Shipping Company from Madinah to the Netherlands 0552803439 | Dates, Baggage, Furniture and Car Shipping to Rotterdam

Home Safe is a shipping company from Madinah to the Netherlands that moves Madinah dates, visitors’ gifts and baggage, furniture, goods and cars by two routes: by sea, with a truck to Jeddah Islamic Port and then a container to the port of Rotterdam, and by air from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport or via Jeddah airport to Schiphol. The two cities are about 4,260 km apart as the crow flies; a container reaches the consignee’s door in 26 to 34 days and air cargo in 3 to 6 days. An air kilogram starts from SAR 23, part-load furniture from SAR 5,500 and a saloon car by RoRo from SAR 2,800. To book: 0552803439.

In this guide47ShowHide

1. Who ships from Madinah to the Netherlands, and what do they send?
2. Shipping services available from Madinah to the Netherlands
3. The shipping route from Madinah to the Netherlands and its duration
4. From Madinah via Jeddah port to Rotterdam
5. Shipping prices from Madinah to the Netherlands
6. What is distinctive about shipping from Madinah?
7. Shipping Madinah dates and gifts from Madinah to the Netherlands
8. Shipping visitors’ baggage from Madinah hotels
9. Shipping household furniture from Madinah to the Netherlands
10. Transfer-of-residence relief in the Netherlands
11. Full container or part load from Madinah?
12. Shipping parcels and electronic devices
13. Shipping commercial goods from Madinah to the Netherlands
14. Car shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands
15. Packing for a truck journey followed by a ship
16. Dutch customs and the documents required
17. What cannot be shipped to the Netherlands or needs a permit
18. Delivering Madinah shipments in Amsterdam, The Hague and Tilburg
19. Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and embassies
20. Air freight from Madinah to the Netherlands
21. Air freight versus sea freight, and is there overland shipping?
22. Collection from Madinah’s districts and governorates
23. How we work: steps for shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands
24. Tracking the shipment and insurance
25. Shipping from the Netherlands to Madinah
26. Tips before shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands
27. How do you choose a shipping company from Madinah to the Netherlands?
28. Common mistakes when shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands
29. Why Home Safe for shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands?
30. Related articles and pages
31. Tags
32. Frequently asked questions about shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands
33. How much does shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands cost?
34. How long does a shipment take from Madinah until it reaches the Netherlands?
35. Madinah has no port, so how is my furniture shipped by sea?
36. Does air cargo leave from Madinah airport itself?
37. Are Madinah dates allowed into the Netherlands?
38. Which is cheaper for dates and gifts: air or sea?
39. Do you collect visitors’ baggage from hotels in the central area?
40. Do you ship Zamzam water among the gifts?
41. Will I pay charges in the Netherlands on my used furniture?
42. Is tax charged on a gift parcel I send to a relative in the Netherlands?
43. Do you ship a car from Madinah to the Netherlands?
44. Do you deliver to Tilburg and the southern Dutch cities?
45. Does the shipment reach The Hague and Amsterdam right to the front door?
46. What documents do I need to ship from Madinah?
47. Do you ship from the Netherlands to Madinah?

Route: your home or hotel in Madinah → Al-Hijrah Road → Jeddah Islamic Port → Suez Canal → Strait of Gibraltar → Rotterdam → the consignee’s address · Time: 26–34 days for a full container, and 3–6 days by air.

Who ships from Madinah to the Netherlands, and what do they send?

Three groups account for most of the demand on this lane. The first is visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque who came from the Netherlands and go home with cartons of dates, copies of the Quran and rugs that the airline will not take within the baggage allowance. The second is residents and students who have finished their years in Madinah, among them students of the Islamic University returning with entire libraries. The third is date traders supplying community shops in The Hague, Tilburg and Amsterdam. The shipping method and the customs treatment differ from one group to the next:

Shipper	Usual shipment	Mode we recommend	How it is treated in the Netherlands
A visitor returning to the Netherlands	Dates, gifts and an extra suitcase	Air, or sea cartons if there are many	Used items are personal effects; new ones by value
A graduate or student	Books, study papers and clothes	Sea cartons, with urgent items by air	Personal effects; books carry no duty under the rules in force
A family moving residence	Furniture, appliances and perhaps a car	A 20 ft or 40 ft container	Transfer-of-residence relief permit
A trader in dates and gifts	Pallets of dates, prayer beads and rugs	Container or part load with an invoice	Registered importer, duty and VAT

Shipping services available from Madinah to the Netherlands

The customer needs no more than one party from the first call to the delivery signature. We collect and pack in Madinah, haul to the port or the airport and issue the export declaration, and our agent in the Netherlands then completes clearance and delivery. These are the services customers on this lane ask for, each with its own section in this article:

• Dates and gifts: in their original boxes inside sturdy numbered cartons, by air or by sea.
• Visitors’ baggage: collection from the hotel, weighing and sorting by name.
• Household furniture: dismantling, packing and loading, then unloading and reassembly in the Dutch home.
• Parcels and devices: from the sender’s door to the consignee’s door against signature.
• Commercial goods: consolidation from suppliers, an invoice, and a container or part load.
• Cars: a transporter to the port, then RoRo or a container.
• Support services: temporary storage, insurance, tracking and customs clearance at both ends.

