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 We’ve made a few small changes to our structure over the past 2 days — hopefully, they’ll make your life easier.
The Indonesia Export Site Map
You can access this from our Information tab in the top navigation menu. We hope it will give you a clean and easy way to navigate through the website.
Product Index with Thumbnails
In addition to our Alphabetical Product Index, we’ve now added an Alphabetical Index with Thumbnails (first image from every category). You’ll have to navigate through page by page (using the menu at the bottom) but rather than our sometimes obscure product line titles, you’ll have a handy small image to help you identify what you’re looking for.
Product Index by Type
We’ve also broken down the different product lines into categories that may help you find similar or related product lines while you’re putting together an order. No hard or fast rules, just fairly general headings:
- Furniture
- Classic Bali Carvings — Decorative Artwork & Craft
- Modern Craft — Decorative Giftware & Home Decor from Bali, Lombok & Java
- Candles, Incense & Oils
- Homeware, Tableware & Functional Home Decor
- Stone, Glass, Ceramic & Terracotta
- Stock Lists
(These links, by the way, are clickable — you can use them to go straight to the relevant section on the Product Index.)
Finally, I had removed the Logon link from the top navigation bar — sorry about that, it’s back now.
Afternoon,
Sean
This information can save you a significant amount of money — you might want to consider getting a cup of coffee or whatever — this may take a little while.
If you understood more about how to order a mix of products that utilizes cargo space more effectively; more about cargo rates and how they work; more about how containers actually move along in their travels; and more about how (and where) to buy appropriate insurance for your order; and finally, how to handle your order once it reaches your port …
…then not only would your life (the part that is involved with ordering from someplace like Indonesia) be less stressful, but actually you would save a helluva a lot of money (you do want to keep the profit in your pocket, don’t you?)
It’s interesting — Indonesia Export only has two types of regular customers: 20′ and 40′ container buyers — whose orders run approximately $7,000.00-$12,000.00 and $12,000.00-$30,000.00 respectively.
At this time, about 60% of our customers order full 20′ containers and our remaining customers buy 40′ & 40′ High Cube containers. These customers already understand the great savings in freight costs and the other added advantages of using containers (though it still may be useful for you container buyers to read on)…
…however, I’m really trying to talk to new customers who may know very little about moving a shipment around the world.
Your Shipping Options from Bali
The first thing you need to know is that there are 5 ways cargo can move from here to you:
1. LCL Sea Cargo (less than a container – charged per cubic meter)
2. 20′ Container (30 cubic meters)
3. 40′ Container (60 cubic meters)
4. 40′ High Cube Container (72 cubic meters)
5. Air Cargo
LCL & Full Containers out of Bali
We will not ship an LCL order (less than a container load), but it would be good for you to understand why we won’t do that. (Basically the worst & most expensive way to go because shipping companies hate handling loose crates and charge a fortune for doing so).
Shipping via LCL means that your products are packed into paper cartons and then we build wooden crates around the cartons.
Your crates are then moved to our cargo company; official government documentation is completed; the shipment is then trucked to the port of Surabaya, Java (which is the closest international shipping port to Bali.)
Since your LCL shipment is just a few wooden crates and doesn’t fill a container, then it must wait at the port while the shipping company “consolidates” your order with other small orders going in the same direction. (Specifically, that means your crates sit there [inside/outside?] while the shipping company waits for enough orders to combine with yours and fill a container — usual waiting time: 2-4 weeks — then “X” number transit days on the water to you.)
First major disadvantage: as you’ll see below in the cargo rate example I’ve given you, LCL is much more expensive per cubic meter than a container.
Second major disadvantage: while in a sealed 20′ or 40′ container, you get the full use of the cubic meters inside that container — with LCL wooden crates you lose about 25% of the useable space due to the wood crate and lack of flexibility when packing large products. That means you’re actually paying 25% more just in lost space (remember that, please).
Third major disadvantage: because LCL shipments always have to be consolidated, the transit time is usually double that of a sealed container — for example, a container to the West Coast of the USA takes about 30 days, while an LCL order to the same port more likely will take 45-60 days.
Final major disadvantage: your wooden crates are manhandled in a variety of places. From our warehouse to the truck; from the truck to the cargo company; from the cargo company to the port; from the port to the ship; from the ship to your port; and from your port to your front door. (We happen to be wonderful packers and rarely have breakage, but let’s face it, that’s just not the best way to ship things — how would you move ceramics safely in wooden LCL crates?)
Before I go any further, let me put an example of cargo costs in front of you to make what I’m saying super, ultra clear.
