Freight forwarding to Australia

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Adam K

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G'day All,

just wondering if anyone has used a US to Aus freight forwarding service for a Solo and/or accessories (specifically batteries)? The company I contacted sent me a link to the USPS screed on lithium batteries and it seems like they are pretty bolshie on it. 622 Mailable Hazardous Materials | Postal Explorer

I've bought loose LiPo batts from HK before and had them shipped no dramas, but just a bit wary of losing $1000 worth of Solo and batteries. Copy of response below:

Screen Shot 2016-09-12 at 10.01.52 AM.png

Cheers,

Adam
 
you can buy batteries in 3dr indonesia more close neybor to australia lol
 
@Adam K I've used MatesFreight they are in Portland. I have not shipped batteries with them, but have shipped other Solo parts that are stupidly expensive here in Oz. They do however arrange sea freight so that could also be a possibility. You can email them from their website but response times can take a while. I have their direct phone number. PM me if you would like it.

I have also tried sending via Hop Shop Go and the AusPost US mailbox service. These were a no go as 3DR checks the addresses are not freight forwarders. Mates Freight ships straight to a home address in Portland and I can only say great things about Ben and his team. He is an Aussie and the service is great.


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I've used comgateway they are ok priced for larger parcels like a solo box. They said they would be able to ship a solo to me when i enquired a few months back.

I should add i got mine locally at the time but use them for a range of goods, including other 3dr items. No issues with it being a forwarder.

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@ChrisBird 3DR will check your delivery address and if it's a freight forwarder they will cancel it. I've had a payment held before then cancelled and they told me this was the reason. MatesFreight is sent to a standard residential address and if you check it on Google Maps you will notice it is in a residential area, not an industrial area in close proximity to an airport.


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SurfnSkate81 said:
@ChrisBird 3DR will check your delivery address and if it's a freight forwarder they will cancel it. I've had a payment held before then cancelled and they told me this was the reason. MatesFreight is sent to a standard residential address and if you check it on Google Maps you will notice it is in a residential area, not an industrial area in close proximity to an airport.


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Just letting you know ive had items from 3DR via this method, even just 2 months ago and no issues. My forwarder moved address a year or 2 before so maybe they didnt have the updated address.

They also can do the purchase for you, hard for them to knock that back. May impact your warranty if its not transferable.

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OK, so just an update: the company has a sea freight option that can send LiPos as a "standard shipment". Waiting to hear back with the quote, will update more when I have it.
 
I had enormous problems shipping 2 x SOLO batteries from the USA to South Africa because of the restrictions of shipping Lithium Ion batteries. If your batteries are shipped with a SOLO they will be shipped under UN3481 P1967 Sec 11 as being batteries IN equipment. If they are shipped alone they will be shipped under UN 3480 P1965 on Cargo Flights Only. DHL have the authority to ship these batteries and all the correct forms as rrequired by IATA so you can contact M/s Daniella De La Torre at [email protected] a nice lady who will advise and assist you. Cost $179.00 over and above normal shipping costs to ship these batteries. Good Luck
 
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SurfnSkate81 said:
Is that USD$179 just for freight?


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No. The shipping cost was USD$90.50. The $179.00 was the extra I had to pay because of the extra hassle required for shipping two SOLO Lithium Batteries as they were deemed to be "Hazardous Cargo"

Incidentally I had to get a US address to act as my agent there so I used a crowd called "Reship.com" who took receipt of my parcel from SOLO who wont ship to South Africa. They then called in DHL and who did the actual shipping. If you are buying a SOLO from the states they can pack two spare batteries in the box and this is then considered as being attached to the equipment and the box will be shipped as normal.
 
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Yeah it was bloody expensive but these were two batteries 3DR were replacing because of faulty ones so in the end it was cheaper to pay the freight than buying new batteries in this country. I took issue with DHL but got no sympathy from them. These batteries are made by Shenzhen Grapow Battery Co Ltd in China so maybe you should try them or get them from Indonesia as suggested.
 
I think any air movement of the batteries is expensive because it goes as DG rather than standard cargo. Hoping the sea option is cheap because they don't have to go as DG. My last reply to the guys in the US got stuck in my outbox, so I've just resent it - will report back once I know more.
 
So I finally got time to move forward on this, just in time for the Best Buy deal :)

The shipping cost (via sea freight) to Aus looks to be somewhere around $210aud and the freight forward fee is about $75aud for the bundle of stuff I chose (Solo, 2 extra prop packs, 4 extra batts, a Hero4 black and a couple of SD cards). It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to work out that's a great deal cheaper than you can buy the product here in Aus. The shipping time is the only real downside, but I'm not in a rush anyway.

When I get the final costs I'll update, but for now I really think this is the way to buy Solo stuff for Aussies. Bad for the local resellers, I get that, but dollars are dollars and I already buy all my other drone and camera gear locally so my conscience is clear :)
 
So you still went with Ben at MatesFreight? Seems like amazing way to take advantage of the Deals on offer. I'm assuming you had no problem with Best Buy shipping to MatesFreight?


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I'm using US to OZ (Sarah), there's no problem with BB shipping to them as far as I can tell, they are doing the order for me so that's up to them to sort out.
 
OK, so all the admin is complete and the goods are with the freight forwarder. Shipping (by sea) will be 5-7 weeks.

For reference, I bought (from Best Buy):

Solo (with gimbal and 2 batts)
3 extra batts
Hero 4 Black
2 64BG SD cards
3 packs of props

This all cost me AUD$1736. The Shipping cost AUD$321, so total $2057. No problem shipping the batteries by sea, they go as standard cargo. I could have split the order and just sent the batteries by sea, but I couldn't be bothered and I'm not in a hurry.

A significantly cheaper option than either buying local or (remarkably) buying second hand. Sarah from US to OZ was very helpful and worked through the options for the LiPos to get it happening. Hope this helps some other Aussie looking to get a good deal as 3DR prices continue to freefall in the US.

Cheers,

Adam
 
I've been looking into this as well. Used shopmate to send the solo and gimbal with one battery included. No problems. Still can't get the two spares shipped though.
 
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