The full list is on the shipping services page.

The shipping route from Madinah to the Netherlands and its duration

A Madinah shipment begins with a road journey before it sees the sea, and that is what sets it apart from a Jeddah shipment. The first day goes on loading and the drive to the coast, after which the container enters the usual port cycle. The time we give you is counted from your door in Madinah to the consignee’s door, not from quay to quay. Here is how it breaks down for a full container:

Stage	Work done	Usual time
Your home in Madinah	Furniture dismantled, packed, inventoried and stowed in the container or truck	One day
The road to Jeddah	About 420 km on the Al-Hijrah motorway to the port gate	5–6 hours, counted as a day
Jeddah Islamic Port	Export declaration, hand-over of the container to the shipping line and waiting for departure	4–6 days
The sea	North up the Red Sea, then Suez, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the North Sea	15–21 days
Port of Rotterdam	Import declaration, under relief or with payment of what is due	3–4 working days
The road to the consignee	The agent’s truck to the address, with unloading	One day

Not every shipment is a full container. The next table brings together the four modes we operate on this lane and how long each takes from Madinah:

Mode	How it moves	Door-to-door time	Who it suits
Full container	Truck to Jeddah port, then a vessel to Rotterdam	26–34 days	A whole home or a trader’s goods
Sea part load	Consolidated in a shared container and sorted in a Dutch warehouse	30–38 days	Visitors’ and students’ cartons and a room or two
RoRo	Car transporter to Jeddah, then a vehicle carrier	26–34 days	A car that runs and can be driven
Air	Madinah airport or Jeddah airport, then Schiphol	3–6 days	Urgent dates and gifts, and documents

What lengthens the time?

• Visiting seasons: in Ramadan and after Hajj the city fills with visitors, so truck entry hours narrow and demand for flights piles up.
• Missing the vessel: loading a day late can mean waiting a week for the next sailing, because the container travels 420 km before it reaches the port.
• The vessel’s route: at certain times some lines sail round Africa instead of crossing Suez, adding one to two weeks at sea. We tell you the route when you book.

Times for other destinations are on the transit times page.

From Madinah via Jeddah port to Rotterdam

The nearest sea to Madinah is at Yanbu, about 220 km away. Even so, our containers for the Netherlands leave from the more distant Jeddah Islamic Port, and the reason lies in the sailing schedule rather than the distance. Jeddah is a main call for container lines between Asia and Europe, so sailings from it to Rotterdam are frequent, some direct and some changing vessel at an intermediate port. We use Yanbu when a suitable vessel happens to coincide with your shipping date, and we check that before we promise it. Either way the shipment covers the road to the port by truck: a 20 ft or 40 ft container sealed outside your home for anyone shipping a whole household, or a closed truck gathering several customers’ cartons for the consolidation warehouse.

Rotterdam is the logical end of the voyage: the largest port in Europe, and three hours by truck from the farthest Dutch city. A vessel leaving Jeddah heads north straight for Suez and loses no days sailing round the Arabian Peninsula. Service details are on the sea freight page, and port procedures in the article international sea freight from Jeddah.

Shipping prices from Madinah to the Netherlands

Each kind of shipment has its unit of charge. A carton of dates or a suitcase is priced by the kilogram, a large number of baggage cartons by the cubic metre, a home’s furniture by the container, and a car by its class. A Madinah shipment also carries an item a Jeddah shipment does not, the truck charge to the port, and we write it as a separate line so you know what you pay for each stage. These are the figures our prices start from:

Type of shipment	Mode	Price starts from
Dates, gifts and suitcases	Air	SAR 23 per kilogram
Documents up to one kilogram	Express air	SAR 83
Parcel up to 5 kg	Express air	SAR 110
Furniture or baggage cartons	Sea part load	SAR 5,500
Furniture of a whole home	Full container	SAR 11,000
Saloon car	RoRo from Jeddah port to Rotterdam	SAR 2,800
4×4 or luxury car	RoRo or container	Priced by its dimensions
Haulage from Madinah to Jeddah port or airport	Truck or car transporter	Set on request

Prices circulating in the market for shipping to the Netherlands cover a wide span. An air kilogram is published at between SAR 25 and 45, an express parcel through courier platforms at around SAR 100 to 121 as a minimum, and documents and small parcels by air from SAR 900 in other offers. By sea, a furniture part load is offered from SAR 6,000, a full container from SAR 12,000, a saloon at SAR 7,500 to 10,000 and a 4×4 at SAR 11,000 to 15,000. Figures in other currencies circulate too: a parcel of one to five kilograms at EUR 82 to 223, a 20 ft container at GBP 1,938 to 2,143, the furniture of a one-bedroom flat at GBP 1,971 to 2,179, an air load of one to three cubic metres at GBP 3,754 to 4,150, and a car at USD 1,875 to 3,590. Before you compare, ask two things: is the figure from Madinah or from the port, and does it end at the Rotterdam quay or at the door.

