mattb-a

Hi,

We are heading to NZ and deliberating over shipping/storage costs and household possessions worth keeping. Some items are obvious (we definitely want to keep or discard them) many more fall in our 'not sure whether to ship or sell' category.
Any ex-pats, it would be great to hear your experiences on things you took which you regret taking (didn't travel well or not needed) and other items which you wish you hadn't left behind. I've read many posts where people have just packed suitcases which in many ways would be best. We've got a couple of items of furniture, some special items (home audio system), numerous appliances which are less than 18 months old and a ton of baby stuff which we're thinking we'll definitely take.

So do we ship & store or sell it all?! Your thoughts please,

Matt

Debbie Jo

Hi matt
We found it one of the hardist things to agree on. You have to be practical and only take what you need. We sold our house fully furnished and only shipped things that had sentimental value (photos,CDs e.t.c). After all you are starting a new life so its good to have new things around you.

The other thing is that if you ship things over you have to be able to manage without the things at either end for about 3 months so your babies stuff will probably be too small for your child anyway.

The other thing you have to ask yourself when shipping is, is the cost of the item to replace more than it will cost to ship? e.g, is it worth shipping pots, pans plates e.t.c when it will cost you more to ship and insure than it is to replace.
Also you have to bare in mind that your old furniture may not fit in with the style of your new home.

At the end of the day you have made the dission to move to a new life for a fresh start so why not treat yourself to new funiture.

good luck with your future plans.

Debbie jo

jayr

Ship as much you can afford to. It's easier to borrow stuff from people in the UK so send it to arrive at the same time as you do, or earlier.

mattb-a

thanks for both your messages and good advice - we'll take it on board.
If time allowed we'd organise the shipping to arrive when we do but unfortunately we're hoping to leave the UK in about 4 weeks and our shipping broker can't see us til next week! (completely unplanned trip, well we started research a few weeks ago!) Needless to say not much chance of it arriving ready for us, but good idea if our situation was different.
All the best,
Matt

karawara88

On average it costs 5 times more to replace than to ship. ! Take it with you.

Kiwipaul

I agree ship as much as you can, and rent somehwere furnished untill your stuff arrives, it'll save you a bomb.

smithone

I'd agree with the previous posts. I've been in Auckland for almost a year and have lived in rented accomodation for a year. I've just a bought a place and you have to replace all those little things that you take for granted.

You earn less out here and the price of furniture is similar to the UK so kitting out your home again takes more of your disposable income.

When you buy homes over here most of the white goods seem to be included in the cost of sale as are curtains and blinds.

If you've got room in your container ship as much as you can as it will be cheaper to ship than replace.

If you haven't got jobs when you arrive you may have an aversion to spend any money (I certainly did) until yiou find work so having as much home stuff as possible is a big advantage.

Things like ladders, buckets, hosepipes, paint brushes, mops, door mats all cost the same as the UK so if you've got them bring them.

mattb-a

Sounds familiar...

Wise words - much appreciated. We'll try and take as much as we can providing the shipping costs stay within reason. A rough quote over the telephone suggested we could pay £1200+ for a load of kitchen & personal artefacts in groupage, or £3000-£4500 for half a container. The half container sounds expensive as I don't think we'd fill it. We've got a load of old/ second hand furniture which surely can't be worth shipping?!

We've got a surveyor in next week so it'll be interesting to see what figures he comes up with.

Cheers,
Matt

Loki

We only have a few small items to ship - we're leaving the furniture! Can anyone suggest a good firm which doesn't charge the earth to ship some pots and pans, crockery, cutlery etc? I'd rather not leave these wedding presents behind.

Thanks

Carrianne

I am taking everything I own, I think it's worth it even buying some antique furniture as there isn't that much over there.

Growler

We have our migration virtually approved (YIPPEE!), but we are having the same dilemma as everyone else here. What to ship, what not to.

The other dilemma we have, is that we want to buy a house as soon as possible, so what do people think about storing our stuff there, until we get a plce, and having it unpacked into our new house?

Any thoughts, please!!!

Carrianne

We are storing ours when we sell our house over here (fingers crossed) but most places I have seen in OZ are unfurnished so we will need the stuff we will be renting for the first 6 months anyway.

mattb-a

from what I've heard, there may be an option to store goods at the docks either before or after customs (I'm not sure). Your shipping company will be able to advise on storage that side.
Cheers
Matt

Kiwipaul

The shipping company will have the option of storing the stuff for you for an extra price. They will normally give you 30 days free before they start chargeing you.

Their are loads of self storage options all over the country, but it will be cheaper using your shipping agent.

Kiwipaul

About the only thing not work shipping is wardrobes as every, house and flat I've had here (and in NZ) has built in Wardrobes and quite a few Walk-in.