Hi All
Please could you tell me if its worth taking white goods with us, is it cheaper to replace them because of the shipping costs ?.

Thank you
Adelaide bound

Take them with you, except the fridge, as you will need a bigun in Oz. ! In general white goods cost a lot more to buy in Australia.

On average it works out five times more to buy than the cost to ship.

I don't know what white goods are like in Perth, but I got all my white goods cheaper than I would expect to in the UK.

It depends on what exchange rate you get and they will cut you a deal if your making a big order and paying cash.

Also, make sure you can get someone to fix your white goods as makes & models are very different here.

We didn't bring anything and furnished the house for about $10k - you try doing that in the UK!

Thats OK if you have a spare $10k to replace everything. Why spend that sort of cash when shipping it will cost you a fraction of the price. If its on its last legs get rid. If its reasonably new chances are its got a good life expectancy so spares not an issue.

Also $10k is OK on the exchange rate but what about on an Ozzie salary. Which is generally a lot less than UK.

No way could I furnish a house in Oz for $10k with the quality of furniture that I have here. Couldnt even replace my two leather couches for that. !!

Bloody hell, how much does a leather couch cost in Perth?

I was quoted nearly 4000 pounds to ship our stuff over here. At the time that was about $13,000 we decided that we would rather put it towards buying new - I didn't fancy sliding off my leather couches in the summer and our white goods where incorporated in to our kitchen so we had to leave them.

If you can't replace your furniture, or you love it to bits take it with you. If you fancy a change and can buy new leave it. It's a personal decision, no one can make it for you and I can only speak from personal experience. My friend brought all her stuff and she's happy.

Bedrooms even in larger houses can be very small and I have never seen them without built in robes. We could never have fitted all our bedroom furniture in our aussie bedroom, and a garage sale would have been on the cards. Our house came with all the kitchen appliances we just bought a fridge, washing machine and tumble drier. Uk fridges won't do the job here. Even duvet's (or doona's as they are called here) are very low tog and 'squarer' than the UK.

My only regret is not bringing the dyson and the wide screen telly (no digital tv here), as for the rest of the stuff the scavengers who call themselves my friends and workmates can keep 'em.

Depends.
Fridge - a good one here will cost from a thou up ($) - over and around two grand for the big double door ones. Take your fridge if it's a nice new one , or if you do not want to part with it - if you have room in your container- I'll tell you why, because even it's too small it will come in handy as a second fridge for the garage for drinks etc in the summer. Travelling with a fridge - is possible, don't let anyone tell you any different - you let the fridge settle/ stand for a couple of days before turning it on.

Washing machines - be careful, check if they have replacement parts here for your model if it does break down - to be honest I'd leave the washing machine, and if you don't want to fork out for a brand new one there are plenty of "second hand - re- conditioned machine" shops around which you will be able to pick one up for a couple of hundred $.


cheers

I think it comes down to an individuals situation, if we had expensive stuff, probably ship. However most of the white goods are buggered so.... Clothes, photos, laptops & ourselves only. Did a car boot yesterday in Manchester, what an ordeal, bastards wouldn't even let me get the stuff out of the car! Got another one next week.... OH JOY!!
Cheers
Gary
Off to Rockhampton 23rd June :scared:

Have you seen the quality of Australian leather furniture? Its kack. Good quality leather is $$$. The cost of what we are shipping is £1400 ($3500) or so. So that amount would not be able to replace, two quality Italian leather suites, washing machine, microwave, double bed, two hifis, etc. etc. as well as loads of other junk we have accumalted. The average cost of replacing stuff is five times more than shipping. Plus the grief I had to go through to find couches we both liked is worth the shipping fee in stress relief. How does that happen then We have just had a few days that have been roasting and not once did I slip off the couch, perhaps once after a few We are taking our high tog, Aussie nights can be chilli (in winter) and I like to be warm at night.

Yes thy are disgusting but c'mon leather? are people still buying leather, cold in winter too warm in summer? Get an oversized sofa that you can fall into a snooze 'till the half decent programs come on or the spring returns and you can get out into the garden, whichever is sooner.

Even for those on a budget Ikea do great little sofas for as little as $300. Buy 3 or 4 to fill up the multiple living areas to stop the house looking so empty not to mention the echo.

I have never had a problem with them being too cold or too warm, and IKEA !!!