Sunshine7

We are trying to organise shipping and have been filling in on-line surveys with details of what we intend to take with us. The problem is, a lot of it is estimated (i.e. how many boxes of cd's) and the quotes are coming back saying we need a 40 foot container.

What did everybody else ship over, 20 or 40 foot? I do realise that I can't go by other people's amounts, but on the other hand we are just in a small 3 bedroomed house (with garage) though we do have children so quite a lot of toys.

If almost everybody else from a 3 bedroomed bungalow only brought a 20 foot container, then I know we are quite likely to be over-estimating and need to look at things more closely.

Thanks

johnandjoanne

Hiya, we have had 3 quotes in the past few weeks, to move to perth, all come in about £3600 - £3800, for a 20ft container, we are in a 3 bed semi, just to give you an idea.

we have two kids and loads of toys arhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Sunshine7

Were your quotes provided after the shippers had looked at your stuff, or did you do the on-line survey? That's the sort of price I had hoped for, but our quotes for a 40 foot container are coming in at over £8,000 (Scotland to Perth) . We were told it would be roughly £2,000 less than that for a 20 foot container - still seems a bit expensive at around £6,000.

Are you bringing everything or are you leaving a lot of stuff behind?

JenniGee

We were in a 4-bed detached, now in a 2-bed terraced waiting to go. Half our stuff is in storage already, in a 20ft container...it's pretty full, I have to say. We will definitely be needing a 40ft container, we have 2 teenagers, loads of bikes, surf boards, & quite big items of furniture, including 3 big sofas. We also have about 40 boxes of books/photo albums & general household crockery & so on.

Hope this helps with your guesstimating

Zenshin

I doubt you would need a 40ft container. We recently shipped the contents of our 4 bed semi. Amongst that was loads of toys and my husband collects music and music memorabilia so I would say our requirements were more than most and we did it with a 20ft container. We had about 100cubic feet over but it was stuff we were considering ditching. The company decided we could send that in a shared container and didn't charge us any more for it either. You will be surprised how much they can compact stuff down. Watch them though as you get some packers that aren't as well trained and can basically pack air?

It all depends on volumes and how unusually shaped your items are. Obviously the box shapes are more easier to pack in a container than items that can't be boxed.

Best to get a guy from the company to come out and to quote from what he can see. We paid £3600 from the Midlands to Perth.

johnandjoanne

We had the 3 companies round ,had a walk around the house,had a chat, and 2-3 days later we had an email or something in the post to confirm the price etc

From what i read on the this forum the price is not set in stone and well worth a haggle, i shall let you all know how we get on.

Also there are two other cost you should not forget about, container contents insurance( your furniture), which is 2-3% of its worth, i.e. £40k worth of contents at 3% is £1200, guuullpp!!! Again can be done cheaper online, we are still looking at that ourselves, so any help appreciated.

Also when you get to oz there is a quarantine inspection which i think is $300.

We are bringing most of the house, but no wardrobes, no mattresses, and with any luck not the blooming cat!!!

There is a list on the forum about what not to consider bringing well worth a read.

We are going to rent our house out to help with extra income, anyone got any info on the tax implications, that would be a great help.pm me if you want

Sunshine7

Did your 3 quotes include the container shipping insurance at 3%, or will you have to add that on?

Scotty1

We came from a 3 bed house with garage and no kids and all the online surveys I did suggested 20 foot and approx £5k. When I had three firms round they all said that from the outside of the house they thought we would need a 20 foot, but once they looked at the stuff said we either needed to loose some stuff or take a 40 foot. When they came to pack, we were 3/4 full with a 40 foot.

I didn't think we had loads of stuff, certainly nothing in the roof, but 4 sofas, two desks, 4 bookcases and a garage full of stuff were part of the problem. One of the companies said we had filled up a 20 foot with our bedrooms and lounge alone, never mind the kitchen/living, utility or garage.

In the end we were happier with having space to fill rather than trying to prune so we bit the bullet and booked 40.

Only way to do it is have someone round. We went with Crown in the end and liked the service. On insurance go with Letton Percival not the removal firm.

Good luck with the move
Scotty

JenniGee

I think you're right Scotty, the only way you will know for sure is to have someone round.
It's easy as well to underestimate the space you will need for things like bikes, tents, garden equipment, stuff-you-keep-that-will-come-in-handy-one-day.....
We have moved a lot & still don't get it right every time with booking vans

Donsthename

Does anyone know the width of a 20 or 40 foot container??

Thanks
Donna

johnandjoanne

The quote excluded the insurance at 3% so we are looking towards £5000 all in, quite a lot!!!

concretepump

hi we have been quoted £2,200 for 600 cu feet take a bit longer but we are not going to take beds white goods, as its old we can buy there

Zenshin

Try insuring with Insure-your-move. We paid £590 for £40000 cover including specifying items worth over £750. They have no excess either if you need to claim. My stuff is being delivered next Thursday so will let you know if I need to deal with them for claims Hope I don't.

Antney

It all depends if its a dry cargo container or a reefer container, but I've put the dimensions below:-

Dry Cargo 20ft or 40ft - 2.34m
Reefer 20ft or 40ft - 2.2m

Antney

Sorry, had a typing error in that.

The 20ft / 40ft reefer container width is 2.29m