Beware : International shipment of Boombox is not easy as we thought

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Ponnijeya

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I bought a boombox Nordmonde 4186 from another country through online website.
Dealing done is a good way.
At last, the shipment was not accepted by airfreight provider because it is detected with a magnet ( Magnet of the speaker).
So the shipment is still under hold, the airfreight provider is asked for MSDS ( Material safety date sheet) of Magnet.
Anyone faced this issue ?
How to resolve this ?

Thank you
 
Brutus442

Brutus442

Member (SA)
Did you write on the declaration form it was a portable radio? Normally once that has been documented, the shippers can verify it. I've never even heard of a MSDS for a Magnet.

Was it sent through the local postal service or international shipper? I've sent boxes overseas and to be honest, my local post office does a better job for 1/4 the price than DHL, UPS or Purolator. I swear UPS uses my packages for crash testing sometimes

My advice would be to find another shipping service and see if they will accept it after declaring it's contents
 
hopey

hopey

Member (SA)
The sender has stitched you up. If it was declared a portable radio there would be no problem. Are there batteries in the radio? This could be a problem if lithium ion or poly.
 
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Ponnijeya

New Member
Brutus442 said:
Did you write on the declaration form it was a portable radio? Normally once that has been documented, the shippers can verify it. I've never even heard of a MSDS for a Magnet.

Was it sent through the local postal service or international shipper? I've sent boxes overseas and to be honest, my local post office does a better job for 1/4 the price than DHL, UPS or Purolator. I swear UPS uses my packages for crash testing sometimes

My advice would be to find another shipping service and see if they will accept it after declaring it's contents
Click to expand...
The sender declared this unit as music item in the bill. It is also printed as music item. There was a local postal service for domestic cargo then another place for international cargo. It is hold by International cargo provider (Qatar Airways Cargo). They are referring IATA rules and say it is prohibited.

While checking magnet manufacturer information ( for a case), it is noted that it is prohibited for air cargo. Please refer the attachment.

Thanks for your advise.
 

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Ponnijeya

New Member
hopey said:
The sender has stitched you up. If it was declared a portable radio there would be no problem. Are there batteries in the radio? This could be a problem if lithium ion or poly.
Click to expand...
It is declared as music item. Still it is hold , because the unit is bulky and the net weight is more than 10 kg. That might be an issue now a days.

What is my observation is, while checking through internet, this issue is booming everywhere. So please careful if you are about buy or sell any item which contain magnet.
 
Brutus442

Brutus442

Member (SA)
Ponnijeya said:
It is declared as music item. Still it is hold , because the unit is bulky and the net weight is more than 10 kg. That might be an issue now a days.

What is my observation is, while checking through internet, this issue is booming everywhere. So please careful if you are about buy or sell any item which contain magnet.
Click to expand...
I'm still a bit perplexed here. If magnets were a controlled item, all speakers made, and some older hard drives would not qualify for shipping. But in light of your data sheet I can see what you mean. It does seem a little overboard given the field strength of these magnets.

I recently shipped a boombox to Italy with no hassle (2nd time to that country) through my local post. I just had to declare the contents.

Regardless I hope this gets resolved. I know the excitement of waiting for a boombox coming from overseas. Good luck!
 
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Reli

Reli

Boomus Fidelis
That's strange. What country are you in? Qatar?
I have the Nordmende 4186, nice piece. Same as the JVC RC-838 but better.
 
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Ponnijeya

New Member
hopey said:
It's just an old radio that MSDS does not apply to a radio 30 years old. It's not a super conductor.
Click to expand...
Your point is valid. It is still waste of time and energy to argue with cargo officers. I think, the impact of magnet in air cargo is still spreading. So, today there is ban from Turkey to Qatar and tomorrow it may be on any other country.
 
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Ponnijeya

New Member
Brutus442 said:
I'm still a bit perplexed here. If magnets were a controlled item, all speakers made, and some older hard drives would not qualify for shipping. But in light of your data sheet I can see what you mean. It does seem a little overboard given the field strength of these magnets.

I recently shipped a boombox to Italy with no hassle (2nd time to that country) through my local post. I just had to declare the contents.

Regardless I hope this gets resolved. I know the excitement of waiting for a boombox coming from overseas. Good luck!
Click to expand...

It is happy to see you won on each time. Thank you for your wishes. May i know which air cargo you used ?
 
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Ponnijeya

New Member
Reli said:
That's strange. What country are you in? Qatar?
I have the Nordmende 4186, nice piece. Same as the JVC RC-838 but better.
Click to expand...

Yes. I am in Qatar. I bought it through online in Turkey without knowing the hassle. The air cargo is rejected two times. so they returned to the package to one of my friend in Turkey. The package is on the way to his address.

Thanks you got the same Nordmende. Enjoy. I just visited your youtube channel . Do you own all those models now ? OMG.

I am still looking for alternate way to shipment. Once i succeed, i will let you all know.
 
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Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
This has been a problem for years for shipments out of Japan. The magnets supposedly might interfere with aviation instruments. Of course these old ones aren’t strong enough for that, but new rare earth magnets are ridiculously strong and can cause issues with all kinds of electronics. However as is often the case, to address this concern, they just issue blanket restrictions on all magnets because agents aren’t smart enough to recognize which is which. If you buy anything out of yahoo.jp these days thinking to snag a deal, be advised that not all shipping options will be available to you if the item has speakers. However, that being said, Japan does have other shipping options where speakers are ok. It’s either going to have to go through sea, or a more expensive airfare alternative. Don’t ask me why paying more will work, but at least for purchases from Japan, it works, I’ve done it. Just know that if you are bidding on these, the cheaper shipping option isn’t going to work so you’ll have to either budget more or wait months while it takes the long route.
 
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docs

docs

Member (SA)
Bought many Japan boxes via intermediaries, never had a problem with fedex or tnt and shipping speakers. Think if someone wanted to make a deal of if they could but there is no issue buying from Japan through an intermediary.
 
Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
docs said:
Bought many Japan boxes via intermediaries, never had a problem with fedex or tnt and shipping speakers. Think if someone wanted to make a deal of if they could but there is no issue buying from Japan through an intermediary.
Click to expand...
I’m talking exactly about using intermediary. Foreigners generally can’t purchase direct on yahoo.jp. When I purchased a non-Boombox, no problem, every shipping option was available. When I purchased a Boombox, no issues at first until it arrived at the intermediary. At that point, I was contacted and informed that not all options are available because of speaker magnets. Sure enough, the 5 or 6 choices got dwindled to 1 or 2. I think only DHL worked for me. I’m talking USA now. If you are in another part of the world, your choices may vary. As for fedex, they have their own planes and make their own rules plus they don’t have passengers. Many shipping companies use commercial flights that might share space on passenger planes. Those probably won’t work.
 
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