Factor	How it changes the price of a Madinah shipment
Volume and weight	Sea charges by the cubic metre and air by chargeable weight. Try the CBM calculator before you call
The road leg to the coast	Shared among several shipments in a part load, and paid in full by the owner of a full container
Collection point	A hotel in the central area needs a small vehicle and a fixed appointment; a house in a spacious district is easier
Time of year	The weeks after Ramadan and Hajj bring higher demand for aircraft and trucks
Scope of service	To the port of Rotterdam only, or to the door with clearance and unloading

How do you bring the cost down?

• Join a scheduled part load from Madinah instead of a dedicated truck to Jeddah for a handful of cartons.
• Buy dates in tightly packed wholesale cartons rather than bulky gift boxes, since the aircraft charges for volume as well.
• Obtain the relief permit before loading if you are relocating; it saves 21% of the value of your furniture.
• Book outside the peak weeks whenever you can, when loading hours are wider and prices soften.

All the factors are explained on the pricing factors page.

What is distinctive about shipping from Madinah?

Madinah combines what neither Makkah nor Jeddah does: an international airport within the city, and a distance from the sea that imposes a long truck journey. Its districts are flat and a trailer enters them without difficulty, but its heart around the Prophet’s Mosque is a mass of adjoining hotels and pedestrian plazas, and the traffic department regulates the entry of large trucks there by hours that change with the seasons. We confirm the hours in force before loading day. Here is what follows from that for a Netherlands shipment in particular:

The reality in Madinah	Its effect on a Netherlands shipment	What we do
No port	An extra day on the road before sailing	We tie loading day to the vessel’s cut-off in Jeddah
An international airport with few European flights	Air cargo may leave from Madinah or from Jeddah	We choose whichever reaches Schiphol sooner and tell you
Regulated hours for trucks entering the centre	Collection from hotels has a set window	A small vehicle and a time agreed with reception
The Haramain train carries passengers only	A visitor cannot easily take extra baggage to Jeddah	He hands it to us in Madinah and travels with a cabin bag

Anyone who vacates his home in Madinah before receiving the key to his house in the Netherlands leaves his goods with us packed and inventoried, and they move to the port when he asks. Details are on the storage page.

Shipping Madinah dates and gifts from Madinah to the Netherlands

Dates are Madinah’s first gift, and its region is the Kingdom’s third-largest producer of them. A visitor buys Ajwa, Safawi, Anbara, Sukkari and Medjool at the central market and then finds that two cartons eat up his entire baggage allowance. The answer is to ship them in their boxes just as he bought them. We place the boxes in sturdy double-wall cartons, fill the gaps so that nothing shifts, and number each carton and write its owner’s name on it, so the consignee in the Netherlands knows how many pieces to expect before he opens the door.

Other gifts from Madinah travel with the dates: copies of the Quran from the King Fahd Complex, prayer rugs, prayer beads, perfumes, and thobes and abayas. They are not all treated alike at the European border. This is the practice in force, which we review with the Dutch broker before every shipment:

Gift	Shipping status	Our note
Dates	Shipped, and exempt from the plant-health certificate under the rules in force	Sealed boxes showing the variety, in a carton of their own away from perfumes
Date-filled biscuits, date paste and date syrup	Shipped if free of milk and butter	We read the ingredients; anything containing an animal product does not enter
Copies of the Quran and books	Shipped	Heavy, so the sea is more economical for them than the aircraft
Perfumes and oud oil	By sea, and by air in limited quantity	Alcohol-based ones are dangerous goods on an aircraft, and agarwood is a protected species
Honey, ghee and dried yoghurt	Not placed in the shipment	They are of animal origin, which is restricted on entry to the European Union
Zamzam water	Not shipped	It travels with its owner in the dedicated pack

A trader’s case differs from a visitor’s. His dates enter on an invoice and in the name of a registered importer, with a label in Dutch on the pack showing origin, weight and best-before date. Food in the Netherlands is subject to a reduced VAT rate of 9% under the rules in force, not 21%, and we confirm the current rate with the broker. How to pack food and fragile pieces is covered in the packing guide.

Shipping visitors’ baggage from Madinah hotels

A visitor spends only a few days in Madinah, and the last thing he wants is to lose one of them looking for scales and cartons. So we come to the hotel. We bring the cartons, the tape and the scales, close each piece in front of its owner, and issue him a receipt with the weight and the count. Organised groups are handled in the same way, with a single manifest kept by the supervisor.

• Collection point: the hotel reception in the central area or outside it, or the Haramain railway station before the traveller boards.
• Details required: the name as in the passport, the Dutch address with its postcode, and a mobile number the consignee answers there.
• Sorting: each visitor is a separate shipment with its own number, even if all the pieces travel in one container.
• Delivery in the Netherlands: to each visitor’s home, or to a single address chosen by the supervisor such as the association’s office or the mosque.

