How Much Does That Imported Puppy Cost? - Page 5

"P59, 700 euro for crate and flight?!!! From Frankfurt airport to USA? Never heard of it that sky high." Not just the plane from Frankfurt to USA - I was factoring in the additional charge for the 3:00 AM pickup near Cologne and driving the pup to Frankfurt. My Orbis shipped from Frankfurt to Boston via GK/Lufthansa at the end of June for 500 Euros, but he was 15 weeks and couldn't fit in a puppy crate, or it would have been 400 Euros.

AND shipping prices have gone up considerably as of the new year... AND Cologne is approximately 1 hour 45 minutes drive ONE WAY from Frankfurt... AND they don't typically transport at 3am, so the pup would have to be kenneled for one night... AND, AND, AND... If you have the time and a passport, it is best to GO there and pick up the pup yourself, especially if you live somewhere customs closes prior to any flights arriving from Germany could arrive (another $250 for the customs broker fee in addition to that ~$2000). If you go off season, a ticket can be purchased for around $350, round trip. Bringing the pup back as excess baggage is another 125 euros or so (approx. $170), and rental car, gas, motel, would run about another $800, if you do not have someone there who will take you there, let you stay with them,etc. These charges do add up, but you also get to meet your pups' breeder, and make sure all is well before you hand over the cash to purchase the pup. JMHO. :) -Melanie

People keep commenting on the fact that Customs is closed at certain times, I am just lucky or what? The Customs at the San Francisco International Airport...which is the closest airport to me that a Puppy can be imported too from Germany, does not close. Customs is a 24 hr Agency. I was told by Customs and Lufthansa that someone will always be available because it is a live (perishable as they put it) item that I was picking up. I have picked up a dog well after 10:00 pm. Is that not a possibility elsewhere? Shawn

Ok here we go. But first these are the hard costs. The actual costs of getting a puppy are much more. Phone calls, trips to Germany, developing a relationship with breeders, buying 10 bad dogs to figure out who will sell you a good dog, Warranties, are some of the additional expenses involved with importing a puppy. The cost used to determine the winner included some anticipated costs. One being the age of the pup. It seems like a few picked up on this. Credit card charges were added where a premimum for card use applied. Custom and import brokers fee was what is common for Dulles International. Different airports have different ways of doing business. The real cost could be a couple hundred more than my figure and be totally correct, just not correct for this contest. If you are within 100 less or 200 more than my figure. You're there. This stuff changes daily and next week you would be the winner. The Winners.................Envelope please....... Sunshine was in there but her answer was euro not dollars. There's a 3 way tie for 6th place between Wagkiss, Kerschberger, and Harley at 1900.00. 5th place honors go to VomFelsenHof with 1,864.26 4th place honors go to Cueman with 1,850.00 3rd place honors go to BabyEagle4U with 1,843.10 2nd place honors go to Shelley Strohl with 1,805.00 My number is 1767.10, so Congratulations are in order to p59teitel with his Bullseye number of 1,766.67.

WOW.. looks like some people are being ripped off. Looks to me that the breeder from afar, has the last say on what you pay. My 1400.00 will be sent March first.

Melissa, Not "ripped off", unless you count the entire experience of importing a dog from a foreign country a "ripoff". It's not a cheap endeavor. In this instance, you would have to pay GKAir to transport/kenneling the dog and for shipping (including crate) (approximately 720 euros), then you have to pay 50 euros for the international health certificate/imfpass (pet passport), 27 euros for the AKC Bescheinigung, 600 euros for the dog itself, $25 for the Customs fee (be glad no need for a customs broker--here, the customs office closes at 5pm (NO EXCEPTIONS!), and unless you want the dog kenneled overnight (no thank you, who knows what dog is there carrying what disease!), then you pay another $250 for a Customs Agent to clear customs for you), $30 for the bank wire transfer fee (sometimes this is more, sometimes less), then international credit card charges, etc.... It all adds up. If you can purchase 2 pups (shipped in the same crate, which is a little larger, and thus a bit more expensive, but only fractionally) and then sell one of them, you can usually recoup some, if not all of your shipping costs. Some people like this idea, others do not, but it is done more often than you think. Ultimately--is it cheap to import? NOPE. Many German breeders are also charging more per pup than 600 euros. You can easily end up spending upwards of $3-4k for a puppy with shipping. Dog1, a fun exercise. :) Are congratulations in order? Did you purchase an import pup? If so, congrats! If not, still, a nice thread to see (most) people not have to add smart remarks, and everyone getting along! :) -Melanie

I just checked on a 6 month old from Germany nothing has been done with the pup and they want 2,000 euro's plus airfare.

Oh Dear... Always the bride's maid; never the bride. (I wish!) The last thing I WON was a 25 lb. turkey in a drawing at the race track one Thanksgiving some 25 yrs. ago. Trouble was, I didn't have an oven large enough for it in the 24' travel trailer I lived in. Such is life. LOL SS

I'd like to blame the fact that I was .43 off on a minor fluctuation in the exchange rate, but it's Sunday and I don't think the currency exchanges are open today. There really are a lot of variables impacting cost, with the biggest being your location. Being near a major East Coast international airport that allows you to handle Customs yourself is a big advantage, as you avoid several other cost factors that can add several hundred dollars to the price of the pup.

Question on exchange rate. The rate quoted is the mid market rate (market average between buy and sell)on xe.com - I've noted that two nationwide banks actually give an exchange rate of 1.3821 as of Sunday. I've been off on my numbers in the past when wiring due to this difference. How does one get this lower rate? So by my calculations using p59's figures, actually wiring from my bank - the puppy cost would be $1851.73. Maybe I need to change banks! Karla