# General Business Category > General Business Forum >  Very small importing - clearing agents required?

## RiaM

Hi guys

I identified a gap in the market for a particular type of goods and began bringing these into the country last year. I do about 4 orders a year. These a small orders e.g. a shoe box sized box with eyewear, value less than R5000. I order the goods from my supplier, pay for everything incl. shipping (sent via airmail), and when the goods get here I go to CapeMail to get them, they worked out VAT and duties, I pay, I go home,... happiness. 

Recently I've been told that I need to register as an importer and get a clearing agent. I've applied for registration as an importer with SARS but want to know if I really need a clearing agent. The problem is that agent's seem to cater for those doing large scale importing, at my level the price of the agent makes the whole exercise pointless. I did notice that when I filled out the SARS application to register as an importer there was an option to tick "Self" for clearing services. This leads me to believe that I can indeed do this on my own. Does anybody have any experiece or advice on this matter?

Cheers
Ria

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## DJM GLOBAL

Hi Ria

my name is Jody i am a clearing adent situated in johannesburg 

please mail me your details and we can chat further on your situation 

or you could visit us on our webpage
www.djmglobal.co.za
jody@djmglobal.co.za

kind regards 

Jody Rajpal

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## Dave A

> please mail me your details and we can chat further on your situation


That doesn't really help anyone else who might face a similar situation, and defeats the object of having a forum.

What additional information do you need to comment or advise on the situation, Jody? What factors need to be considered here?

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## Wolf

No, you do not need your own clearing agent, you can do it yourself if you know how. You will find all the information online, not a huge task for small imports.

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## nancywong

Hi, not need a clearing agent by very small importing. If you are importing goods by Airmail Express such as DHL,RPX, they will help you clear the custom and you just need to pay the duty. As I know it's free duty for declare value below than USD40.

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