Shipping household furniture from Madinah to the Netherlands

A family leaving Madinah for the Netherlands moves from a villa or a spacious flat to a multi-storey European house with a narrow staircase. Our first job is therefore a survey that ends with two lists: what travels and what stays. The long Arabic majlis, the air conditioners and the wardrobe that cannot be dismantled usually go on the second list, and selling them in Madinah is better than paying their sea freight. What travels is handled like this:

• Dismantling: beds, wardrobes and tables are taken down to panels, and each piece’s screws go into a bag bearing its number.
• Protection: removal blankets for wood, corrugated board for corners, and wooden crates for mirrors and marble.
• Appliances: the fridge and washing machine are dried and their moving parts secured, and the frequency label is checked before they are shipped.
• Inventory: a list in English or Dutch with every item and its used value.
• On arrival: unloading, distribution to the rooms and reassembly, with an external hoist when the staircase is too narrow.

The inventory is not a formality. The relief permit is applied for with it, the import declaration is built on it, and the insured value is calculated from it. Its accuracy saves days in Rotterdam. The service is explained on the furniture shipping page.

Transfer-of-residence relief in the Netherlands

The European Union relieves anyone who moves his place of residence into it of duty and tax on his used household goods. In the Netherlands it is not enough to qualify for the relief; you must hold a permit for it from customs before release. The application is filed by the shipping agent or the person concerned, and requires your registration certificate from the municipality of the city where you will live. These are its conditions under the rules in force, and we verify what currently applies before we load:

Item	Requirement
Your period of residence outside the Union	At least 12 continuous months
How long you have had the goods	Owned and used for 6 months before the move
When they must enter	Within 12 months of the start of your residence in the Netherlands
Disposal after entry	No sale, lending or hiring out for 12 months
Attachments to the application	A signed list of contents, and the municipal registration certificate or an employment or tenancy contract

A resident leaving Madinah usually proves his year outside the Union with a copy of his residence permit and final exit visa. The mistake we see repeated is shipping the container and then starting on the paperwork. The right order is the reverse: register the address, apply for the permit, then load. A student has a separate relief for his study materials and clothes, for which proof of admission is enough.

Full container or part load from Madinah?

With a Madinah shipment a third factor joins volume and timing: the cost of the road to Jeddah. The owner of a full container pays for the whole trailer, while the owner of a part load shares the truck with others. Someone with a small volume therefore gains twice with a part load, and someone filling more than half a container will find the full one safer for his furniture and quicker.

Point of comparison	Full container	Part load
Basis of charge	The price of the whole container	The cubic metres occupied
The road to Jeddah	A trailer of your own	A shared truck on a scheduled day
Time	26–34 days	30–38 days
Suits	Three rooms or more, or furniture with a car	Cartons, baggage and anything under 15 cubic metres
Price starts from	SAR 11,000	SAR 5,500

For a quick estimate: a 20 ft container holds about 28 cubic metres, which is the furniture of a two- to three-room flat once dismantled, and a 40 ft container holds close to double that. Dimensions are on the container sizes page, and container rates from the port are in the article container shipping prices from Jeddah.

Shipping parcels and electronic devices

A parcel from Madinah to the Netherlands usually carries something personal: a box of dates for a mother in The Hague, books for a student, or a phone a traveller left behind. It goes by air and is delivered against signature, and all the sender needs is his ID and a correct Dutch address. What decides how much the consignee pays there is the nature of the parcel and its declared value.

• Price: from SAR 110 for a parcel up to 5 kg, from SAR 83 for documents, then from SAR 23 for each kilogram.
• A gift between individuals: exempt up to a value of EUR 45 under the rules in force, with the words “gift, no payment” on the declaration.
• Devices: shipped with the battery fitted; a loose battery and a power bank are restricted on aircraft.
• Electricity: sockets in the Netherlands accept a plug with two round pins, and mains frequency there is 50 Hz; a motor-driven device should say so on its rating label.
• Description: items named in English one by one, with their quantity and value.

Preparing a parcel step by step is on the parcel shipping page.

Shipping commercial goods from Madinah to the Netherlands

Madinah’s exports to the Dutch market are led by dates and date products, followed by the religious gift items sold in community shops. The Netherlands is also a distribution gateway: what is cleared in Rotterdam moves on to Germany and Belgium without a second customs stop, which is why traders selling in more than one European country choose it. A commercial shipment rests on a registered importer and complete paperwork before sailing:

• Collection at source: from date factories and the central market’s warehouses, with counting and matching against the invoice.
• Paperwork: the importer’s EU customs number, then an invoice, a packing list, proof of origin and the bill of lading issued by the line.
• Commercial dates: a health certificate from the competent Saudi authority when the importer asks for it, and a Dutch label.
• Charges: duty according to the tariff heading, and VAT that a registered importer accounts for in his return.
• Pallets: heat-treated wood stamped ISPM 15, or plastic pallets.

Suppliers who ship every month are given the same loading day in Madinah each time and one person who handles their account. More on the commercial shipping page.

