Shopping up a storm

SHOPPING UP A STORM


Well, it's a while since I blogged. I haven't gone to Hungary, and that is disappointing. I did however sneak over to France to visit Appley in Lyon for two weeks in May. I had a fantastic time, and we managed to make it to Geneva and Barcelona. i tried really hard to get over to Hungary on some cheap flights but we just couldn't work around Appley's exam dates and went to Barcelona instead.



I haven't given up on my dream of importing, but I 've shelved plans for the moment.

One thing that I have enjoyed about the internet selling is the number of contacts who have contacted me via email offering items for sale.

My most recent was a very slick operation in China, run by an American.
He seems to have the whole deal down pat. He offers a great internet buying service, from an extensive and well organized catalogue of original and reproduction pieces.
The items are priced in USD and are not cheap, but he certainly offers a no pain entry into the importing business.



They even offer to go online on MSN and ICQ and get your order together in real time.
The other thing they offer is container sharing, and through the internet have had customers organize a party with friends to order on line and share costs.

The biggest barrier to me has been the cost as even a 20ft container costs a substantial amount to fill and ship.
The other hassle I had was trying to work out how to tackle Customs, as it seems to be Club with limited entry !

I got on the net, and read as much as I could, and I contacted a logistics chap who referred me to an agent, but as I was a first timer I got no where. So much information I received was conflicting.
I guess my main objective was to find out how much it would cost to ship and land a container to my door, all up cost.

Where was it coming from, does it require long transport to port. Does it ship to Sydney or Newcastle, when do you pay for the goods, and when the shipping? What about insurance.? Who packs it? what am I allowed to bring in? Does it require fumigation and at what point? What packing materials are used ? Should I encourage Customs to inspect the container and arrange fumigation here or do I arrange for that to be done overseas by an approved fumigation specialist in the hope of avoiding the additional handling costs? What about Duty? Is it over 100 years old and have a certificate of authenticity or is duty payable?

I gave up in the end, as I just didn't know how much I was going to need, and I really just wanted someone to take care of that side of thing....................I just wanted to shop !

So the dream is still there.......... just on the backburner at the moment.

I decided to go on a shopping spree here at home instead.
I have bought heaps of new items since April. I have been trying to get things cleaned for the shop. At the moment lots of stuff is offered for sale unrestored , but that will change as I get on top of things. Out in the shed right now, I have a fantastic large Camphor wood chest, a federation hallway fretwork a painted Victorian bookcase with adjustable shelves, a nice Victorian pine turned leg table, 4 small turned leg cafe tables, 3 marble top bedside tables,
a sewing machine based marble top table, a marble topped washstand, two single iron beds, frames, a collection of pine drawers, a small cedar cabinet, some panel doors and architectural panelling..............I haven't even got to whats in my workshop ! I'll load up some pics of some of my new stock.