Mrs M

Having come back from our recci trip at Easter having visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, loved Brisbane and Perth not so sure on the others we started to talk about finally taking the plunge and to go for it, but now find ourselves in the situation of what to take. I spoke to a few people whilst away and they said bring it all with you, but my husband is of the opinion to sell most of it and buy new when in Aus. To me it just seems mad to to sell orniments for next to nothing at a boot sale only to spend hundreds replacing them etc.

What have others done - do they regret selling everything or are they glad they took it with them - read one post once where a lady sold a paint roller and tray etc for 50p only to have to buy one for AS$12

Bhoywonder

We are finding that we should really have brought everything and sold nothing. There are other things to purchase when you get here and ornaments are not top of your list.
Bring it all with you, you can always have a garage sale over here if you don't like it. Can be costly replacing these items over here and you have no idea when you arrive where to buy them from also. Takes a few months to know where is the best place giving the best price.

Hope it helps

elaine&graham

Hi Mrs M

I have migrated to Perth once before, that time I took very little with me and had to buy all new when i arrived. (this was in 1990) I found that at that time if you wanted good quality furniture you had to buy imported, which was more expensive.
When I returned to the UK, i brought all my firniture with me, which cost me an arm and a leg,as it ended up instorage for 12 months. :scared:
At this moment in time, my house is on the market and I am hoping to return
to Perth as soon as it is sold, and once again i am taking all my furniture with me.
I think that if your furniture is of good quality and in good condition it is better to take it with you. If you sell it you will get very little for it and it will cost you more to replace it. But when you take into account the cost of carriage maybe you could replace your furniture for that, i havent priced that up yet.
I do think that i will feel more at home with familiar things around me. I am sorry if this sounds confusing, but I have done it both ways and each had their drawbacks.
Good luck with your move, and whatever you decide to do will be the best for you.
Elaine xxx

walla

there's been loads of threads about this, my advice would be bring the lot, everything, it's cheaper in the long run.

jan

I have to agree with your hubby start afresh everything is as cheap as chips here any david dickenson will tell you that.
Also what kind of tight ass tries to make 50p on an old paint set! i bin them after each job .But i am cosiderably richer than most
If you are a chav though i guess it would be comforting to have a few crap items around the house from u.k.

Bhoywonder

Nobody bite

elaine&graham

Thakns Bhoywonder was just going to ,but wont bother now!!!!!



Elaine xxx

jan

ah you have all the Chips! salt and vinegar please

phoenixinoz

If you've got fairly good/new stuff in UK then bring it with you. It's convenient than replacing here if there's nothing wrong with your stuff in the first place. Also for some people it's a feeling that you've got some familiar items around you. Don't underestimate the feeling of being a "refugee" if you've not got your old stuff around you.

However don't do what I did and buy all new in UK and ship it over

If you've got to buy it anyway [cos your UK stuff is no good] then it's less expensive to buy it here. I paid £599 POUNDS for an outdoor set that cost $599 DOLLARS out here

The other thing about bringing UK stuff. I found some stuff that looked lovely and cosy in UK....yet looked out of place in the new bright and airy Aussie house. And ornaments from UK were difficult to put anywhere as we dont seem to have internal windowsils and no fireplace to put things on

The downside to buying new here in Aus is whilst you are busy setting up your new life....you really are busy....and going out shopping for furniture and housey stuff might not be too much fun when you've got a million other things to do.

So the morale of the story is, bring it if it's too good to give away [cos you'll get next to nowt for it in UK]...but buy it new here in Aus if it needs replacing anyways...cos it'll be cheaper to buy it here than in UK. And Aus DOES have quality gear if you know where to shop!

ljj

Depends on the quality and sentimental value of your stuff.
I thought it was a great way to start afresh with new furniture . We sold everything at home to friends and neighbours. Most of our furniture we had used for years and the cost of shipping it over seemed extreme. We moved over with 6 suitcases (used all our double luggage allowance) and a wooden dolls house.

Friends that have shipped things over spend weeks on end without their things in the UK and then spend weeks here without them and end up buying things to tie them over till it arrives. By the time they had bought the things to eat off, sleep on, keep things cold and the container arrived 9 weeks later they couldn't actually remember what was coming and decided they had lived that long without it they could have survived without the hassles and bills from Pickfords (but that's another thread there's been lots of complaints about them on this forum BEWARE!!). now 6 months on most of the stuff they shipped over is still in their garage!!


Try and bring sentimental things, but if you have high quality expensive furniture then you may as well get a container.

Good Luck,

Louise xx

Centurion

You could consider it this way. The cost of shipping is going to be about £3500 for a container door to door with everything you own. Are you going to spend at least that in replacing items in Australia you did not bring ? The answer is probably a lot more.

In addition your home in Australia may be a lot bigger than your UK home. Additional spare sofas, coffee tables etc to fill extra rooms cost money to replace. It really does all add up. If you do a valuation now for insurance for what you would take I think you'd be shocked as to how much its all worth to replace really.

I think that if you have a decent amount of stuff then you'd be mad not to take the lot really after a careful declutting session. Afterall anything you dont find a use for when you arrive here you can sell anyway!

We ended up with a mixture of new and old stuff. With a lot more room it works. Anything we brought with us that we didnt care for any longer has found useful homes elsewhere. Just my thoughts. Good luck in the move.

squeezzii

just bring it all,you will have to spend loads of money ( be realistic what would it cost u to replace all your gear?) wouldnt you rather spend the money saved, on extras on your new home? shipping doesnt have to be wildly expensive! We used Ables and they were the mid range of the quotes we got and I couldnt recommend them highly enough! dont think of leaving your home (that is what it is after all) stuff behind.yes it is swings and roundabouts here with costs of stuff ,my juicer was £100 when I bought it in uk in march and just $99 when I got here BUT our dyson which was £198 was over $700 in oz! I wouldnt entertain leaving it all behind,we have most of it still in boxes in the spare room whilst we rent,then when we have bought our house we will move in and still need to buy more as we will have tripled our living space!

Aussie_Pride

Just what i was about to say LOL

Hels

Party pooper!!!!

Mrs M

I would just like to say a BIG thank you to all that responded, there were many good points I had not considered, like having familiar things around you etc when you arrive. I must say I feel a lot happier now and have decided that I will hire a container and 'bring the lot' so to speak even if hubby would rather to do the opposite, as you say when we finally go and settle in we can always have a garage sale! maybe!

Thank you all once again