Singapore Expats

We enjoy a nice bottle of red wine and know that Singapore will give us sticker shock when it comes to buying a case of red wine.

For new arrivals, do you suggest that we pay to ship 4 cases? What does import/duty fees look like?

Too lazy to google? Let me help you: http://www.customs.gov.sg/leftNav/trad/ ... +Goods.htm

Thank you for the link. We are also hoping to get some personal feedback as to what to expect, is it worth the effort, is there a particular service provider who does it better than the others.
With so many details connected with relocating a family, getting experienced personal feedback on some of the details is greatly appreciated.

The link tells you how much you will need to pay to customs for the shipped alcohol, if you order from abroad, or even if you ship it to yourself. You can ship it as part of the container, but you will still have to pay customs. You can ask your mover if they will do it for you maybe.

On the question whether it is worth the effort, check the wine prices at cold storage and redmart websites, and compare with your cost of importing the wine.

Maybe someone else can advice on wine importers etc.

Also, remember if you have it shipped in a container, it may well not survive the journey if held up on the dock/ship in a non-air conditioned container.

jk21 wrote:We enjoy a nice bottle of red wine and know that Singapore will give us sticker shock when it comes to buying a case of red wine.

For new arrivals, do you suggest that we pay to ship 4 cases? What does import/duty fees look like?

When we moved over we brought 275 bottles in various boxes and such that I'd accumulated in Europe over the last 4 years. It averaged out to be about S$10 a bottle duty and tax, which was well worth it. You have to list what the wines' alcohol contents are and the estimated price but I think they really just took my hand-written total and calculated the amount rather than check whether that bottle of '04 Brunello was really 20 euro or 50 euro etc.

It's definitely worth it but remember that the wines may encounter heat and other trauma along the way so don't expect perfection once the bottles are opened. Then again, I brought very delicate Barolos and Burgundies and they held up just fine. I stored them at Extra Space Boon Keng and let them sit about a month before starting to drink them. No problems.

Hi srd6

We are also about to move to Singapore, and thinking of shipping over a couple of cases of wine (much encouraged by your post!). Who did you contact to arrange shipping it over, and paying the duty? Did you have to let customs know ahead of time or is this something the shipping company can sort out?
Any advice/suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks!