No, but you do need to use a licensed Customs broker. You can choose your own or use the one that Import Authority, Inc.has been associated with for many years, the choice is yours.
Yes and No. There are certain fixed costs to importing such as broker fee, duty rate, ocean (or air) freight costs, therefore you need to bring in a large enough volume to offset that cost. Sometimes the vendor will set a minimum quantity or dollar value. We at Import Authority, Inc. recommend minimums of $5000 value per shipment, under that, our trading partner offshore usually adds a small shipment handling fee. In certain cases, with an established customer, we can Air Post a small replacement part at minimal costs.
We charge a percentage of the FOB at the offshore port cost of the goods that you buy. We put our cost of services right in the quoted price. When you evaluate the quote, our price is in that quote.
Import Authority, Inc. sends you a faxed invoice for the cost of the goods as per your quote when the goods are ready to leave the offshore port.
FOB means "Free on Board" – that is on the ship ready to leave the offshore port. If your quote is stated that way, you are responsible for broker charges, US CUSTOMS duty, ocean freight and inland freight from the US Port of Entry nearest you. Note that this could easily be a major inland city such as Chicago or Detroit.
Yes, you can be quoted either CIF (Cost, Insurance, & Freight) to the nearest port. In the case of a CIF shipment, you are responsible for duty and inland freight charges. You can also be quoted FOB nearest US Port. This means that we would pay the duty, broker fees and ocean freight on your behalf and then you will still pay the invoice when the goods are ready to leave the offshore port.