Shipping sculpture internationally (canada - switzerland)

[adam_brandejs]

Hello there Sculpture.net community!!

I'm an emerging artist and this is my first time showing internationally, I'll be shipping 9 sculptures over to switzerland from canada. you can see an example at Genpets.com (http://www.genpets.com) I'm going to use 3 packages and 3 units in each package (seemed best).

I need desperate help!

I checked prices and it breaks as the follwing
for 3 boxes each 7lbs and 35x20x25 inches:

canadaPOST = $600
fedex = $1800
ups = $1537

those are all ecomomy prices. express was ridiculaous....


what should I do???? is there soemthing cheaper? this is insane, they're really not all thta big at all....

[Merlion]

I don't have experience, but others here should have. I understand services like Fedex and UPS have standard cardboard boxes. The delivery charges when using them are much cheaper.

[tonofelephant]

Adam,

Sculpture gets expensive to ship when bodies of water are involved. How far off is your show? If is is 7-8 weeks you may be able to get by with ocean freight. Can save a lot of money but slow as the devil.

To address your problem though try a state side shipper called Unishipper at 814-471-0551. They are a third party freight company. They arrange the best rates to ship your stuff. Some of the carriers they use are: DHL, Roadway, and also ocean freight companies. They ship your work for you and then bill you afterwards. Always has been cheaper to go through them than direct to the transport company.

For example I sent 5 wooden crates, about 500 lbs., out to Scotsdale, AZ from WV. UPS wanted $800. Various other companies wanted a little less and some a lot more. I sent it with Roadway through Unishippers for a total of $397. that included a lift gate (a $50 option). Paid for my airfare out and back and almost the rental while I was there. Give them a try.


Carl
WSGGallery.com

[Stevem]

Adam, I can't really give you any more advice on shippers concerning price, but I would like to suggest to you that you make sure the packages are tracked and you may want to pack them yourself. I recently used a shipping company to ship some sculptures from the United States to Italy. I used what was supposed to be a fine art shipping company. They were extremely pricey in my opinion and I didn't even receive tracking information. Two of my sculptures were damaged in transit and I was just (as recently as last week) compensated for the damages. In the exhibition I took place in, a few of the people I met from Canada had brought their own work on the plane with them, seems importation laws aren't as strict going from Canada to Europe as from the States. You might want to see what overage charges would cost you and take them with you if you plan on attending the show.

Good luck in what ever decision you make.
Steve

[adam_brandejs]

wow, yes THANK YOU, i WILL deffinetly package them myself... so far, I've gotten fedex down from $1800 -> $306 !
simply by using a fedex box rather than my own. same volume. its crazy... I never would have known, but it makes sense... it still seems very expensive for shipping less than 20lbs of work though.

[Landseer]

Wierd, I tried google unishipper and it showed unishipper.com and when I tried to look at their web site it showed "not found", even the cached version is blank.
Ive used freightquote.com sounds like the same thing, they arrange the lowest price through all the usual carriers- roadway, key city etc etc

[Merlion]

.. so far, I've gotten fedex down from $1800 -> $306 ! simply by using a fedex box rather than my own. same volume. its crazy... I never would have known, but it makes sense... it still seems very expensive for shipping less than 20lbs of work though.

That is a lot of difference. Only 1/6 of the original air-shipping cost in a non-standard size.

They have more than one box size. Are you able to put more of your exhibition pieces into one box?

[tonofelephant]

Landseer -

The correct url for Unishiper is www.unishippers.com.

Carl

[justme]

Hi,
Those are some freaky things. How much do they cost? And what do you mean that they are "alive"?
J

[KeithBentley]

I'm going to assume your headed to Basel - the shipping dealine to get everything there is the 15th (The rush is on!) and customs is a bitch. There are a number of ways to do this but the easiest and less expensive is to deal with a company called HOC in Toronto and then through Andreas (head of many things for the Basel fair). who picks things up at the airport and brokers everything in. Your going to have lots of questions - don't be shy. I've done this a few times and am always willing to help another artist out.
You can e-mail me at home:keithbentley10@sympatico.ca
And perhaps I'll see you in Basel...

[jim]

what ever company you use, ask if they interline..that means they will hand off to company to company and you will have four or five pro numbers (tracking numbers) on your freight...remember if you ship wood crates use screws not nails because all freight is subject to inspection.......label freight destination address on the outside and also the inside of the package or container..dont forget to put contact phone numbers..very important to use phone numbers because if your freight gets lost and ends up in OSAD (overage, short and damage holding area )......someone will have a number to call...

general info

jim

[Julianna]

When do the sculptures need to be in Switzerland?

CARFAC Ontario (http://www.carfacontario.ca) has a publication ("Information for Artists") which you may want to take a look at before you ship. It has a section on shipping and packing.

Some things to consider:
-customs (you may want to go through a broker)
-a Certificate of Canadian Origin (http://www.carfacontario.ca/resources) (about 2/3rds of the way down the page; must be signed by the organization; will help when you are having your sculptures returned to Canada)
-some official documentation about the composition of the sculpture (you may run into problems if they feel that the sculpture is a bio hazard)

Good luck!

[anne (bxl)]

I'm going to assume your headed to Basel -

Till I read your post I assumed galleries would pay for shipping and packing all works presented out of their gallery! especially for such a major fair...
Am I wrong??

[adam_brandejs]

yup gallery paid.

Shipping ended up being 238cdn total, and got there in 2 days via fedex. not bad at all!! no customs hold ups or anything luckily.

thanks everyone, it's alot to handle for someone so young (24 just grauduating, it's looking like the bulk of my artistic carreer will be in paaper work, not sculpting. especially since the work has electronic aspects, FCC issues etc are amusing. no really... it's art, not a bomb).

I'll be bookmarking this page and referring to it in the future whenever i need to ship anything, which I'm sure I'll be doing again any day.

keith - I'll probably email you in the future for questions if you don't mind, and yes, it's basel but unfortunetly I'm not going, gallery paid shipping but not for me, and I'm fine with that, I hate playing the "used car salesman artist" blathering on about my work. I just make the stuff......

anyways, thanks again everyone

[KeithBentley]

Adam,

Glad to hear you worked everything out. Shipping and customs in a HUGE pain in the ass. Your gallery should handle most of that though - at least that's what I do for our gallery artists.

Too bad your not going - Basel is a great show and an absolute amazing time.
I agree with you on not wanting to stand around and explain your work a million times.
I think this will be my last show - I sell other artists and it's time to focus on me and my work.

Give me a shout anytime. -Keith

[fused]

One other thing to consider when shipping: Insure everything for full value and IF anything is damaged in transit file a claim, regardless of the condition.

I shipped a sculpture out of state via FedEx insured full value because it was borrowed from a collector for a show that travelled to four different venues. A gallery had organized the show and received all of the works and after mine arrived they called me to ask how the main section went together. Well, it was supposed to be one piece, so it was broken. We discussed the break and they said it was minor and with their connections they could handle it. I gave them the name of a sculptor I knew who's studio was a few miles from their gallery if they needed assistance. No insurance claim was filed and a few days later they called and assured me everything was now repaired and in perfect order.

A year and a half later, after the exhibition had travelled to all four sites, the sculpture was returned. The repair was wrong, the kinetic sculpture was never working at any time in any of the shows and I was in shock. The coordinator of the show was an idiot and I am equally stupid for believing everything I was told. That situation will never happen again, the best lessons are learned the hard way.

[Arnis]

Try Mellohawk - Tel: 416-465-3459