This is the bill nobody warns you about. It is not a scam and it is not rare, and the reason it feels unfair is that the first anyone mentions it is usually after it has happened.
We connect your enquiry with a vetted international moving company from our network. What this page does is tell you which questions to ask them before you book, so nothing arrives as a surprise.
US customs can select any shipment for examination. Published industry figures put the cost of an examination on a full container from a few hundred US dollars to well over a thousand, and the owner of the goods pays it along with any damage caused during the inspection.
Shipments containing food, medication or alcohol are more likely to be examined. If any of those are in the inventory, either leave them behind or accept the raised odds knowingly.
a customs examination is paid by the owner of the goods, not the shipping company, and published figures put it from a few hundred to well over a thousand US dollars on a full container.
Some selections are random, and nothing in your paperwork prevents them. Others are prompted by the declaration itself, and those are the ones you can influence.
Contents are the main trigger people control. Food, medication and alcohol all attract attention, and a container carrying them is more likely to be opened than one that does not.
Description quality is the other. An inventory that says what is in each box gives an officer a reason not to look. One that says miscellaneous gives them a reason to.
US port and terminal charges, examination fees, storage on arrival and delivery access are the four that most often sit outside a headline figure.
Boxes described as miscellaneous invite the inspection you are trying to avoid. Descriptions a stranger could verify are the cheapest insurance available.
The answer varies by port and container size. A mover who runs the route can give you a realistic figure before you book.
It is an inspection of your shipment by US Customs and Border Protection. Some are random and some are prompted by what the declaration says is inside.
The owner of the goods. Published industry figures put the cost from a few hundred US dollars to well over a thousand on a full container, plus any damage caused during the inspection.
Not certain and not rare. Shipments containing food, medication or alcohol are more likely to be selected, as are those with vague inventories.
Not entirely, because some selections are random. You can improve the odds by describing box contents properly and leaving out the contents that attract attention.
Terminal handling, demurrage where a container sits uncollected, and storage where your delivery address is not ready to receive the goods.
Some quotes do and some do not. Ask specifically, because two prices that look similar can differ by several hundred pounds on this point alone.
Yes, often by days. On an inland destination that can mean missing the next scheduled service, which adds more time than the inspection itself.
It is the one thing you control. Descriptions an officer can verify are the difference between a shipment that looks ordinary and one that looks worth opening.
Not usually. It is a cost of import rather than a loss, which is one reason to reduce the odds through an accurate inventory instead.
Send your collection address, your US destination, the move date and a rough inventory. A moving company from our network sets out what is included and what is charged at the port.
Send your move detailsA Working Member of AGM Group. Enquiries are connected with vetted FIDI FAIM certified and BAR Overseas accredited international moving companies from the network.
We are an enquiry service. Port charges and examination fees are levied by carriers and US authorities, not by us or by the moving company.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.