Cheap Overseas Shipping

[Davey Boy]

Does any one know if there is some method of cheap shipping to Africa?
When someone ships clothing overseas, it must be cheap enough to warrant sending, otherwise not worth it. Couriers like Fedex, DHL, and Canada post are out because they want more than what the contents are worth.
So how do charities and such send bulky clothing and such overseas?

Any one?

[nebcfarmer]

My neighbors do charity work in some ****hole country, and they send sea cans over, doesn’t sound too expensive if your not in a hurry for the delivery.

I’ll ask.

[thumper]

I recall that Safari Club International had a 'Blue Bag' program, where they would supply blue bags stuffed with donations to hunters who were traveling to Africa, and willing to take an extra bag (often within their luggage allowance, so there would be no extra charge) Someone would meet the hunter in Africa and take the bag for charitable distribution. There's at least 2 SCI chapters in Alberta, maybe a member could speak more knowledgably on this.

[Davey Boy]

Originally Posted by nebcfarmer

My neighbors do charity work in some ****hole country, and they send sea cans over, doesn’t sound too expensive if your not in a hurry for the delivery.

I’ll ask.

Thanks for replying, but only wondering for a box 6 to 8 cu.ft. and about 25 lbs.
No need for a seacan.

[GENINC]

Originally Posted by Davey Boy

Thanks for replying, but only wondering for a box 6 to 8 cu.ft. and about 25 lbs.
No need for a seacan.

Economies of scale my friend. But what exactly do you mean by "cheap" as it's a relative word.

[lund17]

Originally Posted by Davey Boy

Does any one know if there is some method of cheap shipping to Africa?
When someone ships clothing overseas, it must be cheap enough to warrant sending, otherwise not worth it. Couriers like Fedex, DHL, and Canada post are out because they want more than what the contents are worth.
So how do charities and such send bulky clothing and such overseas?

Any one?

I use all those companies to ship overseas and it burns my ass every time i have to send something. I do not know of any other companies that can do it.

Have you thought about breaking your shipment down to smaller packages? I have done that to keep costs low.

[Dean2]

Small to medium packages and international shipping is never going to = cheap. If you get transferred internationally you will quickly discover it is cheaper to give away all of your household goods and buy new ones than it is to ship them overseas. Unless you can fill a 20 ft seacan there is no cheap option and seacan shipping has plenty of damage risks that go with it.

[calgarychef]

I have a friend in India who ships wood all over the world. He says if you can get a container to the coast it can go anywhere in the world for less than $2000.00.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

I have a friend in India who ships wood all over the world. He says if you can get a container to the coast it can go anywhere in the world for less than $2000.00.

I believe that. We used to ship cars from Germany to Canada in containers, it worked out to about $1,400 a car. If you deck the container so you can ship 4 obviously cuts that cost in half but the cars need to be the right height for that to work..

[Jayhad]

I've been to west africa a few times, we just load up hockey bags and pay the overage with the airline.

[Davey Boy]

Originally Posted by GENINC

Economies of scale my friend. But what exactly do you mean by "cheap" as it's a relative word.

The contents are doubtfully worth $50 - $100, but to ship it is over $200.
Not worth it , other that they cannot get some of these things there cheaply, or even at all.
I'm thinking of just sending a wire transfer to them instead of lining some shipping companies pockets. If I had a lot to send , maybe a seacan but it is just a small amount.
Maybe it's worth a trip myself someday, and just pay the extra baggage.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by Davey Boy

The contents are doubtfully worth $50 - $100, but to ship it is over $200.
Not worth it , other that they cannot get some of these things there cheaply, or even at all.
I'm thinking of just sending a wire transfer to them instead of lining some shipping companies pockets. If I had a lot to send , maybe a seacan but it is just a small amount.
Maybe it's worth a trip myself someday, and just pay the extra baggage.

Return flight is a couple of grand and 30 hours each way. You aren't saving a thing. Better off to accumulate enough to send a 45 foot seacan. Would be cheaper than flying over with 70 lbs of stuff, unless you have a desire to take a holiday there. My mom used to collect clothes, soap, toilet paper, tooth paste etc and send it to a priest in Cuba. They collected cloths through the churches here in Edmonton, soap bars and part rolls of TP from a few of the large high end hotels, till they had enough for a container load. Didn't take very long with a dozen churches and the Sally Ann helping collect stuff.

[GENINC]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Return flight is a couple of grand and 30 hours each way. You aren't saving a thing. Better off to accumulate enough to send a 45 foot seacan. Would be cheaper than flying over with 70 lbs of stuff, unless you have a desire to take a holiday there. My mom used to collect clothes, soap, toilet paper, tooth paste etc and send it to a priest in Cuba. They collected cloths through the churches here in Edmonton, soap bars and part rolls of TP from a few of the large high end hotels, till they had enough for a container load. Didn't take very long with a dozen churches and the Sally Ann helping collect stuff.

Yeah a 40' sea can is definitely not going to be cheaper than a flight there. If you are going there to visit and pay for extra baggage, it's going to be the most economical way. Other than that, just send them the money and they can buy whatever they want.
Unfortunately that's the way it works, just because you want to send worthless items doesn't mean the shipping companies are going to work for free.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by Dean2

I believe that. We used to ship cars from Germany to Canada in containers, it worked out to about $1,400 a car. If you deck the container so you can ship 4 obviously cuts that cost in half but the cars need to be the right height for that to work..

Heck, it costs 25. to send a book to Ontario by Canada Post.

Grizz

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Heck, it costs 25. to send a book to Ontario by Canada Post.

Grizz

Yep, it was another $3000 from Montreal to Edm so more than it actually cost to get the container from Hamburg to Montreal. We saved enough it was well worth driving them from Montreal to Edmonton. For comparison a 40' seacan, Edmonton to, Haiti about $7,500, South Africa is about $8,700, to Nigeria nearly $14,000. Shipping is not cheap.

[Gear guy]

No way to get cheap I don't think