Shipping Q & A

Can we take our wine collection home?

You could possibly sneak in a few bottles into your groupage shipping although you should declare it and pay duty. You will need to apply for a liquor licence from South Africa. You will need to itemise each bottle and give the equivalent Rand value per bottle. Your shipping agent can apply for the lincence for you once they have these details.

Can we ship a container home, rather than a number of boxes?

(We want to take a couch, a coffee table, a large fan, a patio heater, two bicycles as well as loads of boxes of clothes and kitchen goods etc). It would be a good idea if you were taking your car home to take a whole container, otherwise you will probably share a container with someone else who is shipping to the same port. Get the shipping agent to visit your home to give you quote and let them guide you on what sort of container you will be sending. Get a few qotes as services differ quiet a lot and you will learn something from each agents visit.

How long does shipping to SA take?

Groupage shipping takes 6-8 weeks because you must wait for the container to be filled whereas full load container shipping takes 4 weeks

Do the agents take care of clearing etc on that side?

Yes they do, you may be required to fill out more forms (affidavit of returning resident) and summit these documents to the receiving agents in SA. It can be a bit of a schlepp travelling to their offices which are likely not to be in town.

How does the packing work? i.e. Do professionals come into our home and pack for us?

If you opt for the full packing service professional packers pack up your entire home.

What are the costs of keeping things in storage in SA in case we haven't got ourselves set up there when our shipping arrives?

The shipping agents usually give you a few days grace on either side before they start charging storage.