lilly

I'm shortly going to Australia on a student visa and would ideally like to send a lot of items (mainly clothing) before I leave, by sea mail. I've looked at the costs of this with Royal Mail and to be honest it seems like it could be pretty costly, as they price by weight. I've also been told that this is not the cheapest way. I know that most people in this forum are migrating to Oz and willl therefore be shipping a great deal more than I am planning. However, if there is anyone who can recommend a cheap company to send a box similar to the size of a large suitcase then I'd appreciate the advice.

Cheers

percyp

Lilly,
maybe we can help each other with research, I'm in a similar situation, going on a long term visa, and want to take/send lots of stuff.

post office seems rubbish, but check out the following

http://www.sevenseas.co.uk/rates/Oz_Nz_Rates.htm

also Qantas and BA do something called unaccompanied baggage
http://www.qantas.com.au/freight/products/unaccompanied_baggage.html
or
http://www.baworldcargo.com/products/bags.shtml

not sure if other airlines do it, still looking

let me know if you are successful is finding more info.

Jo

ywoods

Excess luggage company will send a box for about 120 quid. It is done on cubic capacity rather than weight and would take about 10 weeks all in all (including customs clearance)

They are on the internet but can rem the addy. Check it out

Yvonne

Brumby

Check with the airline you will be flying on. Sometimes the extra bag charge is less expensive than shipping, and you are less likely to have the items go walkabout or get broken this way. Also, check into student travel and backpacker agencies as these will have insight into cheaper methods of shipping excess luggage/packages. I can't speak for UK to OZ costs, but OZ to UK was fairly reasonable.

lilly

Thanks to those who replied to my posting - I phoned up Seven Seas (Excess Baggage) and they gave me a quote which seems a much better option than Royal Mail!
Jo, if I find out any more possibilities I'll let you know

Cheers again

Lisa

ngoodlad

Hi all,
I saw the subject of your topic and thought I would share my experience. Definately DO NOT post anything with Royal Mail/Parcelforce. I moved to Vancouver from Scotland and posted over 3 boxes all within a week of each other. Not big boxes but enough enough to hold some clothes, shoes etc. In total it cost me almost 100 pounds and I was told they would arrive within 4 to 6 weeks. Well the first box arrived after 3 months... the second took 5 months.... the third has still not arrived after 6 months!!! On top of that, they get sent to some freight handling company in Ontario who will not give them to me until I pay them duty, tax and handling fees - on top of the postage I have already paid. I have been fighting with this company for months to release my last box, which they have now finally done after I paid them an extortionate amount of money.

I will NEVER post things larger than an envelope, overseas again (surface mail). On top of this anything that has been sent to me from the UK has been lost in the mail. I am still waiting for a small package which was sent to me about 4 months ago.

OK I've rambled on enough, but just thought I would warn anyone who had thought of using regular mail services.

jeannie

I dont get it ? why spend so much on shipping charges would you be better off selling all you can, keep the cash and buy new when you get there????????

Elspeth

if you send by ship be prepared to wait AGES!!! my stuff is still not here, (6 months) and now due to the Bali bomb most of customs staff have been transfered to the airports so there is a backlog to contend with at the docks.....

may be next year ill get my stuff *sigh*

percyp

good point, and we are selling loads of stuff, but I can't survive on 20kg of belongings for 2 years.

Jo