Importing Tyres from the US

[Beavis]

How would you go about getting a freight forwarding company to ship it.

Company wants to charge me $200US for a set of 4 shocks from the U.S.A.

1. Open Yellow Pages
2. Pick freight forwarder
3. Use dog & bone
4. Shoot the shit
5. ???
6. Profit

[mx6KLZE]

Ahh that is how they work . What is this airport to airport gibberish. I have to get them to mail it the airport where it gets picked up and dropped off here and I go pick it up at the airport..

[260BC]

Thanks for the offer Beavis, I think the retailer has inflated the freight charge for some extra profit. Some US suppliers want to charge more for foreign buyers, I now have a better deal so bugger him.

With US sellers I've found that the Ebayers usually will ship to AU at a fair price, no problem. A lot of the more traditional type businesses though are more difficult to deal with.

[SPDRCR]

Tirerack just quoted me 247.22 USD to ship 4 (light weight) wheels and tyres for the Lotus by Fedex.

[Beavis]

Thanks for the offer Beavis, I think the retailer has inflated the freight charge for some extra profit. Some US suppliers want to charge more for foreign buyers, I now have a better deal so bugger him.

With US sellers I've found that the Ebayers usually will ship to AU at a fair price, no problem. A lot of the more traditional type businesses though are more difficult to deal with.

I am actually thinking of offering my own (very small-time) freight forwarding service; basically PFers would have stuff drop-shipped to me and then I would get it to Oz for them. However the hardest thing is figuring out a pricing structure -- I would be keen to hear what value you would put on such a service?

[SPDRCR]

You would need to get a good deal from someone like Fedex like Tirerack has.

[tim510]

beavis, how would you feel about having a nissan v6 stroker kit shipped to you, split up, wrapped in news paper and then re-sending in smaller packages to australia?

copius amounts of budweiser money to motivate you of course....

[260BC]

I am actually thinking of offering my own (very small-time) freight forwarding service; basically PFers would have stuff drop-shipped to me and then I would get it to Oz for them. However the hardest thing is figuring out a pricing structure -- I would be keen to hear what value you would put on such a service?

The thing with FedEx et al is they do their own Customs clearance in house, they tell you how much any duty etc is over the phone and you can pay by credit card. When its cleared they deliver it to you.

The alternative is an expensive mess around in my experience. The shippers nominated Custom's agent get hold of the goods and may charge whatever they like for clearance, then storage if it takes a while. Slow as and more expensive in the long run.

They may be better ways, I'm no expert.

[Captiva Fan]

Tirerack just quoted me 247.22 USD to ship 4 (light weight) wheels and tyres for the Lotus by Fedex.

What, really? It looks like they've got a few tyres which would suit my uses pretty well & for a helluva lot less than an equivalent here; like something called a Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec for ~AU$150/ea that looks like really good value compared to something like a $300 Falken Azeni or whatever here.

The silly thing about it is that even at that rate it still looks like a proposition, replacement Bridgestone RE55's would cost ~AU$2200.00 here, bloody ridiculous. No, the US ones are not RE55's but..........

What's the difference between an RE055 & an RE050A? I ask because Tirerack has RE050A's in my size for ~AU$220 ... I'm pretty sure I was quoted $320/ea the other day at a Bridgestone tyre-centre (ie. with no haggling), so I couldn't see that working out to be worth my while after GST & import duty & freight.
__________________

[GTSBoy]

RE55 is an R comp club racing thingo. RE050 and 050A are just the top of their UHP road tyre range (ie not semis). Massively different kettles of fish.

[tipper]

tirerack quoted me $300 US for postage, total cost of 4 tyres and postage was $1020 from memory. I didnt get charged GST or Duty. Took about a week to arrive.

[Nero]

http://www.viaddress.com/

[bagger]

Where is the best place to get Motorsport tyres from the US?

[Beavis]

beavis, how would you feel about having a nissan v6 stroker kit shipped to you, split up, wrapped in news paper and then re-sending in smaller packages to australia?

copius amounts of budweiser money to motivate you of course....

This is pretty much exactly the thing I'd like to do, but like I said I have no idea how to "price" it. What do you reckon would be fair?

[JamesB]

Tirerack just quoted me 247.22 USD to ship 4 (light weight) wheels and tyres for the Lotus by Fedex.

There's no logic in their freight prices. Tirerack just quoted $215.84 to ship 4 of 235/60R15 Pirelli P600 to me in Canada, so your price is very good by comparison.