How long does it take to ship all of your worldly posessions to Australia?
Has anyone got any practical advice as to what to take and what to dump? We have 2 small kids (the smallest being 6 weeks old), so we have decided to take pretty much all of the big fellas stuff (toys etc.), so the big change in his life will be easier. Anyone else (probably thousands) been through the big move with small kids, and if so how did they adapt? We are going to the Sunshine coast area and the eldest is fair skinned, so obviously the climate change will be a shock for him.

Hi,
We are in the final stages of moving packers due on the 13th April we have had a quote and been told that we would need a 20 foot container. The way we look at is take as much as you can and have some things as a maybe just in case there is space left. After all the price is the same.

Cheers

[QUOTE=leonard]How long does it take to ship all of your worldly posessions to Australia?
QUOTE]
We've had an estimator around from Excess International who said it takes 34 days (on the boat) from London to Brisbane. Add on getting it to/from the port, and it should be 7-9 weeks max. We will share a container as it's cheaper, so our stuff may sit in the London port for 2 weeks until it's full (this is included in the 7-9 weeks).
We are taking things which are precious to us (nice bits of furniture etc), but have priced up other things to see if it's worth bringing. For example, our double divan bed will cost approx £210 ($500) to ship. If we sold it in the UK instead, we'd get less than £100 for it...and to buy a similar one in oz would cost $700-800. So we feel it's worth bringing it price-wise and hassle-wise!

Just out of curiousity...

How does this sharing a container work exactly. Say if the other people want their furniture first:

A) Who keeps an eye on them while the container is unloaded

B) Does the container have a solid divide down the middle and/or can they be opened from either end

C) I read a lot about 20' containers, now is this shared giving you 10' or are there different sized containers

Sorry there are many questions but I would just like to know the answer as we are not at this stage yet so did not really want to contact any shipping companies yet as we still do not know what to take either.

One thing for sure we want to take our new Super King Size bed ! ! !

This is one of the best things we have ever bought, especially if you are tall etc. I would recommend one to everyone.

TIA,

R.

We where told over the phone to expect to pay around 4to 4and a half grand for full 20ft container, 4 bed house, we will be getting them in around 2wks from now to do some quotes so i will let you know then.

[QUOTE=Briz-chick] Briz-chick,
How does this work? They obviously come to your house, but do they list absolutely everything you are taking and give you costs against? I can't imagine having to make everything you want to take with you visible (we have a two year old who's like a whirlwind and we can't keep the house tidy for ten minutes, let alone lay all of our stuff out for someone to survey). I assumed that you just booked the container spave you required and made an inventory on the stuff you wanted to take.
I would be interested on how much you have been quoted against how much you are taking (if this is not a rude request), as we are heading to the Sunshine Coast and would presume that Brisbane would be the relevant port. Also will your quote be door to door, or just into Brisbane port?

The removalist who quoted for us said we would be sharing the container (the term is 'groupage') with their other customers. For us it would be £2500 (plus insurance) for our belongings (1 bed flat), or £3500 if we had our own container. You also have to pay a small customs fee when it arrives in oz. And *if* they squirt some pesticide spray (or whatever it is) in the container you'll have to pay for that too - this fee is split evenly between those sharing the container. Basically, you stuff arrives when it arrives. You can't be picky with groupage.

This is the info I was given by our chosen company:

a) Our quote included a full professional pack. That only cost us about £200 extra, which is well worth it! If you pack it yourself you have to provide a full inventory for customs - boring! You may also have to pay a higher insurance percentage-this is incase you don't pack things correctly and they break. The removalists put it on their truck then you won't see it again until it arrives at your new house in oz. The company we are using hand over the unloading to Grace removals in oz. They will be responsible for delivering our belongings correctly.

b) Basically everything is just bunged in the container, no divides etc! They reckon 'it's very advanced' and everything is well labelled, so there's little chance of stuff getting mixed up.

The bigger companies can send around an estimator which are very 'sales man-ish'! Just be aware that they might try the hard sell.

