Importing EBikes to Australia

Understand there are a few Aussie members, any tips or advice? I purchased one ebike via alibaba and want more, the supplier has agreed to ship 5 and supplied a quote inc. just their purchase cost FOB plus shipping. The first one came by air and shipping was expensive. The rest are much cheaper but by sea freight to Melbourne.

The process seems a lot more involved, I need insurance and a broker to take them in and sort out duty etc.

Any tips, any suggestions for a broker etc? TIA

(edit: they are small numbers for a hire business, so no intention to compete on sales).

You're using an entire shipping container to send 5 bikes? Yikes. Even on the small ones that's a lot of free space. Anyway it's not really that complicated. The broker will walk you thru it. You don't even have problems unloading with only 5 bikes. Also, I dunno about Aussie taxes but if it's lower than our tariff you can breath a sigh of relief about that.

Yeah, I hear about the US tariff Bikes are only $185US to ship, part of a container I guess. Iv'e tried a few brokers and of a dozen, 2 got back eventually. looks around $750 brokerage but i'm just trying to see if there's any hidden stoppers/big expenses.. I have tried to pin down tariffs etc, apparently we do have a new 5% tarrif on top of 10%GST.

flat tire said:

You're using an entire shipping container to send 5 bikes?

Click to expand...

Where does his post even *mention* a shipping container, much less how much of one would be used?

Why do you want to use a broker etc ?
Once you start along that track , the costs begin to pile up and are difficult to anticipate..
..freight, duty, Tax,insurance, handling, storage, clearance, delivery, etc etc.
At least try to get a detailed quote.
But if you dont plan large or regular consignments , it is going to be difficult to justify.
For a half dozen bikes ( dissassembled and boxed), its bound to be cheaper to simply have then shipped “china post” ,..one at a time if necessary...and probably quicker.
Chinese suppliers are used to this and are usually very helpful with arrangements.

Cheers, the sample bike was $645US to ship, which added around 50% to the cost. I can't imagine needing more than 15/20 but they still appear much cheaper by slow boat.

i have some experience contact me via private mail I can assist a bit