Hi,

I posted this in the General Forum over Christmas, but only received one reply, hence I'm moving it to (hopefully) a more appropriate forum.

Can anyone advise me of the best ways to ship a large amount of books to the UK?

This is my personal collection (NOT 'merchandise' or stock), weighs approx 275kgs and would take up about 1.25 metres (one and a quarter) of space. Certainly no more than one and a half square metres.

I wondered if anyone knows of a special 'book' or 'printed paper' shipping rate that i could use?

Otherwise, if using space in a shipping container is my best option, can anyone recommend some reliable shipping companies?

Many thanks in advance for any ideas and suggestions!

You need a freight forwarder. You can either do that by using a Bangkok company or it can be done by a UK firm. They'll give you a quote for door to door from Thailand to UK and include customs documentation ,insurance etc.

Cheapest option is by sea where your stuff is collected by a Thai firm and goes in to a consolidated container in Bangkok.

I've used this firm before http://www.gbsfreight.co.uk/freight/asia-shipping-ocean-air but it's worth getting a few quotes.

Geo Global in Bangkok helped a friend of mine when he moved back to the UK.

http://www.geo-global.net/

The quotes come free but I'd advise you to use a reputable company.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check those out.

I did wonder if the amount I'm sending warrants a frieght forwarding company? As I say, it's likley to be just over a cubic metre in volume. I feel like I'm in a bit of a no-man's land where it's too big for standard postage options, but too small for the larger shipping companies.

Thanks again ;-)

Hi,

You can ship a minimum of one cubic meter, no problem.

Try in Bangkok Hongkong Movers, or Hongkong Transpack

Good luck and let us know how you get on and what they quote you.

Thanks very much for the tips. I'll update with quotes at a later date.

275 kg of books. What are you up to??

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

275 kg of books. What are you up to??

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Ha ha, nothing suspicious. I'm just a nerd who collects books.

It's eight years worth that I need to get back to the UK as I finally leave Bangkok. ;-)

That's quite a heavy package. How are the quotes going?

While I doubt anyone's got any lingering interest in this thread, I did say I'd update with quotes, so here goes...

Well, I've emailed countless shipping companies, both in Thailand and the UK, and well over half haven't even replied and those that did reply tended to be VERY vague about full costs. It's been an incredibly protracted and frustrating trudge and I'm still searching!

Anyway to send the amount mentioned above via Sea Freight, I've received quotes from everything between 10,000 baht to 90,000 baht. How there can be such a wide variance has just added to my confusion.

In the very unlikley event anyone needs further info, just post on here...

10,000 baht seems reasonable to me. Is that with a reputable company?

The 10,000 THB is with Inno Cargo and not sure that covers costs on arrival. Foolishly, I didn't realise that you also have to pay to pick up the items at the other end, and that seems to be the largest cost.

The actual physical space in the shipping crate seems like the smallest part of the bill, seems to only be about 30 - 75 USD per cubic metre, it's all the documentation, pick up, forwarding on to a warehouse nearer the final destination, etc. that seems to be where the main costs are.

The quote I'm considering at the moment is with Cardinal Maritime and is likely to be a bit less than 15,000 THB and the 'freight' part of that quote is only about 1,500 THB!

I've expanded this conversation with the following topic requesting specific advice on Sea Freight:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/709297-lcl-sea-freight-shipping-advice-sought/

I've expanded this conversation with the following topic requesting specific advice on Sea Freight:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/709297-lcl-sea-freight-shipping-advice-sought/

In which case this one is no longer relevant, so I will close it.