Storage Fees f/Imported Trophies?

[tx_troubador]

Looking for some guidance. I recently went to RSA for my first hunt in January of this year. I spent the following:
- $1680 for one wildebeest shoulder mount, one impala wall pedestal mount, springbok euro mount, and some odds & ends hides/goods/etc w/Bullseye Taxidermy
- $1773 for shipment from RSA to Dallas (inclusive of air freight, permit & documentation, crating & packaging for export, cartage & inland transport, facility & handling fees, & liability protection) w/African Legacy Logistics
- $3622.53 for customs clearance and delivery. The itemized charges are:

• $2.22 for duties and disbursement charges
• $450 for customs clearance
• $236.8 for destination terminal charge
• $2400 for storage fees
• $533.33 for delivery charge

I don't have any complaints about the taxidermy or shipment pricing, but feel I'm 100% getting hosed on storage fees. I'm not naming the organization I've utilized since I've asked for an explanation of that charge and I haven't paid yet. Does that seem crazy high to anyone else, and do I have any avenues for disputing that? I'd be all in at $7075.53 if it holds.

 

[YancyW]

After the prices for my last shipment and all the other fees, I am VERY close to photos only.

 

[TTundra]

How many days of storage was incurred? Also may be good to verify why it was stored and by whose request/fault. Was it a USFW inspection, paperwork issue with the clearing agent, other? Storage fees get so crazy that some people completely abandon their shipments. If due to an error by a service employed by you, it may be on them to correct. However, they are hard to ever recoup.

As @YancyW said above, photos from now on or another reason to now do dip and pack and finish work here as shipping and clearing fees would be much less.

 

[shootist~]

You are getting hosed on storage fees.

My shipment from May of this year - all finished Taxidermy - included one day of storage because Customes cleared the day following arrival. $235.

My customs agent was Hunter International (recommended by Life-Form Taxidermy). Very happy with both.

 

[tx_troubador]

After the prices for my last shipment and all the other fees, I am VERY close to photos only.

If I go pack, I'm thinking the same. I'll be paying more than I spent on the trip itself by a decent margin, and I didn't get that much made.

How many days of storage was incurred? Also may be good to verify why it was stored and by whose request/fault. Was it a USFW inspection, paperwork issue with the clearing agent, other? Storage fees get so crazy that some people completely abandon their shipments. If due to an error by a service employed by you, it may be on them to correct. However, they are hard to ever recoup.

As @YancyW said above, photos from now on or another reason to now do dip and pack and finish work here as shipping and clearing fees would be much less.

From start to finish about 2 month. Shipping organization received trophies from taxidermist on 14 July. Shipment departed JNB on 21 Aug, and arrived at DFW on 26 Aug. It spent about 1.5 days in Turkey, but am unsure of the official dates. Released from customs on 6 Sep, and scheduled for delivery on 13 Sep. I'm mostly upset because I told the customs clearing house that I was available to come pick it up myself at the earliest possible date. I didn't here anything from them until this weekend, and it was a just an invoice and an notification of delivery date.

You are getting hosed on storage fees.

My shipment from May of this year - all finished Taxidermy - included one day of storage because Customes cleared the day following arrival. $235.

My customs agent was Hunter International (recommended by Life-Form Taxidermy). Very happy with both.

I went with Bullseye Taxidermy because my PH recommended them. I've seen photos of my trophies and am pleased with the work. I went with African Legacy Logistics because the taxidermist recommended them. No issues on that front. I'm not naming the customs house yet until they respond, but they were also recommended by the shipping company.

 

[shootist~]

Turkish Air and DFW on mine as well. One of our guys picked up at the Airport - same day as cleared. My was shipped out the same day (freight truck must have been close by). All planned earlier and verified again the day it arrived at DFW.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Curious as to why so long between the time between the shipper receiving and then shipping? I mean,, over a month? Aside that, I quit trophies because, in my experience, RSA shippers are in the business of HOSING Americans. Hell, the ENTIRE shipping of trophies is a HOSE JOB. The airlines fuck you, the shipper fucks you, the improrter in your case fucked you. I don't even take photos anymore. I go for the atmosphere, comraderie with my hunting buddies and get the hell out of the US and away from the news for a couple weeks. And, yep, everyone else's MMV.
Edit: $450 for customs clearance? Bend over on that one. U.S. customs charges ZERO dollars to clear.
You'll hear "Oh, I had a good experience". Those people just don't know how bad they're being screwed". I've done four imports myself and two for friends so I know the drill and it's called HOSE "EM.

 

[DLSJR]

I had to pay $150 a day storage at San Francisco for 2 days and I was pissed about that. I used Coppersmith and have been very pleased with their service and pricing on my last 3 African shipments.

 

[Deleted member 40394]

Geez. Heck with thAt storage fee.

 

[Doug3006]

I paid $210 in storage fees for a single crate they had in their Chicago warehouse for about a month. Your fee seems really excessive

 

[buck wild]

In the past year, airlines have started charging storage fees immediately upon the crate being offloaded where as in the past they used to give around 3 days grace before charging the fees. The amount of days is normally controlled by when USFW gets around to taking control of the crates. Hose job?? YES. How to defeat the system? I don’t have that answer.

 

[JimP]

Some importers will just let a crate sit in a storage area that they have no control over, this will add up in a hurry. I talked to my importer for my crate that will be coming in a few months and they have multiple crates coming in at the same time. Plus they have their own warehouses at the airports where they crates will arrive. So I will have to pay some storage fees they won't exorbitant.

This is another area where a hunter who is having trophies imported need to do some homework on just who they are using for a importer. The difference can be thousands of dollars.