Destination: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
LCL – $195.50 per cubic meter — so if you shipped 8 cubic meters (maybe $2,000.00 or so of product), you would pay about $1,564.00.
Worse, if your order happened to take up 11 cubic meters of space because you ordered large products (like giraffes or cats), you would pay close to $2,150.50. (100% freight costs are a pretty heavy expense given that you can do it a lot more cost-effectively.)
Watch this: the rate for a 20′ container (30 cubic meters including all the related trucking, handling, documentation & miscellaneous charges) to the Vancouver port is $3,875.81 (or about $129.00 per cubic meter). Compared to 30 cubic meters via LCL ($5,865.00), that’s a savings of about $1,990.00 — about 35% less.
Another way of looking at is: for the same price that it would cost you to send 20 cubic meters via LCL, you can send 30 cubic meters by container. (And remember, those 20 cubic meters by LCL were really only 15 cubic meters of product, while the 30 cubic meters in the container is all product!)
Let’s take it a step farther: a 40′ container (60 cubic meters) to Vancouver might cost another $1,000.00, but it would hold an additional 30 cubic meters of product. You basically get a bit over 20 cubic meters of space for free.
And then there’s a larger container, a 40′ high cube (72 cubic meters) that costs just fractionally more than a 40′ regular, but holds another 12 cubic meters. This most often gets used when we planned an order to fit into a 40′ regular, but underestimated the space necessary, so we’ll step-up up to a high cube. Extremely cost-effective.
Now, the example of savings I gave you using Vancouver, holds true for just about every other destination in the world. LCL is the most expensive way and least safe way to go while 20′ and 40′ containers are the safest and most cost-effective.
In addition to the very obvious cash savings, containers have some other significant advantages over LCL shipments:
When we pack an order for a container, we use only cardboard cartons (we do not have to pack anything in wooden crates with the exception of something extremely valuable). Thus, you get the entire use of the 30 cubic meters of space (remember, you’re picking up 25 percent more useable space compared with LCL shipments; and you also save the expense of wooden crates).
When we order a container for your order, we have already pre-planned which ship we’ll be using (and when); a truck is brought down from Surabaya, picks up the container, immediately returns to Surabay
a and puts it on the ship. There is no delay.
Containers going to the United States get there in 30 days or under; Europe usually 3 weeks; Asia, even less time (yeah, there are a couple places, like Trinidad, that can take 45 days or more).
If you plan an order well (and we’re happy to help you massage an order to get the best deal for your cargo money), you can generally get $8,000.00 to $12,000.00 into a 20′ container. And, of course, double those numbers for a 40′ container.
Also, you can see examples of recent freight rates by clicking here.
Air Cargo out of Bali
Every now and then, a new customer wants an order sent via air cargo…
…and our immediate response is “did you know the air cargo costs will equal or be more than the value of your order?” (With the final result being that the customer switches over to LCL sea cargo, which might be as much as 75% less than if the order went by air.)
Most people believe that air cargo is charged out by the kilo; so they “guesstimate” the kilos in their mind and multiply it out by whatever the actual air cargo rate is. However, that “guesstimate” would most likely be very far from right — I’ll explain:
Airlines, in fact, do charge by the kilo, but in addition, also by volume, whichever happens to be greatest. For example, our standard shipping carton is 50 x 58 x 33 cm (20 x 23 x 13 inches). According to the way the airlines think, that carton’s volume is equal to about 15 kilos (33 pounds).
If there is less than 15 kilos of product in that carton, then you still pay for 15 kilos. If there is more than 15 kilos, you pay the greater amount.
Let’s say the air cargo rate for you is about $3.25 per kilo which means that carton costs you in cargo expense at least $48.75. Well, if it’s a carton of low-cost products such as wooden fruit or wooden flowers, or small carvings, etc., (which will definitely weigh less than 15 kilos/33 pounds) then you will have paid more for the cargo than you paid us for the product.
Another example: a cubic meter (100 x 100 x 100 cm or 39 x 39 x 39 inches) of space on an airline is almost always calculated by volume as opposed to kilos and is charged out at 185 kilos or $601.25 (using the $3.25 rate).
Maybe you bought giraffes from us; maybe 6 or 7 of them fit into that space; and maybe you paid us $50.00 for the giraffes. (Do you get it? You would have paid $600.00 to move $50.00 of product. Not good!)
In certain situations, air cargo can be utilized very cost-effectively. Small products with high retail value work fine. Maybe you’re paying $48.75 for that carton of air cargo space, but if you’ve got product in there that you can re-sell for $250.00 — Go for it!
