The problems i have had with my importation of the star trek machine are due to a seller not delivering what he promised to do paperwork wise.
But, we are close.
I have spent hours on the phone and will be going to CUSTOMS tomorrow.
Anyone bringing in anything must do the following to do the absolute minimum.
1. obviously get the item shipped to the seaport and loaded onto the container ship in the USA. Done by broker in the USA. Cost me $675 USA dollars.
2. Get a copy of the Bill of Lading and Seaway Bill including all weights, measurements by cubicmetres, **these documents show the following-
( who is sending , who is recieving , addresses of both parties, cost to ship, the item de******ion etc,exact cost of item $, what ship it is on, when it leaves port, when it gets here, the ships name, what container it is in or the part container it is in -called a consol) etc etc
3. Once the item arrives in the Australian port, and u pay the port fees, and other various charges that the freight company will charge you, in my case, this is an extra $400.
4.Once the port fees are paid to the Shipping Company, they willgive you a Delivery Order.
5. Take the Delivery Order, the Seaway Bill, the Bill of Lading, your drivers licence, 2 other forms of ID, fillout a Import declaration called a B650 form, then u go to Customs, then after filling out another form which is a Classification form for duties, u are almost 90% of the way to having your stuff Customs Cleared. Now , just pay another hundred dollars in fees, plus the duties, another $150, and u might be luckily nearly finished. Gulp !
NOW, if you do not have a Packing Declaration done by the sender, you are now going to be FAR@KED FINANCIALLY. This says that the item being sent does not contain wood packaging etc etc, and therefore the item will be what they call screen free, which means in my case, i will not have to pay the quarrantine service $700 to look at my item which includes having it trucked from the shippers holding yard to an approved Quarrantine yard etc etc.
I AM CHASING MY PACKING DECLARATION. STAY TUNED.
ONCE I HAVE THIS, AND IF CUSTOMS DECIDE NOT TO BOTHER BEING PARANOID AND ASKING QUARRANTINE TO DO THE COSTLY INSPECTION ANYWAY, I CAN THEN TAKE MY PAPERWORK WITH THE CUSTOMS CLEARANCE FORMS TO THE SHIPPING COMPANY NEAR THE DOCKS AND GET MY ITEM.
my advice. do alot of research yourself. do not trust freight forwarders and customs brokers, they will mislead u morning noon and night to get money out of u at every turn just to suck you dry of money. RESEARCH. RESEARCH.RESEARCH.
WHEN I FINISH THIS WHOLE PROCESS I WILL DO A "importing guide for dummies" type of thing to show of my experiences. lol.
* STAY TUNED, OFF TO CUSTOMS TOMORROW.
