mto2010

Hello

I will be moving to Sydney in the next 6 months from the UK, costs are being covered by my new employers so I don't have to hold back on moving items but I need to get some quotes for moving costs.

The moving companies ask for how much cubic feet of stuff we have and I have no idea where to begin. We are a married couple living in a mostly furnished UK flat so no need to ship most furniture except for the odd item like a desk, chair, small fridge, and a very small dining suite. We would also like to transport some other large items like a flat screen tv, golf clubs x 2, a couple of bikes, kitchen items and all our personal effects. No sofa's, beds, wardrobes, etc

1. We'd love a rough idea of how much cubic feet would be involved in something like this - rough is perfect.
2. Some of our items are under 1 year old. Lots of kitchen items we received as wedding presents. Any idea of what additional costs might be involved with customs?
3. What's the easiest way to deal with electrical items at the other end. I presuming the power in UK and Oz are both 240v and either an adaptor or change of plug will work - but I could be wrong?

Looking forward to a move and thanks in advance.

roaringmouse

Get a removalist or two to visit and quote. Once you know from the roughly how much, then you can tell the lazy removalists who won't visit the figure to get a quote from them. It won't be a big ship, definitely a shared container.
Best thing to begin with is probably get multi-socket extensions in the UK (how ever many you may need). Then you either use an adaptor for the extension plug(s) (like this one, for example), or change that plug to an Australian one.

If/when you know you're definitely staying in Australia permanently, change all plugs over to Australian ones if you feel the need.

mto2010

Awesome - Thanks for the tips on 1 and 3. Very much appreciated.

I guess point 2 is a little less straight forward.

Bermudashorts

I am pretty amazed that the removal company have asked you to estimate the cubic feet, most make an appointment and come out and do the survey themselves! If you have found one that doesn't move on and call another.

Re the wedding presents, assuming they are all out of boxes then erm don't tell customs they are under a year old. Customs are really trying to ensure you are not bringing stuff in for trading pruposes anyway.

roaringmouse

When we were getting quotes a few years ago in the UK, a couple of removalists weren't wanting to come to us - I remember one of those was Allied Pickfords but can't remember the other. We used a company that did come and quote!

mto2010

Robinson's are sending out an agent to quote on cubic feet so thanks for those tips.

Good to know that customs are primarily interested in goods for non personal use. It would be ashame to pay tax on personal goods to 2 different governments.