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carsonblock
Lurker
Joined: Aug 11, 2004
Posts: 22
Status: Offline
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  Posted:
Dec 02, 2004 - 05:53 AM |
 
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| Post subject: Furniture...To Bring or Not To Bring? |
I'm moving to SH with a relo budget, so I have money to ship furniture. Looking at apartment listings on this site though, it seems like most apartments are already furnished. I'd prefer to use my own furniture - particularly the bed (since Americans usually prefer soft mattresses) and my sofa with a pull-out bed (not sure they're available in China??). Will it hurt me (in terms of rent or selection) to bring my own furniture? Am I right to be concerned about the beds / sofas in China? |
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knockknock_ca
PopStar
Joined: Nov 27, 2003
Posts: 1068
Status: Offline
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Dec 02, 2004 - 07:44 AM |
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Sofa beds are available here. As for the bed, I found that most of them are shorter than those in North America. If you have the shipping allowance, may be you should bring along your furniture, or at least your favourite bed. |
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Interested_66
Squeeker
Joined: Nov 20, 2004
Posts: 17
Status: Offline
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Dec 02, 2004 - 09:44 AM |
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You need to remember a few things about shipping, the NUMBER ONE is CUSTOMS.
1, You need your Red and Green book, these are basically your Work and Resedence Visas. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET YOUR SHIPPMENT THRU CUSTOMS WITHOUT THESE. So ensure you will have these in your hand before your shippment arrives, or you will be charged storage. My employer did all our visa applications and it took about 3 weeks, not counting national holidays. If you read some of the other threads here, getting your visas can be an issue!!!
2. Customs Duty, Furniture and Electical goods may carry a 20% tax on them. The value put on them is made up by the Customs office. You can be charged 300rmb for a small hifi system that only cost you $100 us Dollars and the same 300rmb tax on a hifi system that cost $4000 us Dollars.
3. Its a straight forward process once you have the correct paper work, no real problems. In total it cost me 5500rmb in handling, transport and Customs duty this side ontop of my shipping/packing costs. I shipped 6 cubic meters of good.
If you have any questions please PM me and I will give you my email address if you have any special questions. |
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SHMSPAC
Reacher
Joined: Sep 01, 2004
Posts: 236
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Dec 02, 2004 - 11:19 AM |
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You can buy Western type comfort beds/mattresses in Shanghai (China), although they are imported. I didn’t ship anything, other the artwork and personal items, as all else can be attained here. Concerning bed’s, you are right, the typical mattress is hard, but after some looking I found a bed that is actually far better than the one I have in North America, but again, it is an imported product, from Europe.
Concerning limitations on apartment rentals, when I was renting, having my own bed etc, didn’t pose any issue, the landlord was always cooperative in removing anything I didn’t want.
Regarding sofas, I don’t know about the foldout type, but other units are inexpensive, and can even be made to order, and although they aren’t meant to last a lifetime, the general quality is good, and having them made, gives you the opportunity to chose how hard/soft you want the seating, as well as size, and fabric/material. |
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carsonblock
Lurker
Joined: Aug 11, 2004
Posts: 22
Status: Offline
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Dec 02, 2004 - 10:07 PM |
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| Post subject: Thanks! |
Thanks everybody for the replies! |
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Del
Talker
Joined: Oct 24, 2003
Posts: 109
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Dec 06, 2004 - 04:40 PM |
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As interested mentioned, in order to apply for your import permit and then process the customs clearance of your shipment the following documents will be required:
1. Original & Copy of your passport (pages needed: photo, Z-visa, latest entry stamp)
2. Original & Copy of your Residence Permit (pages needed: photo, permit's number, & validity date)
3. Original & Copy of your Work Permit (pages needed: photo, permit's number, & validity date)
4. Original & Copy of the Customs Registration Certificate
The above documents must be prepared before the shipment arrives at the port of Shanghai. Otherwise, additional port charges, storage charges and/or demurrage charges might occur.
Note: It generally takes 3-4 weeks after your arrival to complete the application process for all these documents, and thus receive delivery of your shipment, so you should pack accordingly.
Custom clearance normally takes 3 to 4 working days. The Customs Authorities levy import tax and duty on certain items. In principle, the import tax and duty for some of the items are as follows:
1. Electrical Items : 20% of the value assessed by customs
2. Furniture & Food : 10% of the value assessed by customs
3. Alcohol : RMB 50.00 per bottle (under 12%) and RMB 250.00 per bottle (above 12%)
4. CD & VCD : RMB12.00 and RMB 20.00 each (if quantity is over 100 pieces)
5. Video tape : RMB 15.00 each (if quantity is over 20 pieces) |
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farang
Reacher
Joined: Nov 02, 2004
Posts: 256
Status: Offline
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Dec 26, 2004 - 01:35 PM |
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To speed up this process is it possible to import one's personal effects using someone else's info- is there any 3rd party service available to do this?
Reason I ask is that it has taken a looong time for my company to process my work and residence visa (almost 8 weeks so far) and my stuff is already on the water. |
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tinayang
Reacher
Joined: July 07, 2004
Posts: 200
Status: Offline
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Jan 09, 2005 - 01:50 AM |
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The furnished/unfurnished question really depends on your budget. If its high-end, the landlord will move out his stuff no problem, even if they've just spent a small fortune on it and now have to put it in storage. They are flexible on the whole; you may find the storage cost gets factored into the rent, that's all. |
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geordanrobertson
Squeeker
Joined: Jan 09, 2006
Posts: 17
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Feb 22, 2006 - 02:37 AM |
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My wife and I are planning on moving to Shanghai for a while in May 2006. Currently, she is there (native Shanghainese) and I am working in Canada. We are considering shipping our furniture over there for the move. I have a couple questions after reading some of the threads here:
1. How much is it going to cost me (roughly) to ship from Canada to Shanghai? I was thinking roughly (total) 28000RMB...am I way off??
2. Since my wife already is a Chinese citizen, do we need to have all that Visa paperwork? (i.e. working visa, residence visa, etc)? Would it be better to put it in her parents name?
3. Any recommendations for moving companies from Canada to Shanghai?
Feel free to PM me if more convenient. Thank you for your help!! |
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