Wanting to try to export in a small way to Uk. Just some handicrafts and knick-knack type things that I think would go down well in Uk. No idea how to go about sending the stuff. Assume be better by sea, but where to go?. Also, what sort of problems/liability with Uk customs etc. Anyone have any experience of doing this, or something similar?  As you can tell, I havn't got a clue yet, but am willing to learn. Many Thanks.

I was thinking about doing something similar too, but unfortunately I know just as much about it as you do

HAHA sorry me to,i am thinking the same thing,maybe we could all put our heads together,if any one gets any good info or ideas we could pm each other,three heads is always better than one...Ben

I take it you will want to do it with the 'I'm just a tourist, honest' type of setup.

Find your 'gear' box it up securely (your shipment will be no doubt 'consolidated' in Singapore).

You will need a company to make you an Invoice/Packing List, your supplier ideally or if not then your freight forwarder should be able to 'do' you an invoice.

Get a Bangkok shipping company (anybody have any recommendations?) they will charge you approx. US$60 per cubic metre to the UK.

You will need to pay port handling, customs clearance, bill of lading charge, Export Smartcard fee, everything no more than 1500 baht.

Allow about 30-40 days in all for Thai clearance/shipping/UK clearance, allow yourself extra time if your trying to import for Christmas etc..

In the UK you'll need to pay VAT @17.5% of the value of the goods+shipping+handling, if your not VAT registered in the UK then you can't get the VAT back (it's a cost).

It's possible there will be some import duty, there are UK Customs & Excise websites that give guidance (don't have them to hand right now), but the UK agent should be able to confirm also.

Also bear in mind:

Insurance, what if the container drops in the sea? Up to you, the forwarder should be able to offer you insurance for between 1&3% of the shipment value.

Confiscation, Is it legal to Export the product? (i.e. Budda Images, Various woods). Is it legal to Import the product to the UK/Europe (i.e safety standards, infestation, banned woods, fake goods) if you use commonsense you should be ok, but get some advice. You can always ask on the boards again.

Anyway, that's off the top of my head, I've no doubt forgotten something, I will give it some thought and post something more soon.

Good luck.

James

I've forgotten:

UK port costs for 1cubic metre come out around 150 pounds in my experience.

Thailand costs detailed: (Actually 3000 Baht!)

Bill of Lading: 500 Baht.

Port Entrance fee: Pickup=80 Baht, Truck=400 Baht.

Customs Clearance: 1500 Baht per shipment.

Port Handling: 1000 Baht per shipment.

Further reading:

The Department of Export Promotion: http://www.thaitrade.com/

The Thai Customs Department: http://www.customs.go.th/eng/index_e.html

http://www.thailand.com/ lists products for export and a list of freight forwarders!

http://www.ethailand.com/ has some relevant information

There was a thread on the topic and the legalities of it within the last month or so. It was very interesting. Then once you have the product you're on your own following the steps in this post.

:cool:

Very useful information there. Many thanks for your time. Looks pretty forbidding, and expensive too for what are low value goods initially. Will look for the other thread and investigate. many Thanks again.

Actually once you know the procedure and you have a good frieght forwarder it's all pretty straight forward.

Costs total about 250 quid for a 1 cubic metre shipment, which on 1000 items is 25p each or 5000 items is 5p an item, plus the VAT of course! So the costs shouldn't be forbidding.

The hardest part in my experience is finding good suppliers and then selling the stuff in the UK, there are LOADS of people doing exactly what we are talking about, from every country in Asia. So make sure you do your market research!

Good luck.

jayrock

Jayrockwell has written all the information that you will initially need to do a shipment via Sea and some very good hints about how to avoid some possible problems etc.

I felt what KenUdon is trying to do is to start with small shipments. I am already doing this business to many Countries in Asia. But the product range is little different what KenUdon has indicated.

I have access to many suppliers in Thailand specially the Main Dealers/Distributors or the Factories.

From my experience ship via sea will be expensive for small quantity. Also it will be difficult to estimate the final cost [CIF Price] until the shipment gets cleared from UK. Reason is small variance in any cost estimate will effect your pricing of the end product in a material way due to small quantities you ship.

I can give more advice on some options. Send me a Personal Mail.

kwiz, why not share your advice with the forum? If you can give some options/savings on small shipments I'd love to hear about it. As you can tell from my advice above we currently use LCL (Less than Container Load) for our shipments.

CIF=(Cost,Insurance&Freight)

Thanks

James

If you require up to date info on Exporting to the UK,thengive me a call 09-5896320.

12Call.

Just some handicrafts and knick-knack type things that I think would go down well in Uk.

After living in Thailand for a while we really love some particuliar handicrafts but - even if we believe in our good taste - it doesn't mean that they will sell overthere... Before buying anything study very well your market or you may not be able to sell your products. Believe it!

Example: Overseas you'll find some people interested by a vase decorated with flowers but not something too ethnic! I remember an article on the Bangkok Post about a Thai family in Los Angeles importing Thai products and they were saying the same thing...

jayrockwell gave you good replies to your questions.

Let me add 1 or 2 points.

a) You can buy from a local company or factory who is properly established. Ask them for a fob-price. Means they pay all costs up to the ship or plane.

Most probably you have no contact to the factories but buy yourself from shops. Now these guys usually do not do any export procedures, just deliver as is within Bangkok. In this case, assuming again that you have neither a company nor trading business you need somebody doing the commercial invoices, packinglist etc. and do the transportworthy packing, transport insurance etc

I do this all the time, pick up what you bought from the shops, bring it to the packing station, put it on a ship and deliver to you in Southhampton or one of the Thames ports.

The packing must be done in the packing station just for one good reason, I sign all the export documents and want to know what is really inside the packages. (If the customs inspects before leaving Bangkok and they find something other than declared, it will be my neck on the block.)

Quantitiy: The rates are based on cbm and/or weight with minimum costs per shipment. So the more you ship, the less per-item-cost you will have. As said in this topic already, you will have the work to select what you buy and to find buyers in the UK. The procedures for packing, exporting and delivering to UK can be done for you. Give a mail with details to [email protected] and you will get a quotation.

We are doing this a freight forwarders for the last 11 years in Thailand.

VAT issue

Dependant on how much supplies your going to export to the UK it may be worthwhile setting up a VAT registered company especially if your customers are already VAT registered and can recover there VAT.

If your customers are not VAT registered then don't register leaves you with a bigger margin, however you may have to if your supplying in excess of approx £53k Per Annum using a UK company.

I ship 40 foot containers to the uk, cheaper to send a 40 footer than two 20s, costs me about £1800 for a 40 footer, if you send handicrafts, there is no duty to pay in the uk, just the vat and port charges, get a good shipping agent in the uk and he will sort all this out, I have a good agent in Felixstowe, grange shipping and my agent in Thailand is in Chaing mai, you will be suprised what sort of profit you can make, I ship thai Guians, cartwheels, garden furniture, check my site and have a look, it will give you some idea, I have a small warehouse in Buriram, all the best.........

Why not try Ebay?

That will give you an idea if people want your goods!