They looked in every room, in every cupboard and estimated how many tea chests our stuff would fit in. Also took a list of large items, e.g. mirrors, beds, chair etc. They can only estimate - they will give you the correct bill once it's all packed up - a bit iffy I know, but they all seem to do that when you share a container. Be aware of estimators who try to give you a lower volume estimate just to make themselves sound cheaper. At the end of the day, you'll pay for exactly what you bring. I only know about the groupage (sharing) method. Unless you book a whole container, I doubt you'd be able to pre-book a certain amount of space in a shared container as you won't know how much! See what different companies suggest.

I did an online estimate myself and it came out as 750 cubic feet for £3000. The estimator who looked at our stuff said 550 cubic feet, and that should cost £2500 plus insurance @ 3% of the value of our stuff. This includes a full pack, delivery and unpack and removal of all boxes at the other end! There are small customs fees to pay in brissie, that should cost not more than a couple of hundered dollars max.

Just take what you can get in three suitcases...and buy the rest over there as and when you need it....
CORKER

Our stuff was packed on the 18th January and shipped a week later. It arrived in Brisbane on the 19th Feb. We're still awaiting delivery. I reckon 2.5 months all in all is about the right timescale.

We used Doree Bonner in the UK, who were excellent and as cheap as anyone else.

Your timeline can be longer if its the wrong time of year - if your stuff arrives at Christmas like mine for example - 5 weeks at sea, then stuck in Customs awaiting clearance for 7 weeks.
Also - they don't just spray into a container at random; AQIS (the quarantine people) will inspect each consignment - that means just your goods, even if they came in a shared container. They will then open anything that is declarable - like wood - and maybe other packages at random. The will treat individual articles if necessary, and bill you for treatment or destruction for each, depending on which you decide on. Any shipping company that tells you this is covered in their quote is talking through their hat, by the way, as no-one can predict what they will decide to look at or treat, so you can't pay in advance.

who quoted £2500 ?

one agent told me I could send my car & other house hold goods on the same 20 foot container.

Mine was Excess International (Excess Baggage).

How much was your quote and for how much stuff?

Hello,

An otherway of doing this is to contact a freight forwarder, pack you
own cargo extremly well and ship this as General cargo in an FAK box.
This basically means that your PE is shipped the same way as commercial
cargo.
Freight forwardes do provide you with a set rate for the freight ie x
amount of USD per CBM, plus some loading cost.
Be aware that mostly your freight terms will be prepaid, which means
that you will have to pay some charges at destination.

If well informed and not affraid to do a bit of work yourself this could
save you some money.

Rgds

CORKER wrote:

    >>They looked in every room, in every cupboard and estimated how many
    >>tea chests our stuff would fit in. Also took a list of large items,
    >>e.g. mirrors, beds, chair etc. They can only estimate - they will
    >>give you the correct bill once it's all packed up - a bit iffy I know,
    >>but they all seem to do that when you share a container. Be aware of
    >>estimators who try to give you a lower volume estimate just to make
    >>themselves sound cheaper. At the end of the day, you'll pay for
    >>exactly what you bring. I only know about the groupage (sharing)
    >>method. Unless you book a whole container, I doubt you'd be able to
    >>pre-book a certain amount of space in a shared container as you won't
    >>know how much! See what different companies suggest.
    >>I did an online estimate myself and it came out as 750 cubic feet
    >>for £3000. The estimator who looked at our stuff said 550 cubic
    >>feet, and that should cost £2500 plus insurance @ 3% of the value of
    >>our stuff. This includes a full pack, delivery and unpack and
    >>removal of all boxes at the other end! There are small customs fees
    >>to pay in brissie, that should cost not more than a couple of
    >>hundered dollars max.
    >
    >
    > Just take what you can get in three suitcases...and buy the rest over
    > there as and when you need it....
    > CORKER
    >

does anyone happen to know whether the stuff arrives quicker if you have your own container or if you share a container?
One removal agent tole me that the stuff gets ther v fast if you have your own container, but another told me that if made no difference because stuff takes ages to get through customs anyway. Was the first guy just trying to blag me into taking an expensive option??

Also, who has any advice on surviving without furniture/beds etc for the 2.5 months or however long it takes? I know that its better to just buy stuff over there by my new employer is paying for stuff to be shipped - so I thought that that would prob be better (even if my furniture is a load of old junk

Juanita