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Suggestions for help sending a big mill to Peru?

Richard/SIA

Cast Iron
Joined
May 13, 2007
Location
No. Nevada
Moving my shop to another town and will not have room for the Matsuura 1000 VMC.
"Sold" it on feeBay, in theory.
Buyer is in Florida, end destination is Peru, and I'm in Nevada.
Sale clearly stated that the sale was "Local Pick-up", international sales OK, and any shipping is the buyers responsibility.
So of course he does not speak English, wants me to put it on a pallet, crate it, get it on a truck, and probably fill out all the export docs!
I can handle a pallet of sorts, the local crane company can lift it onto a truck.
I'm not sure which CA port to suggest, Long Beach, Oakland, SF, Sacramento?
Sacramento is closest but that does not ensure that it is best.
Have not exported anything in decades so I expect it's gotten more complicated than it used to be.
Basically gave the mill away so do not want to spend what little I am to get for it on varied fee's.

Any help would be welcome!
 
What sort of confidence do you have in the buyer, and ensuring you're not going to get ripped off? Talk to your bank about security of the proposed funding methods, sometimes it can take a while to find out that what looked like secured funds aren't, and all of a sudden you're screwed.

DON"T be pressured by "time constraint's" or other methods to get you to act too hastily. Make sure you're protected from being defrauded. It might be worth getting a interpreter into the loop - costs to be borne by the buyer, of course...
 
Moving my shop to another town and will not have room for the Matsuura 1000 VMC.
"Sold" it on feeBay, in theory.
Buyer is in Florida, end destination is Peru, and I'm in Nevada.
Sale clearly stated that the sale was "Local Pick-up", international sales OK, and any shipping is the buyers responsibility.
So of course he does not speak English, wants me to put it on a pallet, crate it, get it on a truck, and probably fill out all the export docs!
I can handle a pallet of sorts, the local crane company can lift it onto a truck.
I'm not sure which CA port to suggest, Long Beach, Oakland, SF, Sacramento?
Sacramento is closest but that does not ensure that it is best.
Have not exported anything in decades so I expect it's gotten more complicated than it used to be.
Basically gave the mill away so do not want to spend what little I am to get for it on varied fee's.

Any help would be welcome!

I'd put that on HIM! Delivery was FOB YOUR shop. Not a dime out of your price, not even towards crating. Basic pallet maybe a "freebie" he wants to send a US commercial carrier to do the first leg to a shipper and arrange the rest himself. As he should have been prepared to do, probably WAS, probably still IS if he can't cadge a better deal outta your ass.

Getting it SAS (Safe Along Side) a vessel, Port of Long Beach, or points beyond, even up a mountain in Peru, was "offered", but every millimeter of it's journey (and "Sea Freight" grade crating, BTW) is on an "all extras are extra" pricing scheme.

Just because English is not his native language do not assume for a minute has has no access to experienced resources, lest you "become one" of those resources. And on starvation rations as well.

Anything as did not "just grow there" anywhere Spain has set foot had to be taken there and WAS ever since Hannibal and Hasdrubal Barca were trying to run imported Elephants out of Africa by way of Spain and on into Italy for shits and giggles.

This is not a new situation for them at all. Besides.. Peruvian Commerce has a significant ethnic Italian component. They do tend to get around, and not a lot of dummies in that deck of cards, either.

"All extras are extra". Don't become lunch.
 
Sent him a message asking for details on his shipper, who his customs broker is, etc.
Used Babylon translate in the hope that he might do the same and respond in more detail.
Been selling on feeBay a long time, nothing is going anywhere until I am sure the payment is for real.
Need to know which port is most likely to work well.
Sacramento is probably the closest to me.
I don't mind saving him a few bucks where it will not hurt me.
Ad clearly stated that the crane company was going to charge $750.00 just to lift it onto the truck.
Would like to get this over with ASAP.
Pretty sure export has gotten harder in the last couple of decades, and that IS his responsibility to provide the documents.
 
Bill of sale combined with release of liability and cash in hand before it moves an inch.

If ebay they can ask for refund and you could get screwed so make a clear bill of sale where buyer accepts unit as is where is as received by their agent and their agent is whomever picks it up.

If you must accept returns then insure to specify it must be returned to your facility undamaged fully paid by buyer.

Make sure whomever picks it up...assuming a trucking company, has full insurance covering everything from the time they touch it until it lands at the customer's spot.

If sell price on eBay was very little it may be better to cancel the sale and pay fees just to isolate PayPal if you can get cash in hand.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
Sent him a message asking for details on his shipper, who his customs broker is, etc.
Aye. Proper start. Sends the proper signals.
Used Babylon translate in the hope that he might do the same and respond in more detail.
My practice - (well.. "many company" practice..) even where fluent - it to always transmit BOTH.