Car shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands

A Madinah car covers its first 420 km carried, not driven. A car transporter takes it from outside the house to the export yard at Jeddah port, so nothing is added to the odometer and it is spared the risks of the road. At the port you choose between the vehicle carrier and the container:

Option	Description	For which car	Price starts from
RoRo	It boards the vessel on its wheels and is secured on the vehicle deck, completely empty	A running saloon or family car	SAR 2,800 for a saloon
20 ft container	One car lashed inside a sealed box	Luxury, rare classic and non-running cars	Set on request
40 ft container	The car and the home’s furniture together	A family moving with everything it owns	Set on request

Sea freight is the smallest figure in a car’s file. On entry to the Netherlands, 10% customs duty is charged on value plus freight, then 21% VAT, then a registration tax that rises with engine emissions. A Gulf-specification car needs an individual inspection by the Dutch vehicle authority before plates are issued, and a change to the lighting or the speedometer may be required. Someone moving residence brings his car in under his relief permit if he has owned and used it for six months.

You hand over the car with a quarter tank, empty of belongings and with one key, and we photograph it with you from all four sides before loading. The vessel method is on the RoRo car shipping page, the box method on the container car shipping page, and the export procedure in the Kingdom in the article car shipping from Saudi Arabia.

Packing for a truck journey followed by a ship

A Madinah shipment is loaded and unloaded more often than one leaving a coastal city: a truck, then a warehouse or port yard, then a vessel that rolls for three weeks, then another truck. Packing that is good enough for a move within the city is not enough here. We choose the material according to the piece, not according to what happens to be to hand:

What we pack	Material	Why
Boxes of dates	Double-wall carton with filler that stops movement	A crushed box splits and the dates stick together
Wooden furniture	A removal blanket, then a corrugated wrap	Protects against scratches and sea humidity
Glass, mirrors and pictures	A wooden crate stamped ISPM 15	Untreated wood is refused in Europe
Appliances and screens	The original box, or a carton with foam moulds	They absorb shocks during handling

Every carton carries a number, a name and a short description of its contents, matched by a line in the inventory. Securing methods inside the container are on the packing and lashing page.

Dutch customs and the documents required

Netherlands shipments are in most cases cleared electronically before the vessel arrives, which is why the papers reach the agent days ahead of the container. The principle is that everything entering from outside the Union carries duty according to its heading and 21% VAT calculated on value and freight together, with those holding reliefs excepted. These are the papers for each case:

Case	Papers	Note
A visitor’s baggage and gifts	Passport copy, and a list of each piece’s contents and value	A Dutch mobile number is essential for arranging delivery
Furniture of someone moving residence	Passport, signed inventory, municipal certificate, relief permit and bill of lading	The name must match on every paper
A gift parcel	Sender’s ID and a statement of items and value	The word “gift” together with what the parcel contains
Commercial goods	Invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, bill of lading and importer customs number	A health certificate for food on request
A car	Registration, export certificate, and purchase invoice or proof of ownership	Registration tax is estimated before shipping

In the Kingdom we issue the export declaration at the port or airport customs in the shipment owner’s name. The papers are explained on the required documents page, and the release stages on the customs clearance page.

What cannot be shipped to the Netherlands or needs a permit

Three authorities decide what is barred: Saudi customs on the way out, European customs on the way in, and the airline for anything affecting flight safety. Most of the breaches we uncover when inventorying Madinah shipments are unintentional, such as a tub of dried yoghurt among the cartons of dates. These are the main items:

Item	Status
Zamzam water	May not be exported as cargo; it travels with its owner only
Meat, dairy and anything made from them	Do not enter the European Union in baggage or in parcels
Fresh fruit and vegetables, seedlings and seeds	Need a plant-health certificate; dates are exempt under the rules in force
Agarwood, ivory and skins of protected species	With a certificate under the international convention on endangered species
Medicines	In a personal treatment quantity with a doctor’s prescription
Alcohol-based perfumes, aerosols and power banks	Not carried by air except under restrictions; they belong in the container
Tobacco and shisha molasses	Subject to excise and covered by no relief
Cash, jewellery and original documents	Stay with their owner

Our prohibited items page sets out what cannot travel. If one item worries you, photograph it and send it to us while the carton is still open.

Delivering Madinah shipments in Amsterdam, The Hague and Tilburg

After release in Rotterdam, Madinah shipments fan out in three main directions. North to Amsterdam, about 80 km away. West to The Hague, seat of the government and the embassies, and the nearest large city to the port. And south to Tilburg in the province of North Brabant, with Breda, Eindhoven and Den Bosch around it. All three cities have large Muslim communities whose members visit Madinah every year, so most of our delivery addresses come from them.

