foreigngirl

We sent 8 boxes (15kg each) via FedEx. Booked with parcel2go. Total cost £302 which includes insurance and a 10% discount (I had a code).

Monday 5pm - boxes picked up in the UK
Wednesday 8.30am - call from FedEx saying that my boxes are at Vancouver airport and I need to email them a scan of my passport and TWP to clear customs
Thursday 12.30pm - boxes are in our home in Vancouver. Yay!

I have two additional boxes coming (separate order). They were picked up on Tuesday and are currently clearing customs. Should be with us tomorrow.

PS. Edited to add: the separate order of two boxes (also 15kg each) cost us £75 without insurance and without the discount.

energysolutions

Interesting - what size were the boxes? (LxWxH)

Curious what can be fitted into them

foreigngirl

47x34x34 (cm)

We shipped clothes, shoes, handbags, accessories, ok you get it...
Lots of books.
Kitchen stuff (pans, gadgets, cutlery, etc.)
Some electronics
Bedding

You can actually fit quite a lot with clever packing. There are some good packing videos on YouTube.

cedarsguardian

Hi,

Just wondering, did you have to provide a list of contents and put a price ?

Were you asked to pay any duties at all?

I am in the process of doing something similar.

Regarding contents, can we ship any food stuff?

We have some exotic herbs and a bottle of pomegranate sauce (home made), will this cause any problems if shipped by Fedex?

Thanks

foreigngirl

Yes, you have to put the contents down (as you do the booking on the parcel2go website). I did just general descriptions: books, clothes, etc.
We didn't pay any duties because these are all personal effects ( we're on a twp).
Apparently you're not supposed to ship food. They have a list of forbidden items on the parcel2go website.
Hth

cedarsguardian

Thanks for your answer, I am going on a TWP as well.

We had our removals company yesterday, just left few stuff behind and wanted to use Fedex for that.

I am not sure if they open up the luggage at POE though. In my case I am taking about 10 pieces of luggage... will probably be few hours if they want to go through the lot.

foreigngirl

Our luggage wasnt opened. But one of the boxes was. It was then taped up with 'customs' on it. It had my underwear in it.

fabretti18

Hi foreigngirl
Did you ship your other goods, furniture etc.?
So you fed-ex'd the stuff you'd want to use as soon as. Wonder how that compares to shipping it all?
Good info, thanks
f

cedarsguardian

Interesting - must be one desperate customs officer

cedarsguardian

Just to share what I have done.

I shipped everything I wanted to ship with Robinsons. I have no furniture, but it was mainly books, kids toys, bikes, CDs/DVDs, clothes and documents - mostly of a sentimental value. (In my case I have 78 boxes... so quiet a lot).

I left few things behind like stuff that we will need within few days of arrival, so anything I will not be able to fit into my suitcases I am shipping via fedex. They charge through parcel2go about £35-£40 for 15-20 Kg box. So may workout cheaper than paying for the additional piece of luggage and have checked in.

In my case I have 4 kids so in total I have 6 pieces of luggage. I am hopping that this be enough. if not Fedex to the rescue

foreigngirl

No, we left all our furniture. Only sent clothes, shoes, handbags, etc., books, photos, things of sentimental value, some kitchen items, some electricals (despite being warned not to take them). Additionally, we brought 4 suitcases + 2 pieces of hand luggage the first time we came here, and 3 months later again 4 suitcases and 2 pieces of hand luggage. We're going back to Europe in May again, so we might bring some more stuff back in suitcases (but I think that if we don't really need it now, then what's the point of brining it, we'll see).

We booked with parcel2go - it's cheaper than going directly through fedex.
I got quotes from varous shipping companies and they were around 2000GBP for shipping all this stuff (and a 10-week wait at least or even longer as we would have had to go with groupage). Not worth it really.

foreigngirl

I think they usually open one random box to check if it matches what's written on the parcel. I had actually written 'clothes' on the box, so I guess it was a coincidence that it was the underwear box.

richbogle84

Having just secured my immigrant visa for the states, I'm busy booking flights and looking at the additional baggage charges. Having punched a few numbers into the parcel2go site, it seems we could save a lot of money by sending things over in advance, then just bringing our standard baggage allowance.

Can anyone share other experiences of posting/shipping instead of paying additional baggage fees with the airline.

Additionally, can anyone recommend other shipping websites we should be looking at, or comparing with parcel2go? We're thinking of sending two full suitcases of clothes and personal effects, and potentially a snowboard, from UK to USA

Many Thanks,

Rich.

Former Lancastrian

And very nice underwear it was

foreigngirl

Thank you