Importing parts and tools from USA

franc123, Jul 27, 10:49pm
using third party freight forwarders, who are you using and who is offering the best service at the best price?

evotime, Jul 28, 1:23am
while I'm waiting for someone to answer you franc- have you found any great tool suppliers in the USA?

desmodave, Jul 28, 8:32am
Been using ( you shop nz to shop in USA & UK ) , Started out ok but pricing is all over the show . Mainly buy harder to find or no longer available Motorcycle parts . Was refunded this week for a part from Germany that their postal service said they could not send to NZ at the mo . Haven't done a Rock auto shop for a while to see if things have changed there , don't change cars often enough . Buy something small and it turns up in a bloody big box is a bit of a piss off .

gibbon, Jul 28, 8:52am
I have used You Shop too, however be careful what you buy as they can get finnicky about what they consider "dangerous goods". I bought a hydraulic actuator which was dismantled and cleaned, but as soon as they saw "hydraulic" on the label they wouldn't take it because it was supposedly "full of oil"

franc123, Jul 28, 9:38am
Hi guys, thanks for the responses. Rockauto is shipping normally at the mo, used them a few weeks ago. Yes I do use YouShop but the size of the shipment I'm looking to import is above their maximum that they handle.

desmodave, Jul 28, 10:03am
Would it fit inside a Corvette :-) American car importers might be an angle .

franc123, Jul 28, 10:17am
It would fit in a vehicle but maybe not a Corvette. It's a half meter square by 1 meter long box that weighs 40kg that realistically doesnt need to be airfreighted. I hadn't thought of that angle, I might try Kiwi Shipping? In California and see if they would want to handle such a thing.

budgel, Jul 28, 2:11pm
I have used Shipito, but not since covid upset the freight prices.

elect70, Jul 28, 6:12pm
Not tools n but just got recon set for my range rover from Uk half the price of NZ but the frieght bill is a big $60 by DHL . Even Aussie to Nz cheapest frieght is $40 for anything

franc123, Jul 29, 9:30am
Update, Shipito only offered one airfreight option that unfortunately I wasnt sitting down at the time I read it. ridiculous. I spent about an hour going through various US freight forwarders websites and they were all much of a muchness. Kiwi shipping (who if you dont know are a division of Mainfreight) got back to me very quick with a reasonable all inclusive sea estimate and were very helpful, will likely run with them when the time comes, I'm still saving NZ$800 by DIY importing over NZ retail price.

budgel, Jul 30, 11:50am
Yeah, airfreight prices have gone crazy. I hadnt realised how much ordinary airfreight came in on passenger jets, which are now only flying a fraction of what they used to.

franc123, Jul 30, 12:43pm
You and me both. Youd think there was only room for people's bags and suitcases in the cargo holds of these planes but clearly not.

tweake, Dec 15, 5:01pm
yes, work has been having issues. had to resort to sea freight for export.