City	Distance from the port of Rotterdam	What to know about delivery
Amsterdam	About 80 km	Its centre is canals and tall narrow houses, so a small vehicle and an external hoist are used when needed
The Hague	About 25 km	Residential districts where parking is easy, with delivery on the day of release or the next
Tilburg	About 80 km	Mostly terraced ground-level houses, and the truck stops outside the door
Around Tilburg: Breda, Eindhoven, Den Bosch and Waalwijk	50–110 km	Combined with Tilburg deliveries in a single run
Rotterdam, Schiedam and Delft	Up to 20 km	The port’s own addresses, and the shortest wait
Utrecht	About 60 km	The country’s road and rail junction, with quick delivery
Groningen, Maastricht and Arnhem	120–250 km	The edges of the country, reached by truck within a day

Delivery to the address means the carton is set down inside the home, not at the kerb. For that we need three facts at booking: the floor, whether there is a lift, and the width of the staircase. The address is written in its Dutch form: street name and house number, then the postcode with its four digits and two letters, then the city. Air cargo is cleared at Schiphol, from where it goes out to Amsterdam the same day and to The Hague and Tilburg the following day. Our Dutch destinations are on the shipping to the Netherlands page.

Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and embassies

This lane serves several kinds of customer, and the procedure for each has its own papers and pace. An individual cares about a clear price, a company about regularity, a government body about documentation, and a diplomatic mission about respect for the status of its consignment. Countries’ embassies in the Netherlands are based in The Hague, which is one of our fixed delivery cities.

Type of customer	Usual request	Our service
Individuals, families and visitors	Gifts, baggage and a home’s furniture	A survey by photo or in person, an itemised price, and updates by message
Date companies and factories	Regular supply to a Dutch importer	A fixed loading schedule, a tax invoice and a report for each shipment
Start-ups and online shops	Scattered parcels for customers in the Netherlands	Daily collection, pricing by the kilogram and a notice to the buyer
Government bodies and universities	Books, publications and equipment for exhibitions and stands	Commitment to the event date, and return of the exhibits afterwards
Embassies and consulates	A transferred employee’s baggage and official papers	The body’s letter in the file, a sealed envelope, and delivery to the named person against signature

Official documents travel express from SAR 83, in a waterproof envelope bearing nothing but the addressee’s name.

Air freight from Madinah to the Netherlands

Madinah has an international airport, an advantage for urgent cargo that Makkah lacks. We hand dates and gifts to the cargo terminal at Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport when there is a suitable flight connecting through a transit hub to Schiphol. This airport has few flights to Europe and normally no direct one to Amsterdam, so when the schedule does not suit we move the shipment by road to King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, where there are more options. The result for the customer is the same: 3 to 6 days to delivery in Amsterdam, and usually one more day for other cities.

• What it suits: cartons of soft dates, gifts tied to an occasion, an extra suitcase, documents and traders’ samples.
• How it is charged: the scale weight is compared with the volumetric weight, that is length × width × height in centimetres divided by 6000, and the greater is charged. Try it in the volumetric weight calculator.
• Price: from SAR 23 per kilogram, from SAR 110 for a parcel up to 5 kg, and from SAR 83 for documents.
• Barred from the aircraft: alcohol-based perfumes in quantity, aerosols, incense charcoal and loose batteries.
• What it does not suit: a home’s furniture and heavy pallets, whose cost by air exceeds their worth.

Read more on the air freight page; for cargo that ends up flying out of Jeddah, the article air freight office in Jeddah describes the handling there.

Air freight versus sea freight, and is there overland shipping?

The choice between aircraft and vessel is settled by two questions: how much does your shipment weigh, and when do you need it. Anything weighing tens of kilograms and due soon goes by air, and anything measured in cubic metres that its owner is in no hurry for goes by sea. The comparison in figures on this lane:

Criterion	Air	Sea
Time from Madinah	3–6 days	26–38 days
Price starts from	SAR 23 per kilogram	SAR 5,500 for a part load
Point of departure	Madinah airport or Jeddah airport	Jeddah Islamic Port
Best for	Dates, gifts and documents	Furniture, cars and goods

As for the road, we do not offer it to the Netherlands. A truck would have to cross Jordan, Syria and Turkey and then five or more European countries, each border with its own wait and papers, so the advantage in both price and time is lost. A sea container arrives under its seal and at lower cost. The detailed comparison is on the shipping methods comparison page, and the complete delivery service on the door-to-door shipping page.

Collection from Madinah’s districts and governorates

We reach any address inside Madinah: Aziziyah, Difa, King Fahd, Salam and Aqool to the north and west, Quba and Awali to the south, and Khalidiyah and Shuran. These are flat districts where the truck stops in front of the houses. We also gather from the region’s governorates on scheduled runs that all meet at the port truck:

Location	Distance from Madinah	How we collect
Residential districts	Within the city	Dismantling, packing and loading from the door
Hotels in the central area	Within the city	A small vehicle in the permitted hours, and closed pieces from reception
The central date market	Within the city	We collect your purchases from the seller in your name
Al-Hanakiyah	About 110 km	Brought to Madinah before loading day
Badr	About 150 km	On the coast road, joining the truck on its way down
Khaybar	About 170 km	A run scheduled in advance
Yanbu	About 220 km	Heads south to Jeddah directly without passing through Madinah

The other cities we serve are on the service cities page.

