Hi i have yet to find someone who has actually used ocean freight to ship personal gear from USA to Austria (Vienna)..Is there anyone on this forum who has shipped via ocean freight? I need to ship clothing items weighing about 500 pounds and so the cheapest way for me is to ship via ocean freight but my biggest question is how this is handled once in vienna..VAT/Customs/Other hidden charges etc. Everything will be used clothing so it will be designated as "personal effects" but ive never done this before so i dont know what or how the authorities will handle this. Yes i am an american with a residence permit for Austria.
Any tried and tested advice is much appreciated..also, if anyone can suggest a reliable shipping company that would be great, i will be shipping from northern california.
Cheers
Zero2Hero
Shipping Ocean Freight From USA to Vienna..Has Anyone Done it ??
Hello Zero2Hero.
You can consult our Shipping partner for a free quote. 
Thank you,
Aurélie
thanks but your " shipping partner" does not tell me anything i dont already know..i need advice from people who have already shipped their personal effects to austria successfully.
regards
I haven't received by have shipped a lot of personal effects to Europe over the years. 500 lbs isn't enough to make ocean cargo worth while; after paying for all the minimum ocean cargo charges you'll have to pay for custom's clearance.
Your least expensive option is air cargo, 250 kgs should cost you around $1000 and you'll have it in a week. Custom's clearance is free because you can do it yourself.. and you won't pay duties if you had the items over 6 months and were outside of Austria at least a year: http://webportal.atlasintl.com/Customs% … ustria.pdf
Who to use depends on where your items are located exactly.
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