Using APN shipping vs 'going it alone'
I have a quote to send 3 boxes weighing 11Kg each to a US FC, from an APN courier.
The price is £300 + VAT (+ £11 Disbursements fees + £11 deferment fees)
‘Send to Amazon’ (UPS) through Seller Central is £294, so a difference of £60-£80
I have 2 questions…
- Does the ‘Send to Amazon’ (UPS) option include compensation of some kind?
- Has anyone ever done / arranged their own admin / duty paid stuff? I want everything to go smoothly and nothing missed / all the boxes ticked etc, but I believe £80 is a lot to pay for a bit of admin
Here is the APN’s ‘blurb’ for the admin stuff, below.
"…We will settle all Duty and VAT amounts on import arrival to prevent delays in customs clearance and there will be a small disbursement fee of 2.5% of the amount paid with a minimum of GBP 11.00 and a maximum of GBP 100.00 charged.
This amount will be shown on your freight invoice and not on your Duty and VAT invoice.
The above quotation is based on a direct courier service with daily departures and an estimated door to door transit time of 3-4 days.
So, you can ensure our pricing compares favourably with other forwarders please note that our pricing includes the following services.
Customs clearance will include your VAT/EORI number to ensure you can reclaim your VAT.
We will settle all Duty & Vat amounts on import arrival to prevent delays in customs clearance and there will be a small deferment fee of 2.5% of the amount paid with a Min of GBP 11.00 and a Max of GBP 100 charged. This amount will be shown on your freight invoice and not your Duty & VAT invoice.
Free marine insurance cover on all shipments to cover you 100% for loss or damage in transit (value limits apply). Does not cover goods stored in our warehouse, standard BIFA trading terms apply to storage.
We have daily booking slots with all Amazon fulfilment centres to avoid time delivery surcharges.
