shecha

Hi there,
I'm loking for advice on whether it's better to ship all your own furniture over to Oz, or just buy new when you get there.
I keep changing my mind, but I've been advised there's lots of stuff that won't work or there's no point in taking - such as TV's, videos, fridges, freezers, most electrical stuff due to plug etc.
I'm wondering if the expense of shipping is worth it??
What do ya reckon??

wmoore

Most electrical stuff will work, you just need to change the plug. However, there are strict regulations on shipping fridges and freezers (can't find the link but it has been discussed on here) meaning that it isn't worth moving those. TV's - some will just work, some will need the menu's changing to suit Oz and some will produce pictures but no sound. If you get cable / satellite TV in OZ, or just buy a cheap video player then you can watch the TV through that. Video's, as TV's DVD players will work but might not play Australian discs unless you can hack it to be region free.

Hope this helps

podgypossum

It is a good idea to bring all decent lounge and dining furniture because, generally, you will have a larger house than you had in UK. Often this means having TWO living areas. One called a family room, one lounge (posh bit) and sometimes even a rumpus room. Believe me, a house can look very empty if you move in and just have you little 3 piece suite and a dining table!!! Add to this the expense of paying out for all this new, if you dont bring stuff with you,and it can start getting very expensive!!

CON

Hi, we have decided to ship certain things but leave the fridge/freezer washing machine etc and this has reduced our shipping cost to just over £1500. We are shipping around 20 boxes of personal items/clothes/kids toys etc bikes and some furniture, the rest we will replace once we get somewhere of our own and to be honest they were due to be replaced soon anyway, we are just hoping they hang on for us for a few more Months.

JAJ

You don't even need to change the plug if you buy adaptors, which are cheap.
One piece of advice - bring UK socket boards and then you only need one adaptor at the end. Just don't overload them.

Good quality furniture is *not* cheap in Australia, so while you may want to throw out junk, don't get rid of decent stuff. If you can't fill a full container, investigate options for shipping on a shared/groupage basis.

Jeremy

HUP

Change a plug :scared: you cant do that unless you get an electrician.

Phoenixuk2oz

[QUOTE=shecha]Hi there,
I'm loking for advice on whether it's better to ship all your own furniture over to Oz, or just buy new when you get there.
IQUOTE]

Hiya shecha

This is a strange one cos there's no right or wrong...it's about choice really

Prior to my move to Oz I spent the last year buying all new stuff to bring with me. I didn't want to replace anything for at least 2 years and this would also ensure if I was earning less than in UK,then at least that was one less thing to worry about [also gives me time to save for replacements @ future date].

However....given the extensive choice available here in Oz and the comparative prices.....and then factoring the cost of moving stuff over here [for me about £6,000]......then I would have probably just bought all new here in Oz

I suppose my advice would be this....to assess;
a) Do you need all new? and would it be less expensive to replace in Oz rather than buy new in UK if you factor in the replacement cost and the added expense of distribution?
b) Can you live without your stuff for 3 months whilst it's being brought over from UK? [you still have to buy bits & bobs to put you on till your stuff arrives].

Given my choice again....and what I know now, I would probably not have bought all new in the UK .....but waited till I got here and replaced it all in Oz

That's only my view. It may differ from others....but in view and with the above circumstances, that would now have been my choice.

However, if you dont need to buy all new in UK i.e bringing in all your UK exsisting stuff.......then to replace this in Oz may be more expensive [as it didn't need replacing]...

Hope this helps...good luck with the move whichever /whatever

hevs

GOD!!! will this changing of plugs ever end :scared:

Nearly 10 months and still scrabbling round for adaptors for stuff like blenders, lamps, sandwich toaster, but we are getting there!!!(you should see what happens with a shaver plug!!! )

I would say ship whatever won't need replacing for a few years as well as all that sentimental stuff of course.

I wish we'd have been bothered to clean the out door stuff and the lawn mower as we need two lots of out door stuff here!! (eg tables and chairs, due to everyone crashing our pad quite often, you KNOW who you are )

Very glad we bought all the electrical stuff, the kids have got tv's and videos etc. You can buy a multi region DVD player for around $60, but beware there are no cables (only power) inside. Luckily we had heaps in a bag and managed to find one, phew drama over!!!(daughters b'day!!!)

wmoore

Oh yes, forgot about that one

walaj

Another reason to ship the goods, it will save you the time finding and looking around all the various stores to replace all your goods.

Otherwise it is another big job in addition to house/job searching, finding your way around, car buying, finding the best school/shops/bar - just when will you have time to go down to the beach?

I also feel it will be an element to help settlement to have familiar things around you.

walla

True


My simple equation is: add up the total value of goods in your house as that's what it will cost to replace in Oz approx. Subtract the shipping costs.

So if the value of the goods is say £12k and it costs £4k to ship you have £8k in your pocket, buy new and you're £12k down.

Having said this if I had the lolly I would buy all new but have more important things to buy such as a house and 2 motors etc etc

There's stacks of threads on this but can't get the topic search to play with me

Walla

sky

I would say ship your stuff, it will take a while once you get here to suss out the expensive from the reasonable shops and you may end up spending loads and then finding out later you could have got it cheaper elsewhere. Also you will have so many other things to sort out do you really want to be shopping for furniture etc

ssinnige

Not necessarily. You can get the plugs from shops like tandy (for example: http://www.tandy.com.au/cgi-bin/tand...ogs/CTG0004908) and all that you need to do is to cut your wire, figure out which is the main wires and which is the ground and hook it all up.

scottish

LOL guess who? Sorry off topic!

Agree with Sky bring it all over, we regret not bringing more of our stuff.

shecha

Thanks everyone for all the advice.
I think I'll get a quote for shipping all the stuff that won't need replacing within the next few years and work out whether its gonna be worth it.
We do have enough dosh to buy new, but I'd still rather save the money if I can!!!
Cheers again everyone!!!