How we work: steps for shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands

1. Studying the request: you send photos of the goods, your location in Madinah and the name of the Dutch city, and we determine the most suitable mode.
2. Establishing your status: visitor, relocating resident, student or trader, since each has its own customs file in the Netherlands.
3. Pricing: an itemised price: collection and packing, the road to Jeddah, sea or air, and clearance and delivery.
4. Booking: we reserve the space on the vessel or flight, then fix the loading day and its permitted hour.
5. Collection and packing: dismantling, weighing, numbering and inventory, and your signature on a receipt stating the number of pieces.
6. Haulage and export: a truck to Jeddah port or hand-over to the airport, with an export declaration in your name.
7. Papers in advance: we send the documents to the Dutch agent before the shipment arrives so that clearance can begin.
8. Delivery: the agent calls the consignee to set the day, followed by unloading and a delivery signature that we report to you.

Tracking the shipment and insurance

A visitor who handed over his cartons in Madinah is at home in the Netherlands before his sea shipment has left Jeddah port. For him, tracking is not curiosity but his only way of knowing what has happened. We send the news of our own accord at every stage, give the arrival date as a range of days, and revise it if the vessel’s schedule changes.

• Tracking number: the container number or air waybill number, entered on the carrier’s website. It is explained on the track your shipment page.
• Messages: on leaving Madinah, on entering the port or airport, on sailing or take-off, on arrival, and on release.
• Who answers you: a single coordinator for your file, from 7 am to 11 pm, by call or WhatsApp.
• Insurance: optional, at a percentage of the declared value, and we recommend it for furniture, cars and appliances because a sea carrier’s compensation is limited by law. Terms are on the cargo insurance page.

Shipping from the Netherlands to Madinah

The reverse direction is requested by people returning to Madinah after studying or working in the Netherlands, by those buying furniture, appliances or spare parts from Dutch shops, and by those sending gifts to family in Madinah. The agent collects from the home or the shop, and the shipment then follows the same route in reverse.

• By sea: Rotterdam, then Jeddah Islamic Port, then a 420 km truck journey to your door in Madinah.
• By air: Schiphol, then usually Jeddah airport, then delivery to Madinah on the day after release.
• A returnee’s belongings: used items enter as personal effects with a list of contents and a passport copy.
• New and commercial goods: duty according to the heading and 15% VAT, with registration on the Saber platform for anything covered by technical regulations.

Tips before shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands

• Buy your dates in the first days of the visit and hand them to us; do not leave them to the night before travel.
• Ask the seller for sealed boxes showing the variety, since loose dates in bags invite questions.
• Keep perfumes and incense apart from dates and clothes, in separate cartons.
• Photograph your Dutch address from a card or a bill instead of writing it from memory.
• Tell the consignee that a Dutch number will call him, as many people do not answer a number they do not know.
• Do not ship a device with a motor before making sure it runs on 50 Hz.
• If you are relocating, make registering your address with the municipality the first thing you do after arriving.

How do you choose a shipping company from Madinah to the Netherlands?

In the visiting seasons, per-kilogram shipping offers spring up around the hotels, and some of those behind them have no address once the season is over. The real test of a company is a question about details, not about price. Here are five questions and what the answer tells you:

Question	Sign of a serious company	Warning sign
Do you have a commercial registration and an address?	It states the number and gives you a stamped receipt	A mobile number and a card with no business name
Where does the shipment leave from?	It names the port or airport and the departure date	“We will send it, do not worry”
How do you calculate the weight?	Scales in front of you and an explanation of volumetric weight	A price per carton with no weighing or measuring
What does the consignee pay in the Netherlands?	It explains the gift limit, the tax and the relief	“He pays nothing”, with no detail
Where does your service end?	At the consignee’s door with a known agent	At the airport or port in the Netherlands

Common mistakes when shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands

• Handing over cartons in the hotel lobby at the moment of leaving for the airport, so they are neither weighed nor inventoried.
• Agreeing a price from Jeddah and then discovering the road charge from Madinah after loading.
• Slipping a tin of ghee or a bottle of Zamzam in among the boxes of dates.
• Writing the consignee’s name differently from his Dutch ID, which stalls clearance.
• Shipping a home’s furniture before the relief permit has been issued.
• Sending gifts for several relatives in one parcel whose value exceeds the exemption limit.
• Assuming air cargo always leaves from Madinah airport without asking about the available flight.

Why Home Safe for shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands?

To book: 0552803439 by call or WhatsApp, from 7 am to 11 pm. Or through the request a quote page.

Related articles and pages

• Shipping from Saudi Arabia to the Netherlands
• Shipping company from Jeddah to the Netherlands
• Shipping company from Mecca to the Netherlands
• Shipping from Saudi Arabia to Europe
• Car shipping
• Ports and gateways

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Frequently asked questions about shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands

How much does shipping from Madinah to the Netherlands cost?

We start from six figures: SAR 23 for each air kilogram, SAR 83 for express documents, SAR 110 for a parcel of no more than 5 kg, SAR 5,500 for furniture travelling in a shared container, SAR 11,000 for a full-house container, and SAR 2,800 for a saloon car on a RoRo vessel. The truck leg from Madinah to Jeddah port is set on request according to volume. Send photos of your goods and the name of your Dutch city to 0552803439 and we will work out your own shipment.

How long does a shipment take from Madinah until it reaches the Netherlands?

