importing an item

I am trying to work out the cost and process required for buying an item from overseas, and then having it shipped to NZ. It would be around 1m x 1m x 1.5m, 100kg.

There seem to be a lot of complications regarding duties and shipping, so I'd appreciate any advice from those who have gone through the process.

Regarding the shipping:
I have come across a lot of terms for which I am not sure of the exact meaning.
There's the shipping company, which seems obvious, so hopefully is.
Then there's a freight forwarder, a handler, and a carrier, a shipping agent, a broker, an excise client.
What are all these? Do I need to know? What's the simplest process?
Do they handle organising the shipping company? Do they organise consolidating my package with other people's to fill a container? Do they organise insurance?
Which do I need to use, and do I pay them directly, in advance/after? How do I choose a good one?

Then there are duties and fees:
GST, import transaction fees, MPI biosecurity levies, and applicable duty on the item. Are there other fees?
This appears straightforward, payable once goods have arrived, to get the goods released, but if it isn't, I'd like to know. Is it paid directly or through one of the above people?

where from? Sounds like machinery?

Probably from the UK. No, not machinery - not that interesting! It is a combined WC/bidet. The only ones you can get here are seat only add-ons to standard toilet pans.

?? Bidet

None of those are a combined WC/bidet. They are quite common in some countries. The only bidets available in NZ are either a separate pan to the WC, which requires a lot of space, or an add-on seat device that sits above the WC pan, and is bulky plastic and not easy clean.

I haven't been through this process myself, but a cautionary tail from friends who imported their car when they moved back here from the UK - they paid for the shipping company to get insurance, but they found out later when the company went bust (while their car was on the high seas!) that the company hadn't actually bought the insurance that my friends had paid for. Chaos ensued.

So my advice would be to make sure you go with a reputable company, not the cheapest, and make sure they do actually get insurance if you pay for it.
No idea about anything else, sorry....

I've imported a lot of saddlery items from USA, Spain, India etc which usually arrive in huge boxes about half the size of an office desk. Weight would be about 10-30kg. Value from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

You will need to check with customs but you may need to get an import license for these goods and will probably have to pay GST and possibly duty as well. It's for your own use so they should be able to tell you if you need an agent or whether you can get one of their agents to clear the goods for you, and what you need to do. They may want to have it fumigated - this is done at your cost and they will organise this for you, I have had a few things fumigated on arrival and no issues other than having to wait for it to be done and pay for the cost of doing it!

Usually whoever you are buying the goods from will organise the shipping for you, and with this they will also organise insurance if you require it.

If the company does not ship to NZ you have the choice of using someone like www.shipito.com who will set up a virtual mailbox for you, and arrange shipping of your item to NZ after you have filled in the customs declaration and paid for the freight and/or the insurance etc. I have used them for many purchases and they are excellent to deal with, and your packages just come in through the mail system. NZ Post has a similar system which you should also check out. I do not know the maximum size of packages, so you will need to check that as well.

Thanks for those comments. The weight and size of this is outside the limits for shipitto but it looks like NZpost have recently added an oversize allowance. I need to login to check what that goes up to.

Yes, I'd need Customs codes for myself and the supplier.

Fumigation would be required if the packing had timber in it, but as all the item is impervious porcelain metal and plastic, it shouldn't need it for itself. I know someone who does inspections in Christchurch, and often has to slash open the underside of sofas to inspect the timber frames for insects and bark etc. particularly ones from Asia, where the timber is more likely to be cheap and ungraded.

There is currently a reduced or waived duty (normally about 5% for this item) on most construction items because of the housing shortage.

Yes, GST would be payable.

well, my German friends have one, and they got it ~20 years ago so they must be available.

Hawkspur wrote:
Fumigation would be required if the packing had timber in it, but as all the item is impervious porcelain metal and plastic, it shouldn't need it for itself. I know someone who does inspections in Christchurch, and often has to slash open the underside of sofas to inspect the timber frames for insects and bark etc. particularly ones from Asia, where the timber is more likely to be cheap and ungraded.

Fumigation is not essential, if the packaging is clearly visibly, it would likely be inspected visually. Coming from the UK it is unlikely to be an issue, speaking as someone who brought a wooden garden swing, wooden framed furniture in NZ with us, the shipping packaging was opened and looked at for the swing, but no treatment was required (mind you it probably was the cleanest garden swing they had ever seen)

Not wanting to state the obvious but ... have you looked on the NZ Customs website ( www.customs.govt.nz ) or contacted their call centre (0800 4 customs)? I don't think they are allowed to say who are good freight forwarders, brokers etc but they should certainly help you with regard to likely import costs, the process, etc. Off the top of my head I can think of the following freight forwarders who could probably sort you out: - Fliway, Kuehne & Nagel, Jenners, Hillibrand, Mainfreight, Mondiale, Panalpina, Schenker, etc.Good luck

Sorry. I have re-read your question and hopefully this will help. You should be able to get the overseas supplier arrange shipping for you. They should have a contact here in NZ. If they have supplied goods to someone in NZ before they will have a Supplier code, if not you will have to get one from Customs - Call Centre. The value you declare to Customs should be the CIF value (Cost of goods plus Insurance and Freight). Duty is then charged on this value then GST on top of the CIF and duty total. The duty rate depends of the classification which could be either under 6910.90 (if ceramic) or 3922.10 (if plastic). You will also have to pay the Import Entry Transaction fee plus the MPI fee which total less than $50. I think you should get more info from your proposed supplier and see what they can do for you then contact Customs and get the info from this end. There may also be an Inward Cargo Transaction fee but I'm not sure. Once again, good luck