ILMLover

Hi All,
I know there are a lot of posts on the forum and I've read the shipping you belongings help however I'm wondering if anyone has actually done this themselves.


I've had quotes of around £6,000 to ship from East Anglia to North Carolina and, being the tight accountant I am would like to save money.


I have spoken to DFS Worldwide who can bring a container to my house, I can load it and then they will then ship it to the US for me however, that's where this service ends and is a little under £2,000. I'm then thinking about seeing if there is anyone in Charleston who can manage the customs clearance and onwards shipping to North Carolina. Is this a realistic option?


Any help / guidance would be great


Thank you

quiltman

Why not google customs brokers in Charleston? I did that to get our container cleared here - OK, I googled brokers for Cebu.

ILMLover

Thanks quiltman. I have done that and found a few, was just after past experiences from others on whether it was a smooth process or more hassle than worth. When you did that was it a good experience for you?

chawkins99

We moved in 2003.
Had a 20ft container delivered to our home in N Yorkshire, had 2 hours to load (paid a nominal fee for extra time). The container was delivered to our new home in Birmingham, AL about 6 weeks later.
Cost then was 2,273 pounds including all port and customs fees.
IIRC it came through Mobile, AL.
Timing for us was perfect. We closed on the house on Wednesday. Daughter started 11th grade on Thursday and container arrived on Friday.

Pulaski

How much/ what are you bringing for £6,000?

I'd ditch most of your furniture, and electrical stuff. We brought some furniture, and wish I hadn't bothered, definitely more trouble than it was worth, and looks twee in an American home.

chawkins99

We originally intended to sell as much as we could and buy new over here but even then we would have had several hundred pounds of stuff in multiple boxes.
After researching the cost to ship the smaller stuff, we decided it wasn't worth the hassle and went with the container.
After 12 years, we don't have much of that furniture left.
We still have a (UK) King bed which, admittedly, is a pain to find bedding for but we only use it as a guest bed now.
Our daughter now has some of our old furniture from the UK in her home now, including a (UK) double bed, dining table/chairs and couple of easy chairs.
I have no regrets on the choice we made.
YMMV

lizzyq

We did self shipping on both a 20' & a 40' container. The 20 footer we bought and have kept for storage, the 40 footer was a load in 2 hours job. For both we used the freight forwarders that we had used for many years for our company shipments worldwide. There was very little difference in shipment & clearance costs for the different sizes. Their US office aso handled customs clearance for us, which was about $500 each. The 40 footer was loaded in Lancashire on July 22nd and unloaded in Pennsylvania on August 13th. The 20 footer took about a week longer as it underwent an x-ray inspection, though it wasn't unsealed at all.

ottotheboar

Look for a small independent customs broker in Charleston they can be considerably cheaper than the large brokerage firms.
Customs clearance should be around $500, port handling $500, possibly an x ray or Vacis around $340, the ISF or Imported Security Filing is $50.
Inland trucking will be dependent on you distance from the port.
If you get flagged for inspection you can be liable for storage fees.
As mentioned you get 2 or 3 hours to unload try to schedule for as early as possible in the morning as containers get very hot very quickly.

agent welsh

I know this is a year old. Who do you get to help you pack the container?
When we moved here we self shipped a 20ft container. The company had men you could hire to help you pack the container.

Pulaski

Her husband and sons, I expect.

steveq

Actually, and for my sins, she did.
We packed the 20 footer before the boys and I left on 2nd August 2014, leaving Mrs Q with a couple of weeks, maybe a month, to clear up the rest.

.....Mrs Q joined us in mid August 2015....having packed a FORTY foot container singlehanded with the rest of our domestic life and a very large tranche of our old business ( and a machine shop)

Mrs Q is an amazing lady.

Pulaski

And as far as I can tell, you're still married!

lizzyq

I am indeed, and remind him of the fact as necessary

The 20 footer left the UK about a month after Steveq and the boys, all I did was pack "a bit" more stuff into it so that there was no room for anything to shift, on arrival nothing had. This container was packed right to the roof.




The 40 footer was completely palletised, each pallet numbered and the loading orientation and order carefully planned to ensure even weight distribution and best use of floor space. Height wise it was only half full so everything was strapped to the pallets, then pallet wrapped and the laden pallets were secured within the container. All pallets were presswood to ensure no phytosanitary issues were raised. I got lots of practice manoeuvering a pallet truck that summer!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizzya...posted-public/

Everything had to be listed on the packing manifest too, but the magic tariff numbers (harmonised commodity codes) to use were: 9804.00.05, 9804.00.10 & 9804.00.15 which saved me remembering exactly what combination of tools, books, Land Rover spares, other weird and wonderful items, etc were packed into each box. All I had to do was give a general description, approximate value and who it belonged to (me, Steveq or a q-boy) which ensured that no duty or tax was due on anything.

I bought some specialist picture boxes for framed pictures, embroideries and a mirror that steveq had made for me, but most of the rest was packed in standard banana, boxes acquired free of charge from our local Morrison's. These packed very nicely 6 to a layer on a 800mm x 1200mm pallet with no wasted space

On loading day I had the help of the fork lift driver from the neighbouring company - she was wonderful, and a friend and his son who did the loading into the container as I was ensuring the pallets were loaded in the correct order.

Although it all went smoothly in the end I am not planning to move house for some years to come, and certainly not internationally

lizzyq

Yes, but don't mention the bathroom........

Pulaski

After reading SteveQ's brief description, that was exactly my guess as to how you loaded the 40ft container. ..... You can ask Mrs P, or at least you could if she was still posting.