 

[tx_troubador]

Some importers will just let a crate sit in a storage area that they have no control over, this will add up in a hurry. I talked to my importer for my crate that will be coming in a few months and they have multiple crates coming in at the same time. Plus they have their own warehouses at the airports where they crates will arrive. So I will have to pay some storage fees they won't exorbitant.

This is another area where a hunter who is having trophies imported need to do some homework on just who they are using for a importer. The difference can be thousands of dollars.

Good to know now. I went with the customs company recommended by my shipper, and was given a much lower figure by them on what the estimated costs would look like. I already posted this elsewhere, but for those still following this saga...

Small update: On Monday, I asked for some clarity on how the $2400 was calculated, and got a pretty prompt response that stated that they'd look into that but also re-iterated I should expect delivery on Tuesday or Wednesday this week with a time to be determined based on a phone call I'd receive from the driver on the day of.

It's wednesday afternoon and i've heard nothing. I emailed them letting them know that if it wasn't delivered today, I needed to schedule it for next week as no one will be home tomorrow or friday (I wasn't consulted on the original delivery date). I was emailed back this afternoon. All that was included was another copy of the invoice and a list of payment options. No explanation for the charges. No acknowledgement of delivery concerns.

I'll continue to update as things develop. Pretty soured on the whole thing at the moment.

 

[Philip Glass]

Looking for some guidance. I recently went to RSA for my first hunt in January of this year. I spent the following:
- $1680 for one wildebeest shoulder mount, one impala wall pedestal mount, springbok euro mount, and some odds & ends hides/goods/etc w/Bullseye Taxidermy
- $1773 for shipment from RSA to Dallas (inclusive of air freight, permit & documentation, crating & packaging for export, cartage & inland transport, facility & handling fees, & liability protection) w/African Legacy Logistics
- $3622.53 for customs clearance and delivery. The itemized charges are:

• $2.22 for duties and disbursement charges
• $450 for customs clearance
• $236.8 for destination terminal charge
• $2400 for storage fees
• $533.33 for delivery charge

I don't have any complaints about the taxidermy or shipment pricing, but feel I'm 100% getting hosed on storage fees. I'm not naming the organization I've utilized since I've asked for an explanation of that charge and I haven't paid yet. Does that seem crazy high to anyone else, and do I have any avenues for disputing that? I'd be all in at $7075.53 if it holds.

We are all getting ripped off by storage fees. The airport charges until customs and USFWS clears them and there is little you can do. Your imported should be on their ass.

 

[tx_troubador]

News: I was able to get in touch with one of the customs clearing reps. I didn't get a ton of details other than there seems to have been some sort of delay of my crate in Turkey that wound up accruing a significant amount of storage fees--and these fees seem to be much higher than normal due to the supply chain shortages/back-ups of the last year.

The short version...the customs house (Trophy Shippers) took care of those $2400 in fees for me, and so I only wound up being responsible for the customs fee and delivery. Very happy with that resolution and the customer service I received from them in the end. Crate arrived yesterday afternoon. It means that all told it cost about $5300 to go from dead trophy to taxidermy in my living room. Moral of the story, I guess, is definitely press the test on fees that seem to be outside the norm. Also, super pleased with the quality of the taxidermy. Bullesye did a fantastic job.

 

[oahufish]

So how do I not get taken for a small fortune in shipping/clearing fee's?
I've just been notified that my mounts are completed and the taxidermist has given me a air cargo quote of $2450 from Port Elizabeth to LAX via REX cargo. It's a 43x36x42 225lb crate with 3 wall, 4 euro and 5 skins. Is that a good rate or should I look for other quotes and if so with whom? What are the best clearing agents to use at LAX and what should I expect to pay there?

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

So how do I not get taken for a small fortune in shipping/clearing fee's?
I've just been notified that my mounts are completed and the taxidermist has given me a air cargo quote of $2450 from Port Elizabeth to LAX via REX cargo. It's a 43x36x42 225lb crate with 3 wall, 4 euro and 5 skins. Is that a good rate or should I look for other quotes and if so with whom? What are the best clearing agents to use at LAX and what should I expect to pay there?

The price sounds reasonable for this day and age. It's also about twice what it was from 5 years ago. I'd suggest using Coppersmith. Rex Cargo is tied in with them and you can make one secured payment to Coppersmith and then they pay Rex. That is how it worked on my two shipments from RSA.

 

[JimP]

So how do I not get taken for a small fortune in shipping/clearing fee's?
I've just been notified that my mounts are completed and the taxidermist has given me a air cargo quote of $2450 from Port Elizabeth to LAX via REX cargo. It's a 43x36x42 225lb crate with 3 wall, 4 euro and 5 skins. Is that a good rate or should I look for other quotes and if so with whom? What are the best clearing agents to use at LAX and what should I expect to pay there?

In my opinion you are doing this all backwards. The importer should of been on your list right after you booked your hunt or paid for your airfare.

I'm using Safari Speciality Importers again for this past June's hunt. I used them in 2015 and was impressed with their service. They do have a presence in LA

 

[oahufish]

In my opinion you are doing this all backwards. The importer should of been on your list right after you booked your hunt or paid for your airfare.

I'm using Safari Speciality Importers again for this past June's hunt. I used them in 2015 and was impressed with their service. They do have a presence in LA

Regardless of when an importer is chosen, sounds like the shipping fees are high and there's no way around the exorbitant storage fees the airlines are charging while your crate sits there 7-10 days waiting for the various government agencies to clear.

 

[JimP]

That's where your importer comes in at.

I don't expect to pay for more than 3 days storage if any.