Supertoots

Hi Everyone

Moving to Sydney in Feb. We have had some relocations companies come round to give us some prices on moving our possessions to Sydney and its going to cost between £1000 and £3000 (depending on what we take).

We are only planning to come over for 2 years (unless we decide to stay for good) and are not sure if its more cost effective to bring our stuff over or to leave it in storage and buy new stuff when we arrive.

It's the questions of 'Come with everything' or 'Come with nothing'....

Any advice or experience with this would be appreciated
Becky

achanalt

hiya we just had our goods packed up by a company called RB Steel they are from Dumbarton up in Scotland really really good the guy's were great ! we weren't sure whether to take our goods with us or not but to replace them in oz would have cost us around 40,000 dollars,and taking children with us we think that it would be good for them to have some things around them from our old house to help settle them in.we took a 20 foot container that is around £5000. good luck

freebo

Bring it all, you'd be surprised what some things cost here e.g. a basic dyson £255, the current exchange rate makes buying most things in Australia in pounds (which is what you'll be starting with) seem pricey. I know there are exceptions, but I'm really glad we chose to ship our stuff.

IndieG

I am not only bringing it all but bringing more!

raven

When we came 4 years ago we fetched everything then threw half of it out as it wasnt suitable or didnt go with the new house

itxrd

Bring everything. You'll go bankrupt trying to replace everything here

macy

Bring everything and whatever you don't want then resell at a garage sale, you will be amazed what sells at these things and we have made some good money on stuff in the uk we would have just thrown away.

Am111

Hi there,

We are in the same situation. The plan for us is to come out for 18 months and are unsure what to do. We are hoping to be there at the end of Jan or beginning of Feb, so are not sure whether we can get our thing out to Sydney in time for getting somewhere to stay. Seems that furnished rentals are few and far between. As we don't know where we are staying until we get out there, we don't even know what we can fit in. What a dilemma! What have you decided to do?

brandymiggs

how about selling those not so important stuff (those can sell that is) i mean not a basic need, just bring those you need the most

living here is a bit expensive than there

LittleKittyCat

We bought most things (just got rid of really old and broken things). What we didn't want or need once we settled in to our new house in Australia got put on e-bay, and sold for a surprisingly large amount of money! However, we did have a container full of other stuff, so the cost of bringing it was negligible.

Am111

Thanks for your replies. We looked at just kitting the house out from IKEA. Not sure we will be spending too much on things out there, especially as we plan to come back...although everyone here thinks that we won't!
We have had some friends who came out and took only luggage, but their rentals were furnished. The only other problem is that the house contents can take anything from 6-8 weeks, which is probably 2-4 weeks after the time we arrive. Unfortunately, we cannot even book the flights, accommodation etc as the process of getting over has been delayed due to a backlog of applications relating to work. This has meant that we may get the go ahead and book flights literally the following week.
We are getting someone over from the removal company on friday to give us a quote.
Thanks again. Seems the majority of you think it is better to ship over than not. This sounds great as I am struggling to pack everything into just a few cases!

freebo

Before our "stuff" arrived we where rattling around in a big house and sleeping on airbeds/in sleeping bags (surprisingly cold in the winter, had a heater on all night). The day our container turned up was one to remember, really glad we didn't just kit the house out from IKEA (which, BTW is not like the IKEA I remember, think expensive and unhelpful).

Kooky.

I've done it both ways - left the UK with suitcases (and shipped a few boxes I really shouldn't have bothered with, but we weren't paying) and left Asia with a container.

I'd echo the advice to bring most things but add, use common sense and assess their worth and replacement cost.

Get some quotes for a 20ft container, see if that's all you need. If, like us, you just can't fit it all in a 20ft, work out if if it's worth the extra for a 40ft - our company would only pay for a 20ft so we ditched 3 of our sofas (shame, because every childless couple needs, um, 4 sofas ) and most of our outdoor furniture - which also made customs easier.

Re. having an empty house on arrival - depending on location you can get a furnished short-term/holiday let, or hire furniture (we did), or go to KMart for some airbeds and rough it for a while. We've all been there so have a search for previous threads as there is a ton of good advice

Am111

We are fairly laid back about it. We have 3 children and the main thing is for them to feel settled and okay about things. The eldest are 9 year old twins and they are apprehensive about the move. I think we will see what the removals people suggest on friday and go from there. Thanks for the advice.