Another situation in which Air Cargo can be extremely effective is that many of our customers take small portions of their Sea Cargo orders via air so that they can get samples quickly in front of their buyers or fill-in some inventory needs.
Cargo Rates
We handle all the cargo arrangements and take care of all necessary official documentation (certificate of origin, B/L, commercial invoice & packing list, quota visas, etc.) for most of our customers.
The reason for this is simple: most of the time we can get better cargo rates here than you can locally.
But sometimes you can get a better deal on your end, so when a new customer sends us his or her first order, we automatically check the rates on this end and also ask you to check the rates on your end. (We don’t make any money on packing or cargo related expenses — whichever rate is best for you, that’s the way we go.)
You can get an idea of recent freight rates out of Bali by clicking here.
Insurance
Insurance for your shipment can be purchased in Indonesia from our cargo company — for a relatively high price.
But, more importantly, collecting a claim from an Indonesian carrier or insurance company sometimes can be a life-long event and in general, not worth the hassle.
If a customer wants to insure their shipment, my advice always is go to your local casualty agent (the same company you buy car & house insurance from) and ask your agent to sell you a policy that insures your shipment “Ex-factory to your front door”. Safest and most cost-effective way to go.
Customs Brokers
One of your responsibilities to yourself is to get on the phone and talk with about five or six customs brokers (or however many necessary) and shop their pricing. You’ll see that the pricing will be all over the place. My personal experience is that you have to bargain with a customs broker the same way you would bargain with a used car salesman. Really!
Anyway, once you have a broker, it’s his or her job to handle all the paperwork that we send, clear your shipment through your customs, settle any duties necessary and so on.
Your customs broker is also a good person to recommend the most cost-effective way of moving your shipment from the port to your front door (remember, we’re charging you only for delivery to your nearest port. Our responsibility stops there and yours begins.)
As you can see, it is necessary that both you and I take great care with regard to the mix of products in your order and how we go about shipping your order.
When we receive your order, we will advise you the approximate cost of shipping it. In addition, we will always make suggestions regarding upgrading or downgrading the size of your order so that you get the most cost-effective cargo rates and methods of shipment.
Did you know that…
…you don’t have to be a gigantic conglomerate to join in the import business. This business got its start about 16 years ago by buying some stuff in Bali and taking a few boxes to Taiwan on the airplane and then re-selling it; and…
…you don’t have to buy $50,000 worth of product or 500 pieces of one model to get started. We’ve set our minimums per product relatively low, so that new customers may start out slowly.
Because you’re buying direct, you can mark-up our price significantly to the end-buyer — and still have a very satisfied customer who feels he or she got their money’s worth.
Most people are absolutely astonished at the mark-up available (and some refuse to believe it) — but there’s no magic involved — up until just a few years ago, these prices were available only to a major buyer who had the time, money, and courage to travel out here. The Internet has given all of us a practical, efficient way to display products for sale and a superbly economical system for communicating about everything at lightening speed.
We have quite a bit of experience retailing in various countries, and in many cases, if you ask our opinion about what sells well and at what price level, we’ll be happy to share our experience with you.
We have helped quite a few people enter the import business from the ground floor and now they are good customers. Of course, we wish the same for you (and for us). Please feel free to question us in any manner you like and we’ll try to help out.
And did you know that…
…most people tend to think that buying and importing products from one country to another is quite difficult, complicated, and involves all sorts of bureaucracy. We’re happy to inform you that that’s not true. In most countries, the procedure is quite simple.
But, most importantly…
…you need someone on this end that you can trust and depend on — to handle your money correctly, to make sure you get the right order, the right quality, the right documents — to complain to if there’s a problem.
We’re in a business that requires repeat customers. Taking care of you is an automatic concern of ours. We do that very well and we’re proud of it.
[More Information about Cost-Effective Shipping]
 We don’t have many Durian Wood products — we do find the wood used a little however in some of our Storyboards, The Bali Rococo Line and the pole for Balinese Umbrellas.
Strictly speaking, Durian is a plant (bears fruit) rather than a tree. The fruit is very popular here in Bali and when it’s in season, it’s sometimes hard to escape the sickly sweet smell. And, when I say it’s sickly sweet, I’m not kidding — that’s how it smells.
The Durian over here is probably Durian zibethinus but as there are a few species across the archipelago, feel free to correct me if you have a better candidate for the type used in handicrafts.
If you’re interested in learning more, please visit the Durian Palace:
http://www.durianpalace.com/
Excellent site, written by a real fan of the Durian.
