Shipping costs

[FreedomGuard]

I've been shipping products to Africa for sale and the places that I've sent goods to are not near any ports so I am forced to ship by air. Fedex has worked best for me, I dunno why DHL charges an arm and a leg to use but anyways, I'm wondering if anyone else is in my boat? How did you get your shipping costs down? Let me know guys.

Freedom Guard

[Filip T]

I have the same problem. I was looking for shipping from East Asia to North America. And it was so hard to find any smaller shippers that wont expect me to be a major corporation.

Where exactly are you shipping to? Sometimes it could be cheaper to ship to a port, then get a transport truck to pick it up, if the quantity is large enough.

Anyone got any ideas?

[FreedomGuard]

I ship to cities in West Africa, Northern parts of Nigeria and Ghana. The problem with leaving it to the transporters is that the risk increases. There are loyal thugs that make a living scouting transport trucks and since I ship electronics, those products have a high theft rate attached to them. I'd hate to roll the dice on things like that.

I'm glad someone else feels my pain (Filip_T).

[Cinnabon]

I'm new to the forum!

Bumping this old thread because I'm interested in more info about shipping goods both to Africa and within Africa.

[Parvaze]

I routinely ship containers to Egypt, Dubai and East Africa. Is there something specific you are trying to find out?

[Cinnabon]

I routinely ship containers to Egypt, Dubai and East Africa. Is there something specific you are trying to find out?

I'm looking to learn more about shipping in general to prepare myself for what I'm getting into.
Are you shipping to partners that are located there who then pass the goods onto clients or are you shipping directly to clients?
What have you found to be the best shipments methods? How do you keep shipping costs down? I don't think I will need to use containers because packages will be under 40-50lbs. The shipping costs might end up being more than the cost of goods themselves...

[Parvaze]

I send 40 foot containers at a time and each has between 40,000 - 45,000 lbs of goods per shipment so I'm not going to be much help. Good luck with your venture.