I am planning a house move to Pakistan from the UK. Anyone got any idea about a good container delivery company?
Also I am wondering whether it is worth buying electrical / electronics goods (fridge, TV, DVD etc) from here (UK) or buy them over in Pakistan. It seems to me that electronics goods are more expensive in Pakistan but then I am not sure about the cost with shipping and duty added on. How about buying these goods from Dubai - can you import easily into Pakistan?
Khattana please keep us updated on your progress and any problems you encounter shipping your goods to pakistan as we too are thinking of moving out there later this year InshAllah.
Thanks for the replies. I have found a shipping company who are charging £2400 for half a container. They will drop off the container at my home, pack the container and deliver it to Karachi port. Seems expensive so still looking for cheaper option.
Last year we moved and had a lot of problems with shipping agent, although the shipment was door to door but still a lot of running arround.
We found that most of the electronics if it is new is dutiable apart from few items which were exampted under Transfer of Residance. But still had to pay duty on some old items.
We found that normal house hold items are not expensive at all ( compare to Europe) and comes with warranty. For us it was good that we got the things locally according to space available. specially fridge, freezer and oven. You may not find very many varity of imported european quality goods but still was available.
electronics are cheaper in Pakistan not dearer compared to UK. Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung etc all have authorised service centres and covers warranty.
fridges mostly are locally made in Pakistan, ie dawlance, PEL, LG etc.
you will get good duty rates by using TR(transfer of residence ) facility from Pakistan customs, get it done from high commission here.
also duty rates has been fixed , so it makes life simple now. www.cbr.gov.pk for more details under baggage rules
I checked prices of electronics goods in Pakistan and was shocked to find that the prices were almost 50% higher than in the UK. I am comparing to best price in the UK, not high street prices. The reason is that in the UK, you can get a really good deal in a sale from internet companies. In Pakistan, as there is little competition, there is price fixing and it is very rare to pick up a bargain. For example I have bought a 37" Toshiba LCD HD ready TV for £650 from the net. In Pakistan, a Samsung plasma 42" was selling for 1.6 lacs in Islamabad. OK 5 inch difference, but then mine is Japanese !!
Shak kills - I checked the website you suggested and it has some very useful info. I was surprised to see that duty for LCD TVs is much lower than Plasma TVs even though LCD are more expensive to buy. Also Transfer of residence gives you 50% off on duty.
do share your real experience of this move, cause many of us will benefit from it. you are right high streets are even getting competitive. dealers tend to get too much profit on top of the range items cause of less and exclusive buyers.
samsung are one of the best in LCD though price is still higher compared to UK.
Most things are available in Pakistan, although for a higher price sometimes. But all the trouble you go through packing and shopping and shipping and everything is a big hassle. I think it would be easier to shop around in Pakistan and buy everything locally here.
I managed to get a Pakistani company from up North (Lancashire) to ship the container for about £700 (I think, cannot remember). They came over and filled the container. I didnt get insurance on their recommendation and luckily didnt need it. The container arrived here a month Later (at Port Qasim). I hired services of an experienced agent and therefore managed to save most of the custom duty! I shipped over two tellies (one LCD + my old 32" traditional), washing machine, dish washer, large american style fridge, 3 computers, cooker, and all my other house hold goods. The total duty would have been over 100k but I managed to get away with about 20k. Had to pay a lot of other charges (demurage, Port fee, handling fee, agent fee, rishwat etc). All in all I was better off as I managed to pick up some really good bargains from the net. Things are available here in pk but are too expensive as you do not have sales. All the stuff got here OK in good condition however the customs people took everything out and repacked the container and did a very bad job! Then the truck journey from the port till my house in khi almost killed everything inside - I was very lucky all my things survived! Lesson was that I should have gone to the port and got the container packed in my supervision instead of relying on my agent.
Have been living in Karachi now for 1.5 years and have no regrets. Kids have settled down and adjusted in school. Only problem is that my hard earned savings are wiped off in the UK with crash, devaluation etc. :(
Once my parents had the whole household shipped from the USA to Pakistan and everything survived, and we are still using the furniture whenever in Pakistan, thank God we didnt pay any duty as my abbu worked for the pakistani government and they paid for everything.
we r moving from dubai to karachi if anyone knows how we can find proper agent ,plz let me know and also if we bring lcd tv used with us what will bne the duty
I am planning a house move to Pakistan from the UK. Anyone got any idea about a good container delivery company?
Also I am wondering whether it is worth buying electrical / electronics goods (fridge, TV, DVD etc) from here (UK) or buy them over in Pakistan. It seems to me that electronics goods are more expensive in Pakistan but then I am not sure about the cost with shipping and duty added on. How about buying these goods from Dubai - can you import easily into Pakistan?
Any help on these matters will be a great help.
You should buy all electrical items from Pakistan. I am saying this from experience. If you think they are more expensive in PK, think of it this way...the price of buying a Plasma screen + shipping costs will exceed price it costs in Pakistan! Shipping costs are really expensive from UK.
Buy from Pakistan, and if you have any probs' with the electrical item then at least you can easily get it fixed from where you bough it.
Hi Guys,
I am currently in Singapore and planning to move back and settle in Pakistan.
I dont have much big stuff here, as most of the houses are fully-furnished.
However, I have collected few electronic items/gadgets which i dont want to sell but take with me to Pakistan. I just want to know what would be the duty on these items.
1- 32"LCD TV
2- 2.1 Speakers set with slightly bigger woofer.
3- Electronic musical keybaord with full size 88 keys.
4- Microwave oven(can be left here as it was not very expensive)
5- Electric oven(can also leave here)
6- Some kitchen items may be some expensive dinner sets which my wife wont like to leave here :)
7- Clothes (I will prefer to carry other delicate items with me in plane, would prefer to pack most of the clothes for booking)
8- Wireless Modem(s) cable Modem(s).
Can you guys suggest, which of these items will costs me for expensive duty and not feasible to carry?
Thanks for all your help
Regards
Imran