UK Bond Shipping/Importing to the USA - who do you use?

For those of you who purchase in Bond in the UK - who do you use for shipping and importing to the USA?

I’ve seen Adventures in Wine, Seabrook, Ziegler, and Conneissuer International come up in searches, but the pricing seems to be a bit old. I’ve also seen it recommended to use someone with a “wet license” but no specifics.

Any one use a shipper / importer lately and have details on pricing?

Adventures in wine seems to be around $225+ per case plus shipping from SF to my home in MO. Ideally looking for something cheaper than that - at some point it would be easier to just fly to London and pay the baggage fees :rofl:

If you are prepared to go through a ton of bureaucratic hoops, flying to London is an option. Not a good one, but an option. Somehow you have to keep the wines in bond, and find a way of putting it on your suitcase. Or pay the VAT, and get the money back when you leave the country minus any fees they may charge. Besides, this was never a possibility for me, I detest schlepping wine.

I have had a horrific experience with Davis Turner, like Seabrookes, but for me, the best by far, is Connoisseur International, which I have been using for five plus years. Nothing is totally smooth all the time, but CI, stands behind its shipping, and on the rare occasion that something does go wrong, they fix it.

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What were your rates like with Connoisseur International lately?

CID is best and cheapest if you have at least a full pallet.

Last year it was around $4/bottle.

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Used CID on Mark’s recommendation. They deliver.

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That’s a pretty big if.

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How many cases in a pallet? 56?

Depends on how they are packed. I had a lot of OWC of various sizes and whatnot. I had 72 cases across 2 pallets. Could have fit more but was too much for one pallet.

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Andrew - is your $4 including US duties as well? or just the transit costs?

I had 18 bottles shipped by CI after an auction and it came to $37/bottle. They did a fine job but that seems excessive.

I’ve had nearly as good (and much less expensive) experiences with Seabrook. My problem with them is they never notify me of when they start or finish shipping. But so far it’s always arrived safely so it’s just an inconvenience

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