An aircraft delivers a parcel or a carton of dates 3 to 6 days after collection. A full container needs 26 to 34 days from the door in Madinah to the consignee’s door, the longest part being the 15 to 21 days at sea between Jeddah and Rotterdam. A part load takes 30 to 38 days, since it waits for the shared container to fill here and is then sorted in a Dutch warehouse there.

Madinah has no port, so how is my furniture shipped by sea?

It is loaded into a closed truck, or into the container itself, outside your home, and then covers about 420 km to Jeddah Islamic Port in roughly five hours. Yanbu port is nearer, at about 220 km, but we only route a Netherlands container through it if a suitable vessel is calling in the week of your shipment, because the regular Rotterdam services call at Jeddah.

Does air cargo leave from Madinah airport itself?

It does when there is a flight that accepts cargo and connects through a suitable transit hub to Amsterdam. When there is not, which happens because Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz Airport has few flights to Europe, we truck the shipment to King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah. We tell you the actual airport before you pay, and the time in both cases is 3 to 6 days.

Are Madinah dates allowed into the Netherlands?

Yes. Dates are among the few fruits the European Union exempts from the plant-health certificate under the rules in force, so a carton of Ajwa or Safawi sent to a household enters without that paper. In practice the boxes must stay sealed and labelled with the variety, and the quantity must be a family quantity. Anyone shipping dates for sale needs an invoice, a registered importer and a label on the pack.

Which is cheaper for dates and gifts: air or sea?

For one to three cartons the aircraft works out cheaper overall, because the minimum sea charge is based on a volume you do not reach. When dozens of cartons are gathered for a large family or a group of visitors, the shared container saves a great deal. Our dividing line is roughly one hundred kilograms or one cubic metre, and below that we send by air.

Do you collect visitors’ baggage from hotels in the central area?

Yes, and it is one of our most frequent requests in Madinah. The visitor leaves his bags and cartons closed at the hotel reception or with his group supervisor, and a small vehicle comes at a time when traffic rules allow entry; the pieces are weighed and a receipt is issued in the owner’s name. Handing over a day or two before travel guarantees an accurate weight and a complete list.

Do you ship Zamzam water among the gifts?

We do not ship it from Madinah or from anywhere else. Exporting Zamzam water as cargo is not permitted, and what the traveller may take is the dedicated pack that accompanies him on the aircraft. We look for it during the inventory, since a single bottle can hold up the export declaration for an entire shipment.

Will I pay charges in the Netherlands on my used furniture?

Someone moving residence does not pay if he obtains the relief permit from Dutch customs before the container arrives. Under the rules in force he must have lived outside the European Union for 12 continuous months, the furniture must have been his and in use for 6 months, and it must enter within 12 months of his move. Anyone who does not meet the conditions pays duty according to the item and 21% VAT.

Is tax charged on a gift parcel I send to a relative in the Netherlands?

A gift sent free of charge from one individual to another is exempt if its value does not exceed EUR 45 under the rules in force. Anything above that limit attracts VAT, and duty may be added depending on the item. We therefore record the value of each item as it is, and suggest spreading the gifts over parcels in the names of their real recipients if there is more than one. We check the current limit before dispatch.

Do you ship a car from Madinah to the Netherlands?

Yes. A car transporter carries it from Madinah to Jeddah port, and from there it travels on a RoRo vessel or inside a container to Rotterdam. The RoRo charge for a saloon starts from SAR 2,800. The bigger bill, however, is in the Netherlands: 10% duty, then 21% VAT, then a registration tax linked to engine emissions, from which only those who bring the car in under a transfer-of-residence permit are exempt.

Do you deliver to Tilburg and the southern Dutch cities?

Yes. Tilburg is in the province of North Brabant, about 80 km from the port of Rotterdam, and the agent’s truck reaches it in under two hours after release. We also deliver around it: Breda, Eindhoven, Den Bosch and Waalwijk. Air cargo usually moves from Schiphol to Tilburg on the day after clearance.

Does the shipment reach The Hague and Amsterdam right to the front door?

Yes, delivery to the address is the standard in our service. The Hague is the nearest large city to the port, about 25 km, and Amsterdam is about 80 km away. The difference between them lies in the last hundred metres: canal houses in Amsterdam sometimes need an external hoist and a small vehicle, while residential districts in The Hague are easier to park in. Mention the floor and the type of building when you book.

What documents do I need to ship from Madinah?

A visitor needs a copy of his passport and visa, a resident a copy of his residence permit and passport, together with a list of what is in each carton and its value, and the full Dutch address of the consignee with postcode and mobile number. Someone relocating adds the relief permit and his municipal registration certificate, a trader adds an invoice, packing list and EU importer customs number, and a car needs its registration and export certificate.

Do you ship from the Netherlands to Madinah?

Yes. Our agent collects the shipment from the address in any Dutch city, and it comes by sea from Rotterdam to Jeddah port or by air from Schiphol, after which we clear it and truck it to Madinah. A returnee’s used belongings are treated as personal effects, while new goods carry duty according to their heading and 15% VAT.