How to Buy from Ceetex

Think of this as a trampoline buyer’s club. 

So, you are going to be an importer.  If you are going to save money you have to be.  Folding competition trampolines are hard to come by in the US.  If you buy a new foreign-made folding trampoline from a company in the USA, you will find the price very high.  Lawyers are out there, and no company is going to be crazy enough to import this for you unless they can charge enough to cover the insurance for product liability.  Like it or not, our sport is lumped in with all the backyard trampolines according to the lawyers and insurers.  The only way to save that money is to import the trampoline for yourself.  This text will tell you all about how to import from Ceetex Limited in the UK,  whose heritage goes back to the Nissen Trampoline Company, and who now matches everything that Eurotramp makes at a much lower price.

The first question is, "Do you want to buy something big or small?"  Beds are small.  They weigh a few kilograms and are shipped by air freight.  Whole trampolines or double mini-trampolines are big.  A full-sized FIG spec trampoline weighs in at nearly 900 lbs.  They must be shipped by boat.  There are items in-between, such as regular mini-trampolines.  They could be shipped either way.

Ordering Beds

I start with the question of big or small because the experience of importing will be substantially different for air-freight and sea-freight. Ordering a replacement bed from Ceetex is easy.  In fact, it will feel very much like ordering a book from Amazon.  Ceetex  accepts PayPal for payment, and the more common beds (6x6, 6x4, 4x4) arrive at your gym in a couple of days by DHL.  Air-freight is cleared through customs from the manifest.  Items are small, and go on a lot of conveyor belts while being sorted, with many opportunities to scan, sniff, X-ray, and do all those security things.  You will not have to deal with US Customs directly, and if (and I do mean IF) you do get a bill from DHL for customs, it is only 4.6% of value (less than sales tax in most places).  Very often, US Customs reads the manifest, and just waves a replacement trampoline bed right through.

Ordering Trampolines

It is not really that much more difficult to order whole trampolines, double mini tramps, or frames.  However, the whole process with sea freight is slower, and it does involve some interaction with US Customs.  Our purpose here is to hold your hand through all the procedures, and to help you find a group of buyers to minimize your shipping costs.  You will be able to see and communicate with all the other buyers that have joined with you. You will pay only the real cost of importation and shipping.

If you were to buy one trampoline and ship it over to the US, you might find it very expensive.  Shipping is generally done in steel containers aboard ship these days, and less than full container loads (your stuff mixed with other loads) are much pricier per item than full container loads.  We will help you to join with other buyers so that Ceetex can fill a container with many trampolines.  A 20 foot container will hold 6 or 7 trampolines, and maybe a double mini on top of that.  They are rolled in on their wheel stands and strapped down.  A 40 foot container should be able to hold as many as 15 trampolines and another couple of double minis.  A 40 foot container gives the best cost per trampoline when filled, and if we can find buyers for at least 12 large items, this will minimize the cost of the boat ride for each trampoline. 

Dealing with customs is not difficult.  There are people/companies called customs brokers who do this for you.  Some companies do global shipping, and they do brokerage as part of their shipping process.  The company we have found will arrange the boat ride, represent you to customs, strip the contents from the container, and forward the freight by truck to the final destination.  In order for a customs broker to represent you, there are three bits of paperwork needed.  First, you must register with US Customs as an importer.  There is a small fee tied to that, and the broker will file the papers for you (done once in a lifetime).  Secondly, you must sign a limited power of attorney that allows the broker to represent you to customs when goods come in to the country.  Finally, there are papers to file with customs alerting them to the shipment once a bill of lading has been filed at the other end (in the UK). 

Payment for a large item like a trampoline comes in two steps.  First is payment to Ceetex for the cost of the goods.  (Ceetex does use PayPal.)  The second payment will go to the freight forwarder/customs broker for the cost of the boat ride, representing you to customs, paying duty, breaking down the container, and forwarding the freight overland.  Once a group of buyers has committed to purchase, the broker will invoice each buyer.  The cost of the boat ride will be divided among buyers according to weight, and the price of the overland trip differs by distance and weight.  Once the broker is paid, the items are aboard a truck, and headed to your gym.  The upshot is that someone ordering a DMT will pay less than someone ordering a full trampoline. 

There are some occasional unexpected costs.  When we at KMC ordered trampolines in conjunction with another gym, we were first time importers.  So... US customs decided that they needed to X-Ray our contents (and found that they were indeed trampolines).  It was an unexpected small item added to the broker's fees.  Everyone's experience will be a little bit different.

How to Think about the Price of a Trampoline

We have gotten estimates for shipping from a freight forwarding company (Airwaves Global Logistics) that allows us to give an estimate of total cost, by zip code.  The shipping rate may seem a little high, until you separate overseas shipping and customs from the overland shipping within the US.  If you buy an imported trampoline that is already here (over $9K now before shipping), the price already includes ocean freight, customs, and all the other things needed to get the trampoline into the country.  The Ceetex FIG spec trampoline with 6x4 bed is a little over $5200 in the UK, and all the charges needed to get it into the country total around $1250.  You should view the cost as approximately $6400, and not $5000. 

Some of the fees are tied to registration as an importer.  Once paid, you are good for life.  If you buy two trampolines, it will be slightly less for the second tramp.  If you purchase something else later, you are already covered.

Paul