Has anyone cleared their own shipping?

[gypsy]

Hi,

Can anyone please advise me if they have cleared their own personal effects on arrival in New Zealand? Or if you have used a clearing agent how much they charged?

In our case we are only shipping our personal possessions back to New Zealand that we shipped overseas 2 years prior. No vehicles involved.

[mylesdw]

Yes, we cleared our container and another crate of stuff that came later. It's not difficult.

[Duncan74]

I cleared some unacompanied baggage. Was only one box, but the process would be the same. You fill in the form that you get from the customs website, take it to MAF who then decide if they want to inspect stuff. In my case they decided there was nothing they wanted to see, but they may want you to bring some stuff to them for opening/inspection.
You then take that form and the form MAF give you to Customs who will ask you to pay about $50. I couldn't pay in person for swome reason, so I got a call half an hour later and paid over the phone. Customs need some form from the shipper direct, so I had to get DHL to fax that to customs, but Customs were very helpful in telling me exactly what was needed and what to ask for.

Finally, I then sent all of that to DHL who begrudgingly delivered my parcel without charging me the additional $200 they wanted for doing that paper shuffling.

In summary, MAF and Customs are very helpful, and willing to help you fill it in correctly. The shioppers may be quite obstruictive as they I can onlyt assume make a tidy profit by doing this on behalf of people that can't be botherered / don't know what to do.

[dharder]

I shipped a car with lots of personal stuff in boxes in it three years ago, arranging it myself (all within a container). I hadn't quite realised that the people who shipped it would only take it as far as the Port of Auckland, and basically leave the container there... Steep learning curve.

It took a bit of time to understand everything about the process, and I think I got the runaround a wee bit because I was so clueless, but on the whole, people seemed to be willing to help, if a bit confused that I didn't have an agency dealing with this for me.

Perfectly possible, though.

Daniela

[huntergal1]

Daniela
I am in the middle of arranging to ship my truck and some personal items back to NZ, they have quoted from my USA address to the port only. How did you know the container had arrived and what advice could you give me?

Thank you

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

[dharder]

I am in the middle of arranging to ship my truck and some personal items back to NZ, they have quoted from my USA address to the port only. How did you know the container had arrived and what advice could you give me?

I tracked the ship via the internet, and then called the shipping company when it got there. I did have to make a few phone calls to find out what paperwork was necessary, and ended up doing more trips than necessary because I was so clueless. I spent some time at customs in ANZAC street (or is it Customs street?) to fill out paper work.

Once the car (in the container) got here, I had to arrange for it to be taken to some storage (on the back of a lorry) location. MAF came to that location to look at the boxes I had packed in the car, which I could then take home. The car then had to have some more steaming done to it (I had that professionally done when I left), and after it was cleared with MAF as well, it had to be transported to AA place to get it on the road (on a tow truck, as it wasn't allowed on the road yet).

When you say 'ship your truck', does that mean a left hand drive? I am assuming you have checked all the conditions and your truck is okay to be on the road here?

Good luck,

Daniela