just a query really when people are saying they are paying between 3-5 grand for shipping in a 20ft container what exactly does this involve..i mean does it mean we have to pack our own boxes and supply our own packing boxes etc or do they do it with the price they quote. Im just thinking if we pack our own stuff up and supply the packing boxes etc will it be cheaper. If we were to do that do they supply the removal lorry to take to the containter or is it up to us to arrange our own lorry ..sorry if this is confusing but we are trying to find the cheapest option....what do you guys pack your sofa in and the big stuff....

We used Anglo Pacific and they did everything- supplied all the boxes tape men to pack them loaded them onto a wagon etc etc. However they did not provide a wooden packing crate for my glass table top as they promised and they put huge scratches all over the laminate flooring which they have denied doing and because it was a rented house had cost me £800 to get sorted (my bond) i dont know what my furniture will be like when i get it back because we havent got that far but i will keep you posted. and it is about 4 grand. if you pack it and they ship it they have to open and check all the boxes anyway so you may as well let them do it save you the hastle what i will say though is if you want it before youre ready to have your belongings delivered put it away ( we put a room for the storage of things not to be packed so they didnt have to go in there) where they cant get at it

One thing you might want to bare in mind is that if you do your own packing, the shipping company will not insure it against damage etc. Most only provide insurance if they package everything themselves (on the basis they know its done properly)

We had our 3-bedroom house (Aberdeen) packed up back on January 5th 2007 by White & Co, Forres. They provided the boxes, packing paper, special paper for sofas and wooden furniture (protects against mildew, etc) and lots of hanging boxes for clothes. The guys packed everything at lightening speed over 2 days. We had a 20ft container (approximately the size of a standard garage)

Definitely keep an area side aside marked "DO NOT PACK" for your luggage and paperwork etc your are taking on your flight. The guys were very efficient and wrapped everything up well.

The following day a truck arrived carrying a container. This was then loaded up in a matter of hours then driven south to the dock. 3 weeks later it had arrived in NS and we kept our goods in storage til we could move into our house 4 weeks later.

On delivery day, our goods was then driven up from Halifax to New Glasgow and was here by 9am. The Company then unloaded everything and placed the items in the designated rooms - unwrapping chests of drawers, etc. The guys were great, even putting together 3 queen beds we had delivered the same day by Sears.

We chose to unpack our clothes and small items ourselves and did so over the next 3 days.

We had no damage whatsoever to our goods. In fact, the clothes in the boxes were still on their hangers!!!

Think we paid around 3000 GBP at the time plus insurance of around 300 GBP. Packing up a house (and garage) is no small feat. In an already stressful time we let the guys get on with it and visited our friends, etc.

I would not imagine the price difference to be that huge for packing and unpacking yourself - there is also the issue of insurance too. For us it was worth every penny to get them to do it.

Crikey, writing this post has brought a flood of memories back Happy to say though, that it will be 2 years this coming January and from the very day we landed we knew it was all worth it (we had a good life in the UK too)

Good luck

Hi,

You CAN pack if you want, but bear in mind its not always a great deal cheaper, I would advise getting some quotes and asking the removal company to give you quotes for self packing and for them doing the packing - to allow you to make a real comparison.

The other answers are also good points in terms of insurance and customs. Whilst no company can guarantee that if they do the packing your consignment definately wont be inspected, it certainly reