Sea or air, and the insurance question
Two routes, priced two different ways, and one thing we cannot offer you at any price.
They are not priced the same way, and that matters more than you would think
Sea is priced by space. We take a reference box of 54.05 litres, divide it into 12 cells of 220 by 120 by 160 millimetres, and each box we sell is a whole number of those cells. You pay for the box your order goes in and nothing else. It is labelled with your name and handed to the shipper as a unit, so nothing of yours travels loose in with somebody else's.
| Box | Size mm | Price | Holds about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 220 x 120 x 160 | £16.00 | Six perfumes, or four face creams, or eight palettes |
| Layer | 450 x 350 x 80 | £42.00 | A shop of beauty, or three pairs of jeans |
| Half | 440 x 340 x 144 | £78.00 | A big beauty haul, or six pairs of jeans, or five wigs |
| Full | 453 x 366 x 326 | £150.00 | The lot, to yourself. Twelve pairs of jeans, or thirty bottles |
Bigger boxes cost less per litre, so one order beats three. Your box is labelled with your name and handed over as a unit, which is why nothing of yours travels loose in with somebody else's.
Air freight is bought by the kilo, at £12.50, and takes 7 to 12 days from the moment you pay. That is 2 to 5 days for the shop to deliver to our UK address, then 5 to 7 days in the air.
That means which route is cheaper depends on how heavy your order is for its size. Air charges by weight, so a small light order flies for very little and arrives in 7 to 12 days rather than months. Sea charges for space, so it wins as soon as you are sending something dense: bottles, jars, anything liquid, and it wins by a lot. A box packed with skincare can be less than half the air price.
| What you are sending | By sea | By air | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| One perfume Small box | £22.00 | £14.94 | Air |
| Six perfumes Layer box | £48.00 | £39.00 | Air |
| A shelf of skincare Layer box | £48.00 | £43.13 | Air |
| Four shampoo bottles Layer box | £48.00 | £26.63 | Air |
| One pair of jeans Layer box | £48.00 | £14.94 | Air |
| One wig Layer box | £48.00 | £14.80 | Air |
| Trainers Layer box | £48.00 | £25.25 | Air |
Worked from our live rates using typical packed sizes. Your quote uses your actual items, and we show you both numbers before you choose.
We cannot insure your order, and we will not pretend otherwise
Consumer goods going into Zimbabwe are not insurable on any terms worth having. That is a function of where the goods are going rather than anything about your order, and it applies to everyone shipping this route.
What we can tell you is the record. Our shipping partner has run this route since 2007 without a single major incident. Shipments have been delayed, sometimes by weeks. Nothing has been lost and nothing has arrived damaged beyond use. That is a track record rather than a guarantee, and we would rather you hear the difference from us than discover it later.
Both routes are tracked. Sea and air each give you a reference you can follow, and your order page updates at every stage from our UK address to the collection point in Harare.
Which is why we suggest air for anything expensive
Not for the speed. If nothing is insured, the sensible thing to do with an expensive order is to reduce how long it spends in the system and how many times it is handled. Air is 5 to 7 days in the air and a short chain of custody. Sea is 6 to 7 weeks of crossing, plus the wait for a sailing, through a longer one.
On an order over about £250.00, the extra shipping is small next to what you would be carrying yourself if something went wrong. On a small order it is usually not worth it, and often air is cheaper anyway. We will tell you which we would pick and why, and then it is your call.