International Freight in a Nutshell

What goes into moving store inventory from one country to another? To start with, large quantities of items, no matter what they are, get heavy and bulky fast. Dropping them into cardboard boxes and mailing internationally quickly becomes prohibitively expensive. If it's not a time sensitive delivery the most cost effective option is ocean freight.

The process for moving goods via international freight can be broken down into a few major areas:

• Inventory and packing
• Export paperwork and customs
• Loading and transport
• Import paperwork and customs
• Delivery

For the inventory and packing part, it can be a sanity saver to have an agent on site to look out for your interests. I was lucky enough to have Gabi of catfluff.com overseeing the work. She even provided pictures!

Due to weight we went with sturdy metal boxes for packaging instead of cardboard. The average weight of the packed boxes is 28-29 kilograms (62-64 pounds), with the lightest around 10kg (22 pounds) and the heaviest a relatively back-breaking 34kg (75 pounds).

Once the goods are packed, invoices drawn up, and payments made, the exporter can work on clearing customs for the source country. If everything goes smoothly all paperwork will be approved quickly and you can move on to transporting your goods.

For transport on a cargo ship your items have to be packed into shipping containers. These come in a variety of configurations either 20 or 40 feet in length. Ships are more limited by container volume than weight. If your shipment isn't large enough to fill a container then it will be combined with others by a consolidator to make better use of space. Freight carriers bill by dimensional weight, meaning rate you pay are is larger of the cost by weight or the cost by volume. All freight is measured in metric units and rates are by metric ton (1,000 kilograms) or cubic meter. $100 per unit seemed to be roughly the going rate when I started this process. Transit times can usually be measured in weeks. Travel time from ports on India's west coast to New York City is just over 3 weeks.

Shipping route for India America Express

Any shipment coming into the USA that is valued at over $2000 requires what is called formal entry. Formal customs entry entails lots of paperwork, a bond to cover duty and other fees, and a good amount of waiting. Some of the requirements are complex enough that there are licensed brokers who handle customs paperwork for a fee though it's completely legal to do your own filing and document running. Numerous government agencies get involved as well depending on what you're importing. The FDA, EPA, FWS and more can all impose additional requirements, fees, and inspections on your shipment. For my shipment the Fish and Wildlife Service's caveats could potentially come into play due to some of the beads being made of bone.

Once a shipment is finally released by customs, it has to be delivered. Many customs brokers will also arrange freight forwarding. Fees for this will vary with weight and bulk of your shipment, distance from the port, and whether or not the delivery address has a loading dock.

In the USA delivery is not the end of the line for shipments that went through formal entry. There is a process called liquidation during which customs reviews and finalizes all paperwork involved then closes the file on your shipment. Normal liquidation can take up to 1 year, though there are cases that can cause it to take longer. It's a very good idea to plan to hold on to any related paperwork for at least 5 years afterwards.

For a first time importer, you want to allow extra time for the whole process. Doubly so if the person you are buying from is not an experienced exporter. I started back in mid-September and as of November 1st my shipment was finally on a ship pulling out of port.