Chinese Imported Sewing Machines

[Bert51]

I brought feet for my machine from Aliexpress, maybe they have the feet for that model?

Bert.

[shoepatcher]

19 hours ago, Bert51 said:

If the Keestar Adler copy is half as good as my 105, then it's a good machine.

Bert.

They are pretty good.  I have sewn on their 205 Clone.

glenn

[dikman]

I just spoke to another customs broker and he gave me a breakdown on the costs involved (this time I knew the questions to ask ). It is no longer an attractive proposition. For anyone in Australia who may be thinking of doing this here is a breakdown of the figures in Australian $.

Keestar 441 (head only) - $1476

Freight by sea (organised by the company) - $117

Port forwarding (organised by the company) - $287

GST (10%) - $175

Port Charges Adelaide - $500

Broker fees - $150

Customs fees - $195

Grand total - $2899!

He said that the figures he quoted could be on the high side but even so the savings probably would only be around $50 or so. He also said that a Chinese company might charge what seems like a low freight price but there are usually "kickbacks" when it gets to this end to compensate them, something that the other broker also said.

Looks like I'll be sticking with hand sewing the thick stuff.

[Constabulary]

I don´t know why you (or they) choose shipping by vessel. Why not checking the DHL Express or UPS - they ship to your door and usually do the custom work when a commercial invoice is included - well at least on my side of the pond.

[dikman]

I guess it may be worth checking, but I was told that air freight will be more expensive as while the volumetric size isn't that big the weight will be a factor (80 kg). I will save the broker's fees but the customs and handling fees probably won't change much.

[Constabulary]

custom fees and VAT are for sure the same but they may charge you some bucks for the custom paper work. Over here it's approx 10 - 12€ from DHL. Air freight is for sure more expensive but it is more convenient too - no driving to port, no broker (usually) no paper work... Just check with UPS or DHL Express how the import process works and what they charge and ask the seller if he can ship with them.

[dikman]

UPS have an online calculator and IF I got it right then it's about $400 cheaper - IF I got it right.

I submitted a request to DHL, there's no way to call them so I have to wait for them to contact me. Pretty poor, I thought.

[Constabulary]

Does this work for you?

https://mydhl.express.dhl/au/en/home.html#/getQuoteTab

or - have you tried a shipping comparison like this? Don´t know how the comparison Co´s handle the custom things but maybe worth checking:

https://www.comparecouriers.com.au/

https://au.interparcel.com/

Edited November 27, 2019 by Constabulary

[chrisash]

Dont know about airfares in Aus but it can be very cheap to fly to china from the UK especially if you use lesser known airlines

May be worth considering a return flight to China and bringing it back as airline excess luggage

[dikman]

An interesting idea chris, but unfortunately in this particular case not very practical.

Constab, the DHL link is the one I used and they just said that they would contact me via email. So far they all appear to be within $100 or so of each other. I have no qualms about buying a machine from a Chinese factory but the various port, handling and customs fees all make it a less attractive option.