cheap reliable freight forwarders?

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cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby Duende » Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:57 pm

Hey all,

I need to ship some personal items from the UK to Seattle and am looking for a cheap sea freight quote. So far haven't found a quote below £400 -500, which I think is pretty steep for some boxes and guitars.

Anyone with recent experience of same, I'd be happy to hear what you have to say!

Cheers
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby lok8 » Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:29 pm

cheap,yes. Reliable? That is worthy of it's own thread.

Do a google search for "Freight broker" and check out the map to find a local.

Good luck.
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby thewalrus » Fri Oct 07, 2011 3:39 am

considering the cost of paying a freight forwarder to do the US customs paperwork, import/export electronically filed pre clearance etc for such a small shipment, you might do better sending it as extra luggage on one of the daily British Airways London Heathrow to SeaTac flights.
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby buffybot_in_beirut » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:07 pm

Unless you ship a whole container, sea freight may not be cheaper than air.

Schlep you stuff to the airport yourself, go to an airline cargo office and send it as unaccompanied baggage. There will be some receiving (and delivery, if wanted) fees at the destination that you need to factor in.

Also look at Parcelforce (vulgo: Post Office) rates. E.g. 165 quid for a 30 kg parcel to the US, by surface mail.

Cheapest option is to find a person who moves a whole household along the same route, or at least to the same destination country. Just throw your boxes in his container and buy him a few beers to compensate. You could also ask international moving companies if they currently have such a client on their things-to-do list. They might not disclose names, though. Or leave your stuff with them and ask them to combine your shipment with the next big freight deal that goes to the same destination.
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby Douchebag » Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:07 pm

Ask your local drug smuggler.
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby vagabond » Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:39 am

walrus and buffybot's suggestions seem pretty reasonable.

also maybe take a look at TNT magazine for freight stuff. Most of the ads relate to shipping to Aus/NZ but I'm sure some can be found for US. You can find them where Antipodean expats hang out.

http://www.tntmagazine.com/leavingtheuk/default.aspx?ref=topnav
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby survivingalive42 » Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:15 pm

Yeah, I would definitely try to bring it on a flight like suggested above.
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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby JITW » Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:50 pm

Tap into the local white expat crowd and see if someone wants to share a conex - I did that a couple of times - it is cheaper than you think

An even better idea is to make friends with someone in the US military there - then you can use his APO to send stuff by mail cheap as fuck

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Re: cheap reliable freight forwarders?

Postby thewalrus » Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:06 am

if he's getting quotes of only 400 or 500 pounds to ship stuff london to seattle, that's a lot less than a connex... in fact probably less than 1/4 of the volume of a 10' cube non standard size connex.
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