I have been reading horror stories about exorbitant dipping, packing and shipping cost as well as trophies not returned so what is the best way to avoid excessive charges?

Taxidermy to be done in the states.

This is what I think so far please correct me:

1. Get multiple quotes from dipp and pack companies while here in states
2. Get a customs broker. e.g Coppersmith,…
3. Ship by sea will save money.

Do I need to find a shipper in RSA?

Am I missing anything?

Jim

I would call Fauna & Flora Customhouse Brokers and talk with John Meehan or with Matt about all of the questions that you have. They will answer each and every one of them. I have been with them for most of my African Safaris and have been very pleased with their service, including sea shipping with Safari Cargo. They will take care of you.

The only 'horror story' I have on seven African shipments involved Coppersmith; a trophy was stolen out of my shipment while in their care/custody, 'insurance' I paid for with them was useless, and they charged me for stuff they never did on two of three shipments they handled for me. On a ~positive note they did reimburse me for those ghost charges once I called them out on it.

On the other hand, as Use Enough Gun stated, John Meehan at Fauna and Flora have been excellent to deal with. They have handled my last two shipments and will handle my next shipment.

I have come to prefer having my taxidermy work done locally (USA).

P.S. Discuss this issue (trophy shipment) with your PH in RSA ahead of time. No doubt he has a relationship with one. Ask about costs after-the-fact concerning transport of trophies to the shipper and other 'prep' charges. On my first trip to RSA I got charged for stuff I never encountered in any trip to Namibia, Mozambique, or Tanzania. Specifically, they (in RSA) charged me $35 for each trophy ('handling/prep'), a $150 transport fee (to the shipper), and the shipper charged me $250 for a crate that probably cost him $25 USD in materials and labor.

Singleshot03,

The simplest thing to do is first contact a taxidermist that specializes in African mounts. He will set up the broker for receiving your trophies and give you tags for your tropies that will have all the pertinent shipping info on them. He also will guarantee payment to the international shipper so you only deal with the taxidermist. No sending CC# overseas. Your safari operator should be handling your dip/pack or organizing a reputable outfit to handle it so you should only have to pay the safari operator for the dip/pack.

If you personally have to worry about all the dip/pack shipping details you need to book with someone else that will make sure your trophies are taken care of and you are not ripped off.

Micro mamaging all this is not normal even though it might seems that it is when reading these forums. In 14 safaris I've never organized any of the dip/pack, shipping or receiving here in the States. The people I hunt with and use for taxidermy know far better than I who to deal with concerning getting my trophies home.

Mark

Dip & pack has to be done in Africa not in the country of destination.

This link and the links contained therein might help: http://www.shakariconnection.c...ermy-for-africa.html

Thanks for all the feedback I just want to avoid an unexpected bill for a couple of thousand bucks after the hunt.

Jim

After 10 trips to Africa, I am no expert.
Things I will never do again.

1. Use an African Taxidermist for mounting.
2. Rely on the taxidermist to arrange shipping agents and fees.

ITS YOUR SHIPMENT. GET QUOTES FROM SEVERAL COMPANIES. MOST ALL TAXIDERMIST GET PAID TO REFER A SHIPPING COMPANY AND YOU PAY MORE FOR IT.

quote:

Originally posted by jeff h:
After 10 trips to Africa, I am no expert.
Things I will never do again.

1. Use an African Taxidermist for mounting.
2. Rely on the taxidermist to arrange shipping agents and fees.

ITS YOUR SHIPMENT. GET QUOTES FROM SEVERAL COMPANIES. MOST ALL TAXIDERMIST GET PAID TO REFER A SHIPPING COMPANY AND YOU PAY MORE FOR IT.

+1

tried Coppersmith and Flora and Fauna and was overcharged by both. Am using Maria Felix now and so far she is much more responsive. Trophies are being shipped as we speak so I will know in a week the final results.

Also Maria Felix was the only one to give me a quote for her charges before the hunt. The others either wouldnt or sent me to their website me to their website. ie no quote in writing. Yea right!

If you anywhere near a port of entry, clear it yourself.

After having done it myself (Anchorage is a port of entry), I have a new appreciation for just how much of a rip off the receiving end of an African shipment is. There just ain't that much to it, considering what they want for it. Call the inspector people and they walk you through the whole thing.

If you have raw pigs or primates, I don't think you can though. A finished warthog was no problem.

My last taxidermy was done by the ph's own taxidermy shop. JP Kleinhans. I was pretty happy with the work and the prices were reasonable. That said, I have never seen anyone else on these forums use him for taxidermy.

Overall, the dip/pack and shipping has got to be the biggest scam going that you will experience with your hunt. There is no way anyone will convince me that paying some black guy nickels to do a dip and pack cost as much as we get charged for it, even including a reasonable profit.

If you are going to Namibia, Pam Foerster in Namibia was the only positive experience I had in the process. DO NOT blindly trust your ph to take care of this. Also, if you are going to Nambia, avoid Namases Taxidermy like the plague.

I greatly appreciate everyones advice and any recomendations on who to use. I have a few quotes so far and I have found that I will be spending more money on shipping, taxidermy, airfare.... than on the hunt itself.

Jim

One thing to watch for is the price quoted for the crating. Those who do the dip & pack or mounting often use a percentage of the total cost for the price of the crating.

So if your bill is $8,000, they might charge as much as 10% or $800 to build a 4'x4'x4' box. That is ludicrous of course.

I raised some hell when I first received my invoice and saw something similar. They cut the crate cost to a 1/3 of the original quote.

And +1 on Maria. She cleared my stuff from NZ at a very reasonable cost, handling everything on both sides of the ocean. I wish I had known about her when I hunted Africa a year earlier.