Transaction is in the USA, USA (State) Law governs. That's in English. That text rules.
A(ny) other language(s) a courtesy, only.

Besides.... he may not even be a "native" Spanish speaker!

Head of Ministerio de Prensa y Propaganda, Mexico's PRI under Jose Lopez Portillo was born in Lithuania! Lot of that, LATAM, and often more recent than same thing, North American "melting pot".
 
I would ring up McKean Machinery, talk with John Brand.

They sell some of the machines to overseas customers, and I'm sure he can help you with the details
(whom they use, container or not, bank xfers etc.)
 
This sounds far too sketchy for my liking, I definitely agree that you shouldn't touch the thing until you have cash in hand, a bill of sale or release of liability, and some agreement as to when his people are going to be there to pick it up. You stated in the sale that it was local pick up only and shipping was the buyers responsibility, I would fork it out the door and anything past that is his problem.
 
I'm taking the weekend off so the buyer has a few days to sort out his end of it.
If I don't hear some concrete progress by Monday evening I think I will demand that feeBay allow me to contact the other bidder.
Hopefully they are U.S. based.
 
Tell the buyer to hire a rigger/logistics company to pick up/crate the machine. Going to Peru you may need to use special treated wood and all.

Let them do the international paperwork.
 
Tell the buyer to hire a rigger/logistics company to pick up/crate the machine. Going to Peru you may need to use special treated wood and all.

Let them do the international paperwork.

+1 All this stuff is an "Industry".

Globally, yah have Kuhn & Naegle, Hellman (knew some of the family, out in Asia), plenty more.

My go-to out of the UK was "Angel Case". Their speciality? The UK MoD & "Big Multinationals", my then-Day Job included (Cable & Wireless plc). They'll discard any unsuitable pallet or crate material and repackage to suit the rules of what is, after all, THEIR game and rice-bowl.

Up to the buyer to simply pick that specialist who is already a proven US => Peru or "wherever else" expert.

There is no shortage of such services nor players. Those not in the game do not have to learn what they already know. Just find them.
 
Pretty sure that Oakland will be the best port, BUT, most of the traffic in and out of Oakland is China related- not South America. You or your buyer really needs to get a freight forwarder involved- that's what they do.
 
If I don't hear some concrete progress by Monday evening I think I will demand that feeBay allow me to contact the other bidder.
If the buyer can't handle it themselves, this is your best bet.

I doubt you're going to find many west coast ships going to Peru, most likely the best option is trucking to Charleston. If they need it export packed then Baltimore. Freight forwarders are all thieves, don't go there. Doing it all yourself is no fun. Just stay away.

Take a hit from ebay if necessary, international shipping of machines is a swamp filled with rodents of unusual size. And they all bite. I would figure $10-15 thousand minimum to get that mill to Peru.
 
+1 All this stuff is an "Industry".

Globally, yah have Kuhn & Naegle, Hellman (knew some of the family, out in Asia), plenty more.

My go-to out of the UK was "Angel Case". Their speciality? The UK MoD & "Big Multinationals", my then-Day Job included (Cable & Wireless plc). They'll discard any unsuitable pallet or crate material and repackage to suit the rules of what is, after all, THEIR game and rice-bowl.

Up to the buyer to simply pick that specialist who is already a proven US => Peru or "wherever else" expert.

There is no shortage of such services nor players. Those not in the game do not have to learn what they already know. Just find them.

Agreed, and worth adding that import/export is still VERY old school and face to face in how it operates. It's driven on relationships and contacts. Aside from knowing how to navigate the red tape and avoid hold ups they also have connections and have built relationships with the people involved which is absolutely key to successfully exporting/importing machinery. I export lift trucks to South America (older units that have little market appeal here) and work with a Florida based company that handles the logistics (they specialize/focus on material handling equipment exclusively so likely not much help here. but if OP wants to shoot me a PM I can pass along contact info), even though I've done it enough that I know the process and even the people involved... I still wouldn't attempt it on my own.

If I were OP I wouldn't get involved unless I was working directly with an export/import company/agent... if that were the case I'd be open to charging the buyer a crating fee and also making sure I get properly compensated for the time, but at no point would I want my name on export paperwork without having an agent ("the guy") involved, there's too much risk that I could be found in breach of some regulation or somehow get put in a position where I'd assume liability/get fined. If you want to go the extra step to try and save the sale it may be worth doing some research/making a few calls and finding an agent that can help facilitate the export... they'll also likely be bilingual. But it will involve calling around to different companies/agents to find out who you need to be talking to.
 
I didn't see if the OP's machine can be loaded into a standard cargo container.

I should think that would help greatly.
 








 
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