Should I just contact them and ask this?

[gruns]

Thank you so much for that info, it will prove very
useful.   Ugh... I went to UPS's site and did a calculamication...
it said it would cost around US$1200 to ship a 22kg box from Hong Kong (they didn't list the city I'm intending on
getting it delivered from).  Is that normal for such a small item?  I could see maybe a couple hundred bucks..
Or is UPS like the Microsoft of worldwide shipping?

Can anybody give me a good approximate of various costs
of shipping goods, for example, 22kg boxes?

Any information would be eagerly recieved, I really enjoy
the idea of legitimate income

[pickler]

22kg is a big package. Coming from hong Kong sounds about right. A 22kg box just shipped within the Us is quite expensive. You have all that water to cross.

[psych0t1c]

Don't forget that UPS is an express shipper. They usually just fly their shit. If you have a large shipment, like a bunch of the aforementioned cartons it would be much cheaper (and slower) to go through surface shipping. Ask the retailer about this, they should know who will be doing this. It will most likely go from their storage to some containership and therefore take some weeks to arrive, but at a considerably lower price.

[gater]

once you get over 50kg it's better to go with a freight shipping company.there are so many of these companies and they are a lot cheaper especially for overseas shipments.and most of them ship 5-10 days anywhere in the usa or canada.what the fuck do you want so much fungus for anyways?shit 1000kg you could go swimming in that shit.

[tranceport]

That is a shit load of fungus. And for Mad Max, well I must say, that is quite impressive for a "guess". So, appease curiosity, what specie and why so much?

[gruns]

I feel that there's money to be made in the medicinal
mushroom market, what with all this new-age shit going
down these days, the popularity of television mediums,
feng-shui, aromatherapy, acupuncture, I just figured I'd
try and cash in on the hordes of rich white people
foaming at the mouth for "out of the ordinary" products
and services.  The species is Agaricus blazei, which I
could grow myself but it wouldn't be cost effective,
not with overseas competition.  However, that doesn't
mean that I can't import them...

[gruns]

Oh man, this is getting more and more complex....

On a flash of insight I decided to look up the tariffs
for dried mushrooms, both chinese export and US import
and found a few documents:

(china)

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apecfind.cgi?CN+0712

TARIFF                                                                M.F.N.         GENERAL TARIFF VAT            EXCISE         COMBINED DUTY   
NUMBER    GOODS DESCRIPTION                                           RATE           RATE           RATE           RATE           AND TAX RATE

07123030  --- Mushrooms                                               13             90             17                            32.21

(USA)

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apecfind.cgi?US+0712

Heading/                                                           Units                        Rates of Duty           
Sub-                                                                of                      1                                
heading    Stat    Article                                       Quantity                                                2   
          Suffix Description                                                     General        Special                      

 
0712              Dried vegetables, whole, cut, sliced, broken or in
                  powder, but not further prepared:
                                                                                        16.6% (MX)
0712.30                Mushrooms and truffles:
                            Mushrooms:
0712.30.10   00                  Air dried or sun dried.............. kg......  1.8>/kg + 2.5%  Free (A,CA,E,IL,J, MX)     22>/kg + 45%
                                          
0712.30.20   00                  Other............................... kg......  2.2>/kg + 3.1%  Free (A+,CA,E,IL,J,MX)     22>/kg + 45%


(note: the US tariff info page was buggered to begin with)

So, does this mean that if I get something from China,
I'm paying a 32.21% tax on it before it leaves the
dock, and when it comes in to SF or wherever, I pay 45%!?!?


Just to keep this topic germane to this site, I include
these links pertaining to tariffs on essential oils:
(USA essential oil tariffs)

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apecfind.cgi?US+3301

China's heterocyclic compound heading, including safrole:

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apecfind.cgi?CN+2932

China's essential oil heading, closest thing I could find
that's near to our hearts, but sassafrass or ocotea simply
weren't listed in this particular database:

http://www.apectariff.org/tdb.cgi/ff3230/apecfind.cgi?CN+3301

Thanks again for all your help, you guys rox0r!

[Chicken]

First off UPS will not be shipping this order it is for train container.  A 1X20Ft container reffers to a container that fits onto a train.  You knwo the type where you see for steel boxes on the train, and you need a crane to remove them to place one of them onto a semi truck.  From experience with international shippers of this type I would say that it is very unlikely that a shipment of less then 1000Kg would be able to be shipped, at least this is the case when buying other materials of this type from over seas. 

Problem two.  Shipments of this sort will not only have to clear customs, and I gaurantee it will be searched by customs because it is an agricultural product, and they are always serached, it will also have to clear the port athourity.  Now the port athorities are the goveringin body at the port of entry where the contaier comes into to US.  You can for a fee set up an automated system which costs money to have them automatically aprove the shipment and allow it to be drop shipped from the port to a secondary address via a shipping company.  To be certain the overseas company wil not be the one to set this up it will have to be you.  The overseas company will only be able to ship it to the port not to your door step.  If you fainl to set up the drop shipment ahead of time then it will sit at the port until you physically arive at the port and sign the necessary documents to pick it up.  Unless you live in CAlifornia (assuming an asian company)  then it will be difficult to arrange this. 

Next problem.  You better have a warehouse or some other facility with a dock loading bay, because a 20ft train container worth of product will be difficult to fit into a garage of a even a small office.  Mushrooms tend to be pretty fluffy when packed, and as such take up alot of space.  You willl be looking at freight charges from a frieght delivery company.  If you are luch the smalle conatiers will be on pallets and easily movable by a forklift, if unlucky they will be in crates, and require a spcialized forklift to move.  A pallet jack won't cut it.  If you don't own a fork lift or know how to operate one, then you will either have to pay the frieght company extra to move the shipment for you or you will have to rent one, and let me tell you forlift rentals are not as inexpensive as you think.

Take it from someone with experience what you need to do is find a reliable importer/exporter to take care of this for you.  There are many companies that can take care of this of for you.  Howvere you quickly realize that the domestic prices for such goods aren't nearly as high as you thought they were when you take into account that all of this effert must go into the shipment and storage of the product.  If you really need more info on this PM, and I will give you the name of some relable imprt/export companies that are used to handling matters just like this. If this involves anything illeagle then use the yellow pages and forget I even offered, becaus it isn't worth it to me to ruin a good import/export company for the ability of someone else to use them to aquire illeagle goods, especially when customs is involved and will almost certainly search the contents of your train container.  To be ceratian UPS will not handle this order.

I used to think asia was a good way to get products for cheap, but quicly realized after a few attempts that unless I really wanted to put the effort in to make a reliable infrastructure to store and ship the products it was really better left to more experienced individuals and paying thier small fee to take care of it. 

I hope this prevents you from going into the import game blind like others have done, with a steel container sitting on the dock at a port in california, waiting for you to come sign for it driving a pick up truck.