We built the importer
Highway Sourcing started with one question from a bakery owner in Pinetown: why does a R40,000 machine cost R90,000 by the time it reaches Durban, and why does nobody answer the phone when it arrives broken?
The first container
In 2019 we pooled money with three small businesses and ordered machinery out of Guangdong through an agent nobody could quite name. The price looked excellent. The invoice did not mention the clearing fee, the port storage, the currency swing or the fact that two of the four units had been swapped for a cheaper model.
By the time the container was unpacked in Durban, the "cheap" order had cost more than buying locally, and there was nobody to hold accountable. That is the week Highway Sourcing became an idea rather than a complaint.
We rebuilt the process backwards from the mistakes: verify the factory first, price the whole journey instead of the machine, inspect before it ships, and put one person's name on the order so there is always somebody who answers.
FILE-2019-ZAExhibit A
The order that taught us what "landed cost" actually means.
Four moves, every order.
You brief us
A machine, a photo, a spec sheet or a competitor's price. We quote a landed cost, not a factory price with surprises behind it.
We verify the factory
Nothing gets ordered from a listing alone. We check the supplier, the production line and the paperwork before a single rand moves.
It gets inspected
Your unit is checked against the order at origin. If it fails, it does not ship and you hear it from us first.
It lands
Freight, customs and clearing sit inside your quote. We deliver to your door in Hillcrest, Durban, Johannesburg or across a border.
What we
Every importer promises good service. These are the three things we refuse to do, because each one is how people we know got burned.
If we cannot verify the line, we do not sell from it. Full stop.
Freight, duties and VAT are inside the quoted number, not added at the port.
One consultant owns your order and answers the phone until it lands.