Louise Noble

I am a wife and mother of a 9 year old daughter. We have just been approved of a sponsored visa and are emigrating to Sydney end of December. We are not bringing any furniture just bringing all keepsakes, daughters toys and clothes as we are just going to buy all new furniture when we arrive. There are alot of things I would like to know for example what kind of household goods are more expensive in australia and if clothing is more expensive, just to give me an idea on anything I need to stock up on. I will just leave it at that for the moment and see what replies I get then I will ask some more questions if people don't mind!!!

I would be very grateful for any replies.

Thank you so much Louise Noble.

Bermudashorts

I think you will find things much the same or more expensive here. We had to buy a washing machine, that was more expensive and a washer / dryer would have been ridiculously so. Also although you will have an income straight away, I would assume you will need to move GBP over if you are furnishing a house and thus the exchange rate will hit you hard. The advice generally is, if you have stuff in the UK bring it.

CEM

I'm not really sure if household stuff is much more expensive in Australia because we just bought stuff as we needed it and didn't compare prices. I think it depends where you shop, but it's much more normal not to pay the advertised price. Just ask what the best price is and be prepared to negotiate, especially if you're buying more than one thing from a shop.

Clothes, on the other hand do tend to be quite a bit more and I don't think the quality is anywhere near as good. That said my teenage girls love shopping in Australia because they like the style of clothes. I'd buy plenty of things for your daughter and lots of swimmers (even the 'quality' ones in Australia perish very quickly). I bought lots from every sale in the UK before we left and they were all still in very good condition after a year. Underwear too because the decent stuff is expensive and doesn't last as long.

Hope that's a start for you! Have fun

carolinephillips

As my friend above says- get underwear and swimmers. Books are incredibly expensive here too, and any white goods, but if you are in a rental you will probably only have to get a fridge. There are second hand places too, and you should always haggle. Beware the price of cars though:Australia has the most expensive second hand cars in the world. It was actually cheaper for us to buy a new car, with some hard bargining, than it was to get a 2 year old one of the same model.

KJCherokee

What on earth were you buying? Most cars, particularly the common ones (Falcon, Commodore, Getz, Yaris, etc) drop 10%-20% in value as you drive them out of the showroom.

Check out Carsales. That will give you both new and secondhand prices for any car available in Australia

itigo

Books aren't a problem - just use the Book Depository - cheap from the UK and free delivery..........

Dorothy

I always wonder at these statements. Where is UK clothing made that it's so much better quality?

Wendy

In the same place as the Aus stuff is made. Apparently they save the best material for UK clothes though...

JAJ

Emigrating? Unless your sponsored visa is a permanent one (and most are temporary) then you should understand you're not "emigrating".

897nicole

You’re not coming to Australia from England at a great time, considering the exchange rate. If you want to bring things with you send them by sea. It will be cheaper, it will take about three months to get to Aus, hence gives you time to settled. If you have high quality goods, bring them, otherwise leave everything in the UK. Don't bother bringing your car, unless you have a top of the range one. Baby clothes in Australia are rubbish, so bring baby things if you need them.
If you have good friends / family in the UK, put your stuff into storage ready to be shipped, then you can make up your mind when you get here. if you don't want to bring your stuff over, get your friends / family to sell your stuff or send it to you.
Just be careful with wood and golf clubs, they will have to be treated by customs, very expensive.
Hope you have a good trip

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Made to a specification and, given all the annecdotal evidence on this board, made to a better specification for the UK market than the Australian one.

It's something that most new migrants from the UK seem to comment on, so there must be something in it.

littda01

Just dont agree. 2nd hand cars in my experience plenty cheap here, even given current x-rate. Asian ones tend to be the best value.

White goods appear to be expensive, but if you shop around and negotiate less so. We bought very good washer, tumbler, and huge fridge for $2100. Not convinced they would have been any cheaper in the UK.

Clothes ARE expensive. I refuse to pay the prices here. I shop around on the net and get some decent discounts, or get them from overseas.

Kingseat

eerrr, only if you bring something prohibited or you don't clean your clubs and other items.

They don't have to be treated by customs.

carolinephillips

I bought a Hyundai Tucson and got a really good deal on it.

moneypenny20

Or not as the case might be.

Probably the only reason swimmers don't last as long here, regardless of quality is because they tend to get used a whole lot more, just a theory mind.