Singapore Expats

Has anyone had any experience shipping a TV from Singapore to the US. I have a 45" flatscreen in the original box that weighs 32KG and want to find a way to ship it for a reasonable price or will have to just sell it. Most of the Shippers I have seen mentioned on the forum seem to focus on whole house moves and not just 2-3 items.

I also have a couple of pieces of luggage I need to ship to the US, so wondering if anyone has experience with excess baggage shippers from Singapore to the US that they can recommned. Do you thinhknk they would ship the TV? Thanks.

Xtine

Will it work with the 220V/50Hz power that is standard here in Singapore without requiring a transformer?
If not, then it might be best not to bother with shipping it over.

a) Is it 110/240 volt compatible?
b) Is it NTSC compatible, ie, dual signal types?

It will cost you an arm and a leg to send, easily more than S$1500. Doesn't really matter if you use the excess baggage guys or some other method. It weights 32 kg but it's size with packing will jack the price way up.

Thanks for the responses.
Yes, it is compatible signal wise and power wise. I have just atarted to request some quotes but will wait to see the cost.

Strong Eagle: Is that estimate based on your experience with shipping such an item or just a gut feel? I was thinking it would be around $500.

Anyways, still need some recommendations of shipping companies to check with for a quote that will ship just a TV (and not an entire container). Thanks

xtine

xtine10 wrote:Thanks for the responses.
Yes, it is compatible signal wise and power wise. I have just atarted to request some quotes but will wait to see the cost.

Strong Eagle: Is that estimate based on your experience with shipping such an item or just a gut feel? I was thinking it would be around $500.

Anyways, still need some recommendations of shipping companies to check with for a quote that will ship just a TV (and not an entire container). Thanks

xtine

I had considered shipping a PC with CRT monitor. The cost was over $1200 US. I have shipped a set of golf clubs to Australia. DHL tried to hit me up for more than S$1100. I have made a few inquires regarding shipping, excess baggage, etc. Rates are terrible.

Like the golf clubs, I could have flown on an economy ticket, taken the clubs as luggage, and flown back for about $50 more than sending them one way with a carrier.

I have also determined that it is not really any cheaper to send by ocean freight for pieces like this.

It's been a while but I don't think things have changed much.

Do let us know what you find out so we can update our records.

You can pay by cubic inside a container heading for the states, their is a term used for it in shipping baggage in a shared container, that is the cheapest you will get.

Ring to a freight forwarder and ask for it to go by container, some have a fixed minimum price, like 1200$ others have no fixed price though waiting and delivery could be much longer, becuase they do not ship until a container is full, could take 3 month delivery...though mine took 7 weeks.

try http://www.sinfreight.com/index.htm Please let us know how they priced, both sea and air. It shouldn't be more than 150$ per cubic ft, though like i say some take a minium fixed price of 150 cubic some don't.

ksl wrote:You can pay by cubic inside a container heading for the states, their is a term used for it in shipping baggage in a shared container, that is the cheapest you will get.

Ring to a freight forwarder and ask for it to go by container, some have a fixed minimum price, like 1200$ others have no fixed price though waiting and delivery could be much longer, becuase they do not ship until a container is full, could take 3 month delivery...though mine took 7 weeks.

try http://www.sinfreight.com/index.htm Please let us know how they priced, both sea and air. It shouldn't be more than 150$ per cubic ft, though like i say some take a minium fixed price of 150 cubic some don't.

Yes this is true, you can purchase space on an existing container, this is known as LCL (Less than container load), cargo vessels depart to the US on a weekly basis. Actually why not ask around the forums and see if any other expats are relocating back to the US, maybe you share some container space with them ? Just an idea....

Rgds

Imran

Just thought I might update this in case anybody else is interested (or has some better ideas!).

I've basically got no more than 10 cartons of personal stuff I wanted to ship to SYD or BNE and it has really shocked me how much things will cost. I originally shipped 2 cubic metres of stuff from London to Singapore for about GBP 550 (all inclusive). What I need to on-ship now is probably only about 3/4 of that.

