SHIPPING CONTAINER,to buy or rent?

BRAIN FEEDs

im emigrating to south America,Brazil,later this year(please God!)

i intend bringing all my household goods,beds washing machine etc etc

others have expressed an interest in having personal belongings sent with me in the container,to fill it up. i have a specific port in brazil i want my goods to enter.

If i buy a Container,what advantages are there over renting a container?
i guess if i buy one,i will have to organise a forwarding agent(i believe thats what their called) and just pay for the transport from ireland to Brazil.

as i write this,im begining to think renting a container might just be easier:D

one more thing,if i did buy one,im guessing the transport company would pick it up from my house clueless,i know:o
is there anything specific i should look for if i want to buy a container,like hooks or is there landing gear i should have.

appreciate any help.

Peterdalkey

Buying, don't go there. Just get the "door to door" pricing and the rental is always bundled in the total cost. " Door to Door" pricing with include all local haulage at both ends, customs clearance etc etc. Only way to go.

BRAIN FEEDs

Peterdalkey wrote: »

Buying, don't go there. Just get the "door to door" pricing and the rental is always bundled in the total cost. " Door to Door" pricing with include all local haulage at both ends, customs clearance etc etc. Only way to go.

thanks peter............. at this stage,im agreeing with you. too much hastle dealing with customs,i will let the experts deal with them.

1 more question.will customs open every container at a port or do they just do spot checks.
ive been told by a friend of a friend to list every single item and its cost going into the container

Peterdalkey

The shipping company will give you a list of what you need to do and list for the manifest. Normally the container will be sealed though it can be opened at the port of arrival, generally on a random basis. You should probably be concentrating on getting good prices for the job at this stage!

BRAIN FEEDs

Peterdalkey wrote: »

The shipping company will give you a list of what you need to do and list for the manifest. Normally the container will be sealed though it can be opened at the port of arrival, generally on a random basis. You should probably be concentrating on getting good prices for the job at this stage!

your a good man peter!

much appreciated!

Nody

Discloser; I do work with international transport in Europe incl. container handling and hence have worked with quite a few carriers.

Having said that, you'd be insane to try to buy a container. There is a general shortage on the market for containers driving up prices but even if you'd somehow end up cheaper you'd now need to deal with the storage of the container on the other side once you arrive (can't leave it in the port as they will charge you daily rental for it). Even with your own container you'd look at getting someone to do a door to door delivery and declaration for you as well so honestly there are really no benefits for you to own the container short of wanting to turn it into a house or something when you arrive.

In regards to how to do it, as noted request a door to door qoute but also ask how many days you can have the container at each side (i.e. how long do you have to load it) and if they can leave it there for lets say 24h? If not you may be expected to load the full container with in an hour when it stands on a truck! Same is true when you arrive, you may not have your final place rented at the time so ask how long you can leave it in storage there (and you can then look up local storage to transfer it to if needed). Hence make sure to specify that the container needs to be put on the ground for you at both ends...

Also keep in mind when you're thinking of what to send over that you're looking at an ambient 20" or 40" container most likely (and it will have transported other stuff and may have things left in it or stink...). Those containers will get hot/cold/wet depending on the weather you travel through so what you packs should handle that. You also talked about packing your appliances etc. but honestly in the cost vs. benefit category you'll probably do better selling them in Ireland and buying new stuff down there (assuming you even need it as you'd look at renting I assume). Also keep in mind your container will be swiming around so we're talking plenty of padding on anything that can break if you want it to come through in one piece (once again seriously ask yourself why you'd bring it as you can buy anything there that you can get here in terms of furniture, appliances etc.).

TLDR; I'd seriously rethink the container idea. An additional big suitcase or shipping down a box or two as normal package yes, container with appliances and furniture will cost you a ton of money and make your life very difficult for no real reason.

BRAIN FEEDs

Noddy thanks a million for the post,lots of information there for me to take on board and use when contacting Transport companies....... of which i contacted a few,and the responses are very slow coming,but we'll get there.

The idea of buying a container came about after reading almost every previous post on Boards that was related to shipping container.:)
but thats a non runner now for me,too much hastle.

as for bringing my belongings,ive some decent stuff,but if i were to sell it here,i wouldnt get much for it and the price of quality stuff where i will be going is crazy. as ive read on the travel forum,in new zealand,the good furniture there would be the equivalent of our cheap stuff here,and the cheap furniture there is terrible.
i have looked at washing machines for example,a decent one is very expensive,and most of them are top loaders.



i have a house,of my own,there so i will be ready to move in straight away so to speak.....

i have made contact with a few people who will pay to have some personal belongings sent over to Brazil also,so that will help some bit towards the cost. i also have made contact with a company in Brazil(today),who will give me a price from that end. i have booked flight tickets from that side before and got the tickets €200/€250 cheaper than from this side. so we shall see,



anyhow,thanks for your post,appreciate all the tips Nody.

rainbowdash

Theres a thing called groupage where your stuff is shoved in with other peoples stuff. Obviously it works out cheaper but the downside is it will definately be thrown around a bit moreand it may take longer.

You could get a couple of good quality crates made to the size you need so that everything you need fits in nice and tight and secure.

Remember freight companies would just need to be able to get under such a crate with a pallet truck to get it onto a tail lift and into their truck.

IIS

My two pennies... Keep in mind as well that the frequency of electricity in Brazil is 60Hz (Irish appliances are generally designed to work on 50Hz). Voltage difference (110V vs 220V) can be overcome with a transformer, but the frequency can not be changed. (In theory yes, but I haven't seen a practical solution)

BRAIN FEEDs

i was hoping this thread would fade away and die:o

Thank you IIS for that information.

ok,im back on here to eat some humble pie.I was set on getting a container with all our goods along with some close friends and ship it abroad.

As Nody said............ its way too much hasstle,the quotes have been insane,most of the quotes wont do door to door,just door to port. even yesterday,got a quote for over €10k door to door.
i'll be honest and say i was finding the whole thing very stressful and woke up each morning so tired from dealing with quotes and chasing up companies.
since my wife and i made the decision to abandon the idea of a container,its been a relief tbh!

so im having my humble pie,but must thank all who have advised me,very wisely i must say!

cheers everyone

Nody

Sorry to hear it but I'll be honest it's what I was expecting as the likely outcome; there's simply not enough profit to cater for individual containers with these type of companies (or they slap on a silly profit margin as you noted)