Freight

[Ricko]

Just wanted to know everyone's thoughts on the shipping of reptiles? i know i would ship my reptiles if i was selling them and i have bought a few snakes from interstate and had absolutely no problem with shipping company and the snakes have been healthy when they got to me. I see a fair few ads where people will only sell to local buyers just wandering why that is?

rick

[sarahbell]

laziness

[womas4me]

Good question. I regularly freight mine through AAE and have had no problems. I am curious as to why also.

[Simon_Archibald]

Sarah it's not laziness.

I'm selling a male B&Y Jungle at the moment that I really need a quick sale on. If I was to sell interstate, I would have to apply for an export permit, pay the $20 fee and wait up to 4 days to get the export clearance number back. That's AFTER I have the specific person's details who I'd be selling to. It makes the whole thing a lot longer drawn out process compared to finding local buyers.

Simon Archibald

[Simon_Archibald]

Also, I'd have to travel to Sydney to put a snake on the flight (something I rarely have time to do) and I'm not entirely confident I'd know HOW to ship a snake. I would not want to risk that.

Simon Archibald

[Ricko]

yeah it takes a bit longer but we are all into reptiles and if soimeone from queensland wanted what i had to sell then i would freight i mean its a lot easier to sell local but in the end we are all herp people. if you were after a quick sale like you are then i agree dont stuff around with the extra few days with freight but as a general rukle do you not freight for any other reason if the buyer pays all costs?

[womas4me]

does none of the local airlines do pet freight in newcastle. Just curious as i dont know

[Already_Gone]

But it would most probably take longer to find a local buyer... so really 4 days is neither here nor there... I have got a few herps from AAE and Virgin... virgin is cheaper but they are both good. I made sure they were ok by ringing in advance and letting them know that there was going to be live herps coming their way. That way I was sure that they were going to be looked after.

[Ricko]

yeah i have dealed with aae they were really good except some staff were a bit bitchy but alwell. just for example i think it is good for the person selling them if they sell to someone in another state a good animal then the person buying tells other people oh this guy uis great beautiful animals and helps out heaps

[bigguy]

As Simon pointed out its not laziness at all. Its a royal pain in the butt.

You have to apply for the Export Permit and in NSW this can easily take 2 to 3 weeks and a cost of $20. You than have to wait for the buyers import permit + payment to arrive. If its a cheque you should wait till its cleared before sending. During all this time you receive countless calls from the buyer who now thinks you have ripped them off because in most states Export permits are done on the same day and they dont believe you that it takes 2 to 3 weeks in NSW. They start to think you have robbed them.

You now have to either build or purchase a suitable container for shipping. When you are ready to go you now have to find a suitable day that suits both you and the buyer for shipping. This MUST be done before the permits expire. Now for the drive to Sydney airport. For me it takes about a 3 hour return trip.Even longer if you have to drive through peak hour. Simon would take at least 4 hours.

You ask the buyers to give you a ring once they have received the reptile to let you know it has arrived and that they are happy with it. In most cases they never ring and you have to chase them up to make sure there are no problems.

Then theres the battle over the shipping costs. Most buyers only expect to pay the air freight, so when you ask for the cost of the permit, container and fuel to the airport(which are the true costs) they simply hit the roof and again think you are robbing them.

Now with local buyers only. They ring up, come to your house when suitable to you, select the animal they want, pay cash and take animal in their own bags. All up no cost whatsoever to the seller and maybe 10 to 15 minutes of time. WHAT A DIFFERENCE Little wonder why most people prefer not to export.

As for Womas4me question. No you can not ship from Newcastle. Most regional airports in NSW now refuse to ship reptiles at all. So its off to Sydney we go to either Export or Import

Yep, driving to Sydney Airport is such a pain, did it the other day to pick up 2 snakes from QLD...And with us coming from the north on top of fuel you can add on a few tolls + parking at the airport which is such a ripoff ($6 for 1/2 hour - although I've heard you can get free parking at AAE I just couldn't find it with my hot navigational skills)...I think the other day I calculated it to cost me a minimum of $20 just to go to the airport...

On an Off Topic note - Bob that Coastal I got from you is an absolute angel! She has not struck once and feeds brilliantly...

[NoOne]

I have to drive 4hrs each way to Sydney airport, add that with everything else that you have to do in NSW it just ain't worth doing.
I will import but not export, up until a few months ago i could get animals shipped into an airport about 1hr drive each way but now they tell theres no guarantee, they will get there.

[snakehunter]

yea what bob (bigguy ) said

[soulweaver]

never recieved a snake from interstate before, but talking with a guy from qld where i might be getting 1 from so i hope it all goes well.

it would be ashame if ppl didn't send snakes interstate espcially if what they were breeding was teh best around. the only way to get prices down on herp stuff is if everyone cuts out the stores and ships to one another.

[womas4me]

Thanks for the tip with regional airlines in new south. The reason i was curious is that i am from hunter valley and will probably move back some day, but with as many reps as we have picking them all up from sydney will be a bitch.