Bertieblackdog

Hello

This may be a daft question but we're moving to Canada in future (myself, wife and 2 children) and are starting to think about what would be worth taking and what to throw in a skip. I'm pondering over shed loads of books we've collected over 40 years - we could probably whittle them down to 4 or 5 tea chests full. Is it just utter folly even thinking about bringing them i.e. too expensive to ship or is cost not as great as we might think? I suppose I'm asking did anyone else have similar dilemma and what did you do.

Thanks
Bertie

The Wortley`s

Hi Bertieblackdog,
We have just had a quote from Robinsons as we were also thinking of taking almost all of our house contents. It is quite expensive, for a 20 ft container from start to finish its £5000 but when you weigh up what it would cost to replace all your wordly goods then it does work out cheaper to take everything, and my school of thought was that if I take my home contents with me where ever we live I have my home with me anf will help me to settle quicker.
Hope this helps.
Sally

The Wortley`s

Hi,
Forgot to say that it depends on what you can get in the container, they dont go by the weight, so if you can pack it to the hilt it doesnt cost more.

WelshDragonsWales

Hi Sally

We have not met, I am Mrs WDW ( Dawn ). can you give me the web site of your shippers please.

Many thanks

YYZlover

Well it's just me, the cats and the horse. I'm planning on leaving as much as I possibly can. I have one tea-chest (or bridal chest) I could consider stuffing and shipping with the essentials that won't go in the suitcase (work stuff) but the rest can be tossed or sold.

I have not applied yet but am in the process of gathering documents and about to start sifting through my stuff. There is a barn at my parents full of my things and I don't want to leave them with all of it so am going to go through it to clear it. I think I need to order a skip.

Cookie

No, its not folly if you are taking over a container. I would always say fill it to the top!!!!

We came over almost a year ago - cost for our container was around 3300 GBP and we could never have replaced our items with like for like in Canada for the same money.

Houses are larger here and the chances of having a family/rec room and a spare bedroom or two for visitors are high so use your UK furniture to furnish them. Our new house has a study with floor to ceiling bookshelfs so we are glad we took over most of our books. Also, my 16 year old has started reading his way through all his dad's collection and our 13 year old will probably do the same

If taking a container make sure you also take all your kitchen utensils, dishes etc, also garden furniture/tools, bedding/towels. Every item you don't bring over, you may have to replace once here and its NOT cheap, very time consuming and you'll be kicking yourself!

You know what they say - "buying the small items certainly all adds up" so save your money for buying new electrical items which will definitely need replacing.

Ben W Bell

I must say that books are actually one of the most cost effective items to ship. High cost to volume ratio. They weigh a lot though, and some companies may add an additional charge for too much weight but in general it's fine. We brought over about 2,500 books roughly, maybe more. They constituted the bulk of what we shipped. Be aware though that the insurance on them will be higher due to the cost of them.

bananahammock

Really good advice YCD ............. I would agree & bring as much as poss, don't know if you are bringing a family but my kids said having their things from home around them helped them feel more settled, also books cost a fortune here.

The Wortley`s

Hi Dawn,
Here is the link to Robinsons Removals.
http://www.robinsons-intl.com/
Sally

Bertieblackdog

Thanks everyone this is great advice...good to "meet" you all.
Bertie

Cookie

I forgot to welcome you to the world of BE

The help that I received from people on here was invaluable during our preparations. It's hard enough moving to a place where you know no-one so the advice and tips you receive from fellow BE members are a huge bonus - knowledge is power

We have members ranging from those who are thinking about moving right through to those who have made Canada their home. It's a great place to network too, as depending where you land up, you may have already made friends before you get here

ann m

Ditto what everyone else said ! Books are expensive here anyway. If you like your collection, if you are likely to read them again, or anyone else is, then chuck 'em on the container. If you are bringing your average house-full anyway - a few more boxes of books won't hurt at all. If you want to whittle the collection down anyway, go ahead - but if you are a bookworm, or will get pleasure from the book again - throw it in

Oh yes, and welcome to BE too

j42

where are you in mid wales?I am from there originally