Sharing A Small Container From England

[Flatouthruthefog]

I think it's called 'consolidation'.

Several people have household effects to bring over here including heavy items like furniture and books etc. Speed is not an issue. Nothing automotive and nothing of any worry to the Thai powers that be.

Source of UK goods in two locations, one midlands, one home counties. Any experience and recommendations out there?

I have heard it is good value, but some goods can get lost.................

Thanks in advance for any/all advice.

[Steve2UK]

I think it's called 'consolidation'.

Several people have household effects to bring over here including heavy items like furniture and books etc. Speed is not an issue. Nothing automotive and nothing of any worry to the Thai powers that be.

Source of UK goods in two locations, one midlands, one home counties. Any experience and recommendations out there?

I have heard it is good value, but some goods can get lost.................

Thanks in advance for any/all advice.

Yes - it's "consolidation" or "groupage". I only have experience of filling a small container with my stuff (rather than sharing) to ship it from London to CM last year - but I would suggest that you take the same basic approach as many other "solo" shippers recommend and as I did........... particularly in respect of lining up a Thai local shipper/agent to clear the consignment through Thai customs. While nothing in the proposed shipment might be "any worry to the Thai powers that be", everything in it will be "of interest" - i.e. at least as a source of income for the customs guys. The local agent will a] advise on a sensible/acceptable figure for the value for import duty calculation purposes and b] advise a sensible/acceptable wording & amount of detail on the contents list. Once the appropriate clearance payments have been made (presumably some officially and some as "tea money" for the customs guys), the local agent will transport the container to his depot in Hang Dong and/or to your destinations; given that the load ultimately needs to be split, it's more likely that it would be offloaded at his depot and the stuff then sent out separately to the CM destinations - unless you're cosy neighbours

Whichever UK shipper you use, the practice at that end is likely to be the same as I saw. They will send a truck to collect your stuff, palletise it, and haul it to their depot for their guys to load it securely into the container - ditto for the other half of the consignment. I'm inclined to think that the shipper will probably prefer one party (rather than two) to be the consigner - but that's a detail you can check out with them.......... along with insurance etc.

Doing it as I have outlined is relatively hassle-free and dependable. You could try to clear the consignment through Thai customs yourself/yourselves - but be prepared for a world of (expensive) pain..........

BTW, be aware that UK customs can also open the container and check contents against the shipping list and also look for anything that might be a "worry". I know that one box in my container was opened and checked somewhere along the way - but I don't know at which end.

If you don't already have the UK and Thai shipping agents lined up, PM me and I can give you contact details for the ones I used - they were recommended to me by another ThaiVisa member living in Mae Rim............ and I was glad I followed his example.

Steve

[Flatouthruthefog]

I think it's called 'consolidation'.

Several people have household effects to bring over here including heavy items like furniture and books etc. Speed is not an issue. Nothing automotive and nothing of any worry to the Thai powers that be.

Source of UK goods in two locations, one midlands, one home counties. Any experience and recommendations out there?

I have heard it is good value, but some goods can get lost.................

Thanks in advance for any/all advice.

Yes - it's "consolidation" or "groupage". I only have experience of filling a small container with my stuff (rather than sharing) to ship it from London to CM last year - but I would suggest that you take the same basic approach as many other "solo" shippers recommend and as I did........... particularly in respect of lining up a Thai local shipper/agent to clear the consignment through Thai customs. While nothing in the proposed shipment might be "any worry to the Thai powers that be", everything in it will be "of interest" - i.e. at least as a source of income for the customs guys. The local agent will a] advise on a sensible/acceptable figure for the value for import duty calculation purposes and b] advise a sensible/acceptable wording & amount of detail on the contents list. Once the appropriate clearance payments have been made (presumably some officially and some as "tea money" for the customs guys), the local agent will transport the container to his depot in Hang Dong and/or to your destinations; given that the load ultimately needs to be split, it's more likely that it would be offloaded at his depot and the stuff then sent out separately to the CM destinations - unless you're cosy neighbours

Whichever UK shipper you use, the practice at that end is likely to be the same as I saw. They will send a truck to collect your stuff, palletise it, and haul it to their depot for their guys to load it securely into the container - ditto for the other half of the consignment. I'm inclined to think that the shipper will probably prefer one party (rather than two) to be the consigner - but that's a detail you can check out with them.......... along with insurance etc.

Doing it as I have outlined is relatively hassle-free and dependable. You could try to clear the consignment through Thai customs yourself/yourselves - but be prepared for a world of (expensive) pain..........

BTW, be aware that UK customs can also open the container and check contents against the shipping list and also look for anything that might be a "worry". I know that one box in my container was opened and checked somewhere along the way - but I don't know at which end.

If you don't already have the UK and Thai shipping agents lined up, PM me and I can give you contact details for the ones I used - they were recommended to me by another ThaiVisa member living in Mae Rim............ and I was glad I followed his example.

Steve

Fast and very comprehensive answer thanks! Useful to many others too, I'd guess. I will move further towards getting my/our act together, then PM you. Ta!

[Greenside]

While nothing in the proposed shipment might be "any worry to the Thai powers that be", everything in it will be "of interest" - i.e. at least as a source of income for the customs guys. The local agent will a] advise on a sensible/acceptable figure for the value for import duty calculation purposes and b] advise a sensible/acceptable wording & amount of detail on the contents list.

Steve

I was under the impression that under certain circumstances genuine personal effects were not dutyable as described here

[Steve2UK]

While nothing in the proposed shipment might be "any worry to the Thai powers that be", everything in it will be "of interest" - i.e. at least as a source of income for the customs guys. The local agent will a] advise on a sensible/acceptable figure for the value for import duty calculation purposes and b] advise a sensible/acceptable wording & amount of detail on the contents list.

Steve

I was under the impression that under certain circumstances genuine personal effects were not dutyable as described here

Quite right - having a full work permit (for more than a year, I think?) can get the shipper duty-free import. My oversight - I didn't qualify and jumped to the conclusion that the OP & friends wouldn't either.