What is a trans-shipping service? A trans-shipping service, or intermediary shipping service, is an international shipping service that acts as a bridge between sellers in one country and buyers in another for the physical distribution of ornamental fish. Shipping ornamental fish internationally requires technical conditions to meet the regulations for the entry and exit of these fish to and from a country, such as import/export requirements, quarantine, CITES, customs, and more. Only certain individuals or entities that have met these conditions can engage in export/import activities.
The increasing and widespread use of the internet for the ornamental fish business, especially bettas, has led to a growing need for shipping ornamental fish across national borders. Generally, the challenges faced by sellers, especially those who are inexperienced and small-scale, are shipping their fish in small quantities but at low costs, so they can sell their ornamental fish to buyers far away overseas. To meet this need, trans-shippers have emerged in import/export destination countries.
The duties and responsibilities of a trans-shipper are:
- Collecting, managing, and shipping ornamental fish from sellers.
- Legally handling the exit and entry of ornamental fish from one country to another.
- Physically distributing the ornamental fish to buyers one by one.
- Taking care of the ornamental fish as best as possible during transit.
- Informing the seller and buyer about the shipping status.
- Not being responsible for the death of ornamental fish during transit and shipping.
- Trans-shippers are present in both the origin and destination countries. Generally, for the above activities, trans-shippers charge a relatively low fee.
- The trans-shipping service fee is usually paid by the buyer, not the seller.