Importing pet doors from a single New Zealand supplier is easier than most overseas buyers expect. Pet-Tek has been shipping Catwalk® cat doors and Dogwalk® dog doors to more than 20 countries since 1999, so freight, paperwork and lead times are familiar territory for us. Here's what an international distributor or reseller actually needs to plan for: air or sea freight, realistic lead times, minimum orders, the documents involved, and how to think about landed cost. The commercial side — trade pricing and exclusive territory — is covered separately in becoming a Pet-Tek distributor.
Buy direct and you cut out the mark-ups that pile up when product passes through middlemen. You're dealing with the people who design the door, so you get accurate specs, the same models resupplied every time, and spare parts that stay available for years — which counts for a lot when you're building a catalogue you plan to support long term. The whole glass-fitting range is built around a single round cut-out, and that's hard to find anywhere else, so it gives you something competitors in your market can't easily copy.
It comes down to two things: how big the order is, and how fast you need it on the shelf.
| Consideration | Air freight | Sea freight |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Smaller or urgent restocks, sample orders, launch stock | Larger volume, full or consolidated container loads |
| Speed | Fastest — days in transit | Slower — weeks in transit |
| Unit freight cost | Higher per unit | Lowest per unit at volume |
| Typical use | First order, top-ups between sea shipments | Planned bulk replenishment |
Plenty of distributors do both — an air shipment first to get stock live and see how it sells, then sea freight for regular top-ups once the range has proven itself. Pet doors are light for their value, so air freight is more affordable here than it is for bulkier products, which gives you room to move on that first order.
As a rough guide, plan on 10–20 business days from dispatch, depending on the destination and whether it's going by air or sea. We confirm the exact figure once the freight method and destination are locked in. Australia is the exception: we hold stock in Melbourne and Sydney, so Australian orders ship locally rather than from New Zealand — email the team at [email protected] for local supply.
There's a minimum order on exports, mainly so you're not paying international freight on a handful of units. It isn't there to shut out smaller importers, though — we set it with your quote based on what you're buying and how it ships. A consolidated air shipment can carry a broad starter range across cat and dog, glass and wood; a sea shipment makes more sense for deeper stock of your best sellers. Tell us the mix you expect to sell and we'll quote the MOQ and tier that fit your market.
Exporting from New Zealand means the usual international-trade paperwork, and we handle our side as your supplier: a commercial invoice and packing list on every shipment, plus the freight documents for air or sea. You're the importer of record, so clearing customs, paying any duty or tax, and meeting your country's product-marking or compliance rules are on you. None of that is unusual for a consumer product, and since we already export to 20+ countries it's well-worn ground. If your market has specific labelling or packaging rules, flag them early — OEM and white-label packaging is available and much easier to build in before your first bulk order.
The figure that decides your margin is landed cost: the trade price plus freight, insurance, duty and clearance, spread across every unit in the shipment. That's why order size and freight method matter more than the sticker unit price — spreading sea freight across a full replenishment order drops the landed cost per door far more than shaving a bit off the unit rate ever would. Model both: a first air shipment (higher landed cost, quicker to revenue) against planned sea replenishment (lowest landed cost, but you have to forecast), then set your retail so either route leaves the margin you need. We can quote trade pricing against your intended volumes so your numbers are real.
Manufacturer-direct supply to 20+ countries, air or sea freight, and export documentation handled — from a New Zealand pet door company supplying 100,000+ doors a year since 1999.
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