Posted by Liz on Thursday, 11. February 1999 at 18:52 Bali Time:
In Reply to: Furniture? From Bali to Germany? posted by Ute on Thursday, 11. February 1999 at 01:44 Bali Time:
Ute,
We looked into shipping some furniture back to the UK from Bali, but gave up in the end, mainly due to lack of research before we left. There is masses of wonderful furniture widely available all over the island, often just sat out beside the road, so you are bound to come across masses of it. Some of it is teak, but a lot is cheaper wood stained to look darker, and some is not particularly well made, so you need to shop around for good quality stuff. There is also a lot of bamboo stuff. You can easily get stuff made for you if you have time.
The problem we found was that the shipping usually cost more than the furniture, which was incredibly good value when you found well made stuff. About US$150 per cubic metre was about average, with a small reduction for further cubic metres. The shipping only became really economical if you could fill a container, but that would hold more than you would want for yourself so would only be feasible if you knew you could sell stuff on at home. It would not be difficult to arrange shipping - most shops will organise it for you, there are plenty of shipping agents offices in town centres, and even the smaller roadside stalls would be able to find a shipper for you. If you search the forum for "furniture" or "shipping" you should find some details of recommended companies.
What stopped us going ahead was uncertainty about what would happen when the stuff arrived in the UK. So try and find out exactly what import charges will be levied before you leave for Bali - in the UK there is an import duty which varies depending on the wood type & composition of the furniture and according to how the item was made, plus VAT, all of which was going to add about 25% to the cost and is levied not just on the cost of the item but on the shipping charges as well. It was all a bit of a minefield really, and almost impossible to calculate with certainty before the stuff arrived. Also a lot of the shippers only offered to deliver to the port, not to your home town, so you then had to arrange onward transfer yourself. We were also concerned about the wood beginning to split due to the lower humidity here.
But if you do your research before you leave and find a reputable shipper, I think you can save a lot of money - certainly the Indonesian furniture that is on sale in shops in the UK is incredibly expensive compared to the prices on offer in Bali.