Shipping to Antigua

[SV Demeter]

Ok so here's the update. Shipping through Janes was painless. Exactly as they said it would be. I had my package labeled as suggested and sent via fed ex. Came 4 days ahead of schedule. Went to Janes and presented my customs clearance papers for the boat which she photocopied and took to the airport. Next day I had my package. Her services cost $77 US and were exactly as described. Janes staff were pleasant to work with, responded quickly to email and I would certainly recommend their services to others needing to ship to Antigua. I did not pay duty on any of my items just the agent fee. The chandleries here also will sell to you duty free if you provide you clearance papers.

I'm really not sure what the nightmare was but maybe I just got lucky? Yes st Martin is a better place to ship to/from but this was certainly not a bad experience.

[rapiti]

Thank you for the follow up. We are having new battens shipped to Antigua, and are exploring our options.

[Zanshin]

I'm in St. Lucia right now and doing the same thing, shipping here with DHL and duty-free as a "Yacht in Transit". I hope to get my shipment (Starlink RV) on Friday and the local agent fee is US$75. If I add this to the cost of shipping, then getting it here cost more than the antenna itself!

OOPS - I just realized that this a 9 year old thread, resurrected from the dead.

[tbodine88]

I'd avoid shipping anything of much value to Antigua. Things would often go missing en-route to me while I lived there. We had better luck recieving stuff shipped via DHL, than any other way.

[hpeer]

I just shipped some stuff from Miami to Antigua.

The “Agent” was bot my choice, the shipper picked him.

The Agent ran me around, made several various explanations, none consistent. Frankly I was convinced he was shaking me down.

The the blessed day arrived when I got my parts. First I had to pay by credit card, which was OK but argued against the “shake down”.

That afternoon he shows up with my parts and (I swear on all holy) he tells me …
“If you want to ship more here don’t worry, you won’t have to pay taxes (a generic term for fees). I was talking to another customer and he explained to me how it works so you don’t have to pay.”

I said “Thank you” and let it ride. No offer of making anything right or even an apology. He was clearly embarrassed but also honest. He did not have to say what he did.

Non-the-less I am going to avoid shipping to Antigua at all cost. We generally hit St Martin early in our season and I am very familiar with that operation.

Frankly, I hear so many different stories, and Noonsites story says you pay, I get the impression there are many different interpretations depending upon who you use. May well be wrong but I don’t want to test it.

Looking at a radio
$359 from Defender
$570 (about) in St Marteen @ Budget
>$800 here in Antigua @ Budget

[maine50]

Used Jane's Yacht services about 4 years ago for injection pump shipped
from US. Cost of agent about $80. Had to show them (Janes) some paperwork showing Yacht check in to show yacht in transit. Part was shipped Fed Ex. Picked up part at Janes in Falmouth Harbor area. Easy and no extra fees.