Botanically speaking, durian is a member of the plant family Bombacaceae, which also includes the baobab (Adansonia digitata) of tropical Africa, malabar chestnut (Pachira aquatica), bombax (Bombax ellipticum), silk floss tree (Chorisia speciosa), and the balsa or corkwood tree (Ochroma pyramidale). Duri is a Malaysian word meaning “spike.” In the genus Durio are at least 27 or 28 species, 19 of which are native to the island of Borneo (thought to be Durio’s original center of diversity), 11 to peninsular Malaysia, and 7 to Sumatra. Of 27 species, at least seven are notable for producing edible fruit, one of which (Durio zibethinus) is cultivated commercially in huge quantities in southeast Asia. Zibethinus is derived from the Italian word zibetto, which means “civet cat,” an old name for “skunk”—very unflattering for the durian, and some durian antagonists would say, for the civet cat!
The durian is a very ancient and primitive fruit. Some botanists regard the wild ancestors of modern durians as one of the first plants to rely on animals for dispersal of its seeds, enticing them to do so with attractive, nutritious, delicious, and odiferous food surrounding the seeds within a large fruit capsule. A British botanist named E.J.H. Corner originated this “durian theory of plant evolution.” In scientific papers published starting in 1949, he argued that the enticement of animals to transport seeds in their bellies arose before all other methods of plant seed dispersal, and that primitive ancestors of D. zibethinus were the not only the earliest practitioners of that strategy but the earliest plants to evolve into woody trees. (Read David Quammen’s entertaining and informative article about E.J.H. Corner’s durian theory of plant evolution here.)
 Magnolia wood (Manglietia glauca) — known locally as kepelan — is moderately heavy, fairly hard and straight grained.
It resembles yellow poplar.
Magnolia is moderately stiff, high in shock resistance, and low in shrinkage.
It can be used for lumber, veneer, furniture (upholstery frames), boxes, interior trim, cabinetry, doors, knife handles, caskets, and plywood.
Not so widely used among our handicrafts, I’ve only come across magnolia wood in our Storyboards.
After a few requests from different customers (old & new), we’ve taken some time to reorganise our Best Sellers category.
I hope you enjoy the new presentation — we’ve picked out our most popular categories and, even more importantly, when you click into that category, you’ll be shown only the best selling models in that particular line.
Some things to bear in mind:
Best Sellers are real products that we’ve shipped to real customers over the past twelve months from our catalogue pages. That means you won’t get a chance to see some of the custom work we’ve done and you won’t get a chance to judge the “unique products” — like the 5, 6 and 8 foot high suar statues and so on.
Another point: just because a product is a Best Seller, that doesn’t mean it’s best for you… it may sound obvious when I put it like that but, for sure, you’ll always be the best judge of your individual markets and customers.
That said, if you want our advice or feel that you could benefit from a brainstorming session, drop us a line — we’re happy to help in any way.
All of that said, I hope the new presentation gives you something to think about or at least helps clear a path into the catalogue.
Please go to:
http://www.indonesiaexport.co.uk/hottest.php
Enjoy,
Sean
 If you were to take our price sheets in Excel format — no pictures, just codes, sizes, prices and so on — and set up the document to print, you would be looking at over 900 pages of densely packed type.
If you were to add even small images (thumbnails) to that document, you might be looking at 5,000 pages in all.
In the past 3 months, we’ve added nearly 3,000 products online (including substantial updates to popular categories).
To cut a long story short, we’re simply not kidding when we say that we have just too many products and too many updates to keep a print version of our catalogue up to date.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve spent a little time trying to come up with useful solutions and now, I’m happy to say, we’re able to offer you a full DVD version of our website.
Like the original, the DVD catalogue version of Indonesia Export has all the pricing and information. You can search through it exactly as if you were online.
We’ve even gone so far as to include a few extras:
- Additional product images from around Bali.
- The Excel spreadsheet version of all our pricing (in case you’re in the mood to print 900 pages).
- Traditional Balinese Music — hours of Balinese music in MP3 format.
- A freeware image viewer (Farstone) that is a lot more convenient and powerful than the image viewers built in with Windows.
Requirements
- PC Compatible Computer running Microsoft Windows (we’ve tested on XP only but should run with Windows 98, 2000, XP & Vista).
- A DVD drive on your laptop or computer (we would have liked to offer a CD but there’s simply too much information — nearly 3 Gigabytes in total).
That’s it.
Pricing
The DVD Catalogue is free for all our existing customers. You need only send us an email to confirm that you want the DVD and please confirm your mailing address. We’ll send the DVD out by standard post — it will take a week or so to reach you.
