Besenyi

And you can send ornaments this way?
When you say heavy, how heavy?
Because all my photos weigh maybe as much as a water filled kettle.
As for my clothes I have way too many, shoes too for that matter.
I would consider down sizing my wardrobe but you'll never get me to part with my shoes

Coincidentally do you have to have a 20ft container?
Do they not just section off a part you are not filling and use it for someone else?

MMcD

No
Yes

Besenyi

So am I right in thinking you pay for the space used?
Or is it based on weight?
Or both?

Sally Redux

There seem to be differences going from and to the UK. Shared container is common from the UK, but not going back, apparently.

Both volume and weight are a consideration.
A dining table and chairs which are probably going to be miles too big but they were newish.

Some crappy old vintage furniture and my Torquay pottery

Approx 1,000,000 books although I thought we'd cut them down.

Sentimental kids' toys etc.

Bluegrass Lass

I'm a USC moving back to the US next month. Although we used a 150cubic ft crate to ship stuff over here to the UK, we are doing some serious downsizing and only shipping boxes back. We plan on going with either www.excessbaggage.co.uk or www.weshiptheworld.co.uk. Hopefully no more than 7-9 boxes worth of ornaments, memorabilia, kitchen items, clothes, shoes, linens. Seems reasonably priced, esp since it can arrive in the US about 5-7 working days depending on the type of shipment you choose.

Clrsth

I was told volume but weight is not an issue. So our 3 canoes were going to be £240 as very long, so we had to discount these. We will be sharing a container. I'll put on details of the quote when I get it tomorrow. The quote we got already the price included a months free storage in the UK, 8-10 weeks shipping, people to come and pack and put together an inventory, boxes, delivery to home in USA and unpacking. The £3500 quote did not include marine insurance or approx 450$ to 500$ for Homeland security to scan goods once in States.

Clare

MMcD

Most important,Besenyi.....

Clrsth

Thanks for that - will price that up too

Besenyi

If you don't mind me asking, what was the quote for that many boxes?

Jonion

I'm just going through this and in the end I bit the bullet and got a sole use 20' container.

I had intended to bring only essentials. Then quickly realised that my tools, my auto parts, and my hi-fi took up a fair amount of space.
So those and the essentials would have cost circa £2500 and all the extra hassle of a shared container etc.
So for £3750 I can basically relax on the packing into as small a space as possible and just take pretty much anything/everything I want to. Which means I'll be taking a couple of beds, a sofa & recliner, and some furniture that I had never intended taking.
That's door to door with me packing but them loading and unloading.
An extra £600 for them to do all the packing as well.
Insurance costs are not included as they vary by value of items.

I've been told that the only real consideration for weight is that you/they need to be able to pick it up and load it. Some of my items will weight close to 50kg as an example.

150cuft costs circa £1500 from most places.

Owen778

I'm afraid your hifi is unlikely to be worth bringing to the US. Loudspeakers are fine, obviously, but most components are not dual-voltage. Some are, but it's rare.

I'm intrigued why you'd want to bring car parts across the Atlantic too, but I guess there could be reasons, assuming you're also bringing a car somehow.

Steve_

Bear in mind beds are a different size in N America. Queen size is roughly (but not the same as) King size in the UK. But if you like your bed, bring it with you if you can. Nothing worse than being somewhere completely new and not being able to get a decent night's sleep, just magnifies the stress.

Jonion

I built 80% of my hi-fi myself. To sell/replace would cost me circa 5k
I'm qualified in electronics and electrics so it's not really an issue.
My only problem is getting my turntable motor to run on 60hz instead of 50hz (actually I'll just buy the alternate pulley for it). Pinky & Perky anyone?

Cars are my trade. I do a lot of track driving and race car prep.
I have a few cars each side of the pond and they use similar/same parts.
I'm leaving one here (UK) for doing some track stuff when I call back over, building a track car over there (US) so need the spares I've accrued.

Owen778

That all makes sense. It sounds like you know more about these things than most.

godisaclog

My experience was that we were going to rent an apartment and the initial plan was never to go for more than a few years. So we left all our stuff in storage (I bought a decommissioned container and stored it in a farm shed) and shipped out a few boxes of essentials with http://www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk/

It cost three hundred pounds for about five large boxes at the time and that was plenty.

Once we got to the US we spent about $8000 on fitting out our apartment. This was everything including furniture, beds, electronics etc. down to pots and pans. A quarter of this was our sofa set, so all in all I think buying stuff in the US was reasonably affordable. Yes we didn't buy the best quality stuff but it only had to last a few years. When we returned we managed to get over half the money back by selling on craiglist and to neighbours. So all in all it was far easier and better value to buy goods new from your walmarts and discount furniture stores (rooms to go!) and potentially sell it, then thinking about shipping all your stuff back and forth if your stay is potentially only for a short period of time.

I also thought it was really quite liberating not having our UK stuff/crap and just having the few sentimental essentials (photos mainly but some other bits too)

Of course we wished we could have stayed... but thats another story