Moving can get pricey. Once you know the volume and/or weight of your personal goods, the container size, whether it’s an FCL or LCL shipment and what kind of transport you’ll be using, you would know Moving & Transportation Costs, Packing & Unpacking Costs, Moving Insurance Costs, Storage Costs But there are still a few additional shipping costs that you need to think about. Below we look at many of unexpected expenses you may face and how to save money.
These are: Customs duties charges & taxes, container inspection fees, General Rate Increase (GRI), Destination delivery charges, quarantine fees, and insurance cover.
Customs Duty Charges & Taxes
Another cost to look into before moving is customs duties in the country you are moving to. Your destination country will tax your shipment along with fees such as port service charges and terminal handling charges. Most often custom charges and duty are charged based on the value of the goods themselves. However, these will vary from port to port so you should speak to your shipping company beforehand about what to expect. Our advice is to declare everything you’re bringing into the country and don’t take anything that isn’t allowed.
Typical Cost: Anywhere from free to almost unlimited depending on the value and type of goods you’re going to bringing with you.
Container inspection fees
Now with the advancement of technology, there are electronic scanning machines and scanners, so generally the containers are not physically inspected. But again it depends upon country to country. In some countries like USA, just 5% of inbound containers receive physical inspection, but at some ports, it is different. However, whether the shipment is an FCL or LCL, if customs chooses to examine a container for any reason (whether it is at random or because of suspicion) the costs for not only the inspection, but also any fees incurred while it is being done is the responsibility of the shipper. So one has to discuss these points with the mover and should be very well known to the things which are not permitted in the destination country to avoid any issues.
General Rate Increase (GRI)
GRI is planned increase of a base rate from a certain date. It is the average rise in base Car shipping rates implemented by car shipping companies. They are designed to cover the continually increasing costs faced by freight carriers and they occur very regularly (sometimes once a month). A continual cycle occurs: shipping companies implement GRIs, demand falls, they lower their prices, demand rises and another GRI is implemented. This is what makes container shipping prices so volatile. Consequently, once your Cargo Ready Date (CRD) has been agreed
with your shipping company, be sure to check whether it falls before or after a new GRI as this can make a significant difference to the price.
Destination delivery charges
You must make sure that your move is door to door move which means the moving company guarantees that the goods will be picked up from and delivered to the locations decided by the customer. The door to door move includes Pick up, Shipment, Customs, Delivery, Ground transport, Handling costs, Surcharges, Customs clearance fees. But at times moving companies might only be offering you a port-to-port rate or door to port rate, which means they’ll deliver your container to its destination port and then you’ll have to deal with it after that. This can often be more costly than opting for a full door-to-door service and it’s a bunch of logistics that you probably don’t want to deal with.
Quarantine fees
At the destination country, generally while officials inspect all items coming into the country, it is checked if there are dirty or unclean pieces of furniture and outdoor equipment. This inspection comes with a fee, along with further charges if they find something that shouldn’t be coming in. It’s important that you know about any quarantine process before you start packing your belongings, so speak to your shipping company.
Much of it boils down to a few simple pieces of advice. You must collaborate with trustworthy moving company which is professional and experienced to handle your move without any trouble. At Movguru, we have partnered with the FIDI/IAM accrediated moving agencies which are reliable and reputed. So key lies in hiring a conscientious expert which will undoubtedly make your move a great experience.