If you have not ordered from Indonesia Export but would like a copy of the DVD, there will be a charge of US$30.00 to cover expenses. If, after you receive the DVD, you decide to order from us, we’ll deduct that US$30.00 fee from your order.
Simple as that.
Please send an email to info@indonesiaexport.co.uk for your copy.
Enjoy,
Sean
 We’ve been asked what our Metal Lanterns are made from and how well they might stand up to outside weather conditons (particularly when close to the ocean.
Here’s a short summary of what we know:
The Metal Lanterns are made from Iron (Fe) mixed with Zink (Zn).
The metals are mixed together at high temperature and then molded as a plate — the plate can be anywhere from 0.3 mm to 1.2 mm thick. (Our metal lanterns are usually between 0.35 & 0.4 mm thick.)
There should be little or no problem using the lanterns outdoors even in a salty climate because…
Each lantern is cleaned inside and out with Phosphoric Acid (H3PO4), base coat is then applied followed by the top coat (usually an antique finish).
Long story short: as long as the paint / coat is still there (meaning it doesn’t get scratched off to reveal the iron underneath), these products shouldn’t give you any rust problems.
You can see the stuff I’m talking about by going to:
Indonesia Export – Metal Candle Lanterns
By the way, Bali has a very salt rich climate and, so far, we haven’t had any problem with these products.
Afternoon,
Sean
 Up until about five minutes ago, I thought I understood the meaning of “Bali Bead”…
… I was wrong (sigh).
I had thought, silly me… SOOOO naive… that a Bali bead was a bead made in Bali. Apparently not.
According to one article:
“Bali beads originated in India. The Indians taught the Balinese how to make the beads. The majority of Bali beads today are still made in India. Some people differentiate between Bali and Bali Style beads. Bali style beads are made the same way as Bali beads, but do not come from Bali – instead they come from India.”
It’s the overall tone of the article that bugs me – The Indians taught the Balinese how to make the beads… you’d figure “the Indians” might have called them Indian beads, wouldn’t ya?
More importantly, for me (and I admit, I’m a little funny about stuff like this) the article seems to miss the point somewhat:
It’s true, of course, that Indian culture and religion has played a very large role in the development of this little island culture.
The Hindu religion and culture arrived in Indonesia about 2,000 years ago – probably by Indian traders from Gujerati who were attracted to the islands by their riches in gold, spices, and sandalwood. And why not? That’s exactly the way Islam & Christianity also arrived here… trade.
Indian script has been found in Indonesia dating back to the 5th Century and shows that there were several Indian-style Kingdoms in West Java and Borneo.
Today, you can still see the remains of ancient monasteries and temples in Bali. In these places, the Balinese prices were consecrated into the Indic family tree as god-kings. Balinese script, which many Balinese kids still have to learn, is derived from the Palava script of South India.
Now, I’m no expert on Bali or Balinese history – I’m just reading from other (hopefully more learned sources) but it seems to me that a person saying, “the Indians” taught the Balinese to make beads is kind of like saying the Romans taught Americans how to make bridges and buildings. So, really, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State are Italian but we call it American… maybe they’re Greek.
Let me put it this way: the Balinese have been working stone, wood and metal since the Early Metal and Bronze eras… BC, in other words. Between then and now, they’ve had just about every foreign influence you can point to or shake a stick at: Indian, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Japanese, Malay. In other words, just like America, England or Ireland, many foreign feet have left impressions in the sand.
In no way at all does that mean that a Bali bead is really an Indian bead (or vice versa).
For our Bali beads, which are all made in Bali (natch), wood, glass and .925 sterling silver are the most common materials.
Like any handicraft in Bali, the beads are really made by hand… really. There’s no industrial process, no huge factory spitting out beads by the million.
The handicraft industry as I know it has always been a cottage industry.
On one level, that means the beads differ very slightly – it could be a bad thing but I find the concept of a unique article to be charming.
We buy our beads at prices that are a combination of silver weight in grams (material) and workmanship – that means certain items are more expensive just because more work goes into them… I’ve been purchasing in Bali on that system with beads, statues and furnishings for such a long time that it makes total sense to me.
Technorati Tags: beads, bali beads, background on Bali Beads, Silver Bali Beads
Technorati Tags: beads, bali beads, background on Bali Beads, Silver Bali Beads
Technorati Tags: beads, bali beads, background on Bali Beads, Silver Bali Beads
Wood carvings from Bali come in all shapes and sizes (really… all shapes and sizes) but below, I’ve listed some of the most common types of wood we use in our products along with a few examples (pictures and links to our product categories). Continue reading Types of wood used in making Bali carvings
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