Buying large items

The moment you hand over money the shop's interest in the logistics drops. Agree the shipping arrangement, who crates it, who fumigates it and who pays which fees in writing, in English, before the deposit.

EXW (ex-works) means the price is the item sitting in the shop — everything else is yours. FOB Benoa/Surabaya means the seller gets it packed, cleared and loaded onto the vessel. CIF means they also pay sea freight and insurance to your port. Ask for both an EXW and an FOB number so you can see what the seller is actually charging for handling.

Freight is charged on whichever is greater — actual weight or volumetric space. Get the crated dimensions in centimetres and the crated weight, not the bare item's. A 2 m carved door becomes a 2.3 m crate.

Photos of the item before crating, during crating and of the sealed crate. If it arrives split, chipped or swapped for a lesser piece, photos are the only leverage you have.

Full description, materials, quantity, price paid, seller's name, address and tax number. Customs at both ends work off this document. 'Wooden item — USD 100' written on a scrap of paper will cause you problems.

Untreated wood can carry borers, termites, powderpost beetle larvae and fungal spores. Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and the EU all regulate it, and Australia and NZ are the strictest in the world. If your crate fails inspection at the destination, you pay for treatment, storage and re-inspection — often more than the item cost.

The wooden crate or pallet must be heat-treated or fumigated and stamped with the ISPM 15 mark (a wheat-ear logo, country code, treatment code HT or MB, and the facility number). No stamp means the crate can be rejected on arrival even if the contents are fine. Photograph the stamp.

For raw or lightly finished timber, rattan, bamboo, dried grasses and unfired terracotta, ask for methyl bromide fumigation or kiln/heat treatment of the goods and a Fumigation Certificate naming the item, the dose, the duration and the treatment date. Cost is usually USD 40–120 per consignment. Have it done in Bali — it is a fraction of the destination price.

Issued by Indonesian quarantine (Karantina Pertanian) for plant-based goods. Some destinations require it in addition to fumigation. Your freight forwarder arranges it; expect USD 30–80.

Soil, bark, seeds, leaf litter, insect frass and even a spider nest in a carved recess will fail a quarantine inspection. Inspect the item yourself in daylight: tap it, look for pin-holes and fine sawdust, check the underside and any hollow sections.

Far easier — no fumigation needed for the goods, but the crate still needs the ISPM 15 stamp and the stone must be free of soil. Sandstone and volcanic stone are heavy: get a weight before you commit, because sea freight on a garden Buddha can exceed its purchase price.

For anything urgent, small and valuable — a painting, a small carving, textiles. Charged on volumetric weight, roughly USD 8–15 per kg from Denpasar with a minimum charge. Fast, simple, expensive per kilo, and you still clear customs at the other end.

The normal way to send one or two pieces of furniture. You pay for the cubic metres you use — usually USD 200–450 per CBM from Benoa or Surabaya to Australia, more to Europe or North America — plus origin handling, documentation and destination charges. Minimum billing is often 1 CBM even if your crate is smaller.

Worth it once you have roughly 12+ CBM (a 20 ft container) or 25+ CBM (40 ft). Common for people furnishing a whole house. Total cost varies wildly by destination but per-cubic-metre it is far cheaper than LCL.

Established galleries in Mas, Tegallalang and Batubulan do this every week and it is genuinely convenient. Get the quote broken down and ask explicitly whether destination charges, duty and quarantine are included — usually they are not.

Use a Bali-based international forwarder rather than the shop's cousin. They quote line-by-line, handle export permits, fumigation and the bill of lading, and they exist tomorrow if something goes wrong.

Excess baggage on a full-service airline is often cheaper than air freight for 20–30 kg. Paintings travel rolled in a tube; check your airline's oversize rules and dimension limits before you buy the frame.

Almost every 'shipping included' quote stops at the destination port. What lands on you after that: destination terminal handling, LCL de-consolidation, customs brokerage, duty, sales tax, quarantine inspection, any treatment ordered, port storage while all of that happens, and final delivery to your door. On a single LCL crate this commonly adds USD 400–900 — sometimes more than the freight itself.

GST of 10% on the goods plus freight and insurance; duty is often 0–5% on handicrafts and furniture. Biosecurity is the real cost: an inspection fee, and if timber is untreated, mandatory fumigation at the wharf plus storage while it happens. Budget AUD 600–1,200 in destination charges on a normal LCL crate. Get treatment certificates from Bali or you will pay several times over.

Similar to Australia: 15% GST, MPI biosecurity inspection, and zero tolerance on soil, bark and live pests. Untreated wood and unfumigated rattan are routinely held. Destination charges commonly NZD 700–1,400.

Duty is often low or zero on original artworks and many handicrafts, but customs brokerage, ISF filing (USD 30–100, and a penalty if filed late), port fees and delivery add up. Lacey Act declarations apply to wood products — your forwarder needs the species name. Budget USD 500–1,000 in destination charges.

VAT (20% UK, 17–27% EU) is charged on the value of the goods plus freight plus duty, and duty on furniture and handicrafts is typically 0–5.6%. EUDR/timber-legality paperwork may be requested for wooden goods. Clearance and delivery charges GBP 250–500 on top.

Rules vary widely — Singapore has minimal duty but strict declarations; Canada applies GST/HST plus CFIA inspection on wood. Before you buy, search your own customs authority's site for the item type and get the tariff code from the seller.