Air Freight costs

I read on another board where somebody paid $1880 for air freight costs for their trophies. Their crate weighed over 600 pounds. This scared the heck out of me.

What are your thoughts or experience?

This is a question with way to many possible answers to just claim anything to be "fact".

I will give you some details having done this over last 11 years with just shy of 200 clients now.

The price to get game home is as follows:
Pack and dip, required by the South Africa government. 50 bucks per animal species regardless of parts involved. Head with horns or whole skin and head. Does not matter each entry into the log book is fifty bucks regardless of the amount of parts. There is also a 120.00 one time fee for veternary paperwork. So five animals is 250 bucks plus the 120.00, you have 370 for pack and dip before the game leaves the country.

Shipping can be based roughly at 125.00 per animal regardless of parts. This is for plains game only. Not Rhino, buffalo, or Giraffe, etc.

With this you have 625.00 for shipping of five animals. The price will be higher per animal for less then 5 as the crating cost and the mass of the box is wasted on fewer amimals.

Now the Broker in the USA. He will charge anywhere from 150-500 bucks to import your things. Be careful with this as it's the biggest rip off going. I recommned coopersmith, I do not recommend Flora and fauna. Never use them!

It's easy to import your own things through customs. A few forms to fill out and your on your way. If the airport they arrive at is far away from you, your stuck with a broker. The shipper will also charge you storage fees on the second day the crate is in their warehouse.

So for 1800.00 bucks as stated in the post you reference it may have been cheap if there were 12 or so animals. If it was for 4-5 animals it was expensive unless he was talking about total cost and not shipping cost? was the broker fee included? Was there a Buffalo hide and cape?

As I said, way to many questions to consider one answer. I have been doing this a long time now and have seen several ways to make this cheaper. We now work with our hunters as a group to make this as inexpensive as possible.

We have no business relationship with the Pack and dip or the shipper. No Commission, no profit nothing period. We use the company we do because it's been good and we have never lost a single trophy in the thousands of trophies shipped.

On another site right now there is a thread about waiting for the trophies. The gentleman is still waiting and it's been 14 months now. Something has gone drastically wrong! Your trophies should be with you in 6 months or sooner.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 06-25-2003 16:05: Message edited by: JJHACK ]</font>

Thanks JJ That helps me understand it more and maybe a little bit more prepared