My couple of days' search so far have come up with the following:

1. Standard relocation / removalist companies. Generally a min shipment of 3 cubic metres. Nothing less than SGD 3500 quoted from several companies.

2. Shipping companies that collect your goods, wait for others to fill a container then on-ship. So far, best quote has been about SGD 1,200.

3. DHL / Fed Ex - they don't ship personal items.

4. Singpost.

At the moment, I'm seriously considering Singpost. To Aus, they have a price scale up to a maximum of 20kgs per box (which will be about SGD 90). Dimension limit must be no bigger than 3 metres, calculated by lenth + girth. That means, on a rectangular box, you add up all the 4 sides, and then add the lenth. Together it can't be more than 3 metres.

So at this rate, SingPost (by sea) seems the best option.

have you tried poking around the shipping/courier/delivery companies in lucky plaza that caters to foreign workers? i know many foreign domestic workers ship boxes of stuff home regularly for cheap using the services that are provided by shops in that building.

kwcm wrote:So at this rate, SingPost (by sea) seems the best option.

That's what I have been saying many times (in other threads):
Singpost parcels are the cheapest (and easiest) way to ship stuff overseas!

As taxico mentioned, there might be slightly cheaper options to some of the foreign worker destinations, but bringing the stuff to their office will probebly cost you more than the price difference - not worth the effort! (How can they be cheaper than S$90 and still offer a reliable service?!?)

[quote="beppi"][quote="kwcm"]So at this rate, SingPost (by sea) seems the best option.[/quote]

That's what I have been saying many times (in other threads):
Singpost parcels are the cheapest (and easiest) way to ship stuff overseas!

As taxico mentioned, there might be slightly cheaper options to some of the foreign worker destinations, but bringing the stuff to their office will probebly cost you more than the price difference - not worth the effort! (How can they be cheaper than S$90 and still offer a reliable service?!?)[/quote]

Wondering if you (or anyone else) have any experience with customs posting personal items to Oz? I understand that broadly there are 2 additional issues: (1) customs and (2) AQIS (ie quarantine).

My understanding is that UPEs (unaccompanied personal effects) are GST exempt (as are any new items / purchases less than AUD1000. As for quarantine, that seems more luck of the draw. Firstly to ensure that prohibited items are not shipped, and secondly to ensure that items in a carton are properly identified. Both of which should reduce the likelihood of quarantine officers having to inspect the goods.

The danger with having goods inspected is not so much the offending articles (which one shouldn't have anyway), but the ridiculously high inspections costs that will be incurred without you knowing, and without your control.

So just wondering if anyone knows what the steps - ie does paper work need to be filed to Oz authorities separately before goods are shipped to ensure it all goes smoothly on the other side without being held ransom by these quarantine charges?

And going back to the title of this thread, with the constant Electronics exhibitions and sales going on in Singapore at the moment coinciding with my discovery of the Singpost option, I've been very tempted to buy a new TV and ship it to Oz (making sure it falls below the AUS1,000 of course).

It does seem however quite risky to subject a brand new TV to the roughness of sea shipment - has anyone had any problems with their TV being shipped this way? I know of course that there's insurance, but of course, it's never the intention to have to rely on it.

Guess how they got here?!?

sundaymorningstaple wrote:Guess how they got here?!?

Yes - but I wonder whether it gets treated differently when it gets here together with hundreds of other TVs nicely wrapped and in its own container vs one TV (even though nicely wrapped, but not in a bundle) that is more likely to be thrown around.

kwcm wrote:And going back to the title of this thread, with the constant Electronics exhibitions and sales going on in Singapore at the moment coinciding with my discovery of the Singpost option, I've been very tempted to buy a new TV and ship it to Oz (making sure it falls below the AUS1,000 of course).

It does seem however quite risky to subject a brand new TV to the roughness of sea shipment - has anyone had any problems with their TV being shipped this way? I know of course that there's insurance, but of course, it's never the intention to have to rely on it.

I shipped a 42 inch LCD via ship to Melbourne brand new years ago, it did not work when I tried to install it in OZ. Tried to claim insurance but I was given a run around. End up buying one from Harvey in OZ. Just not worth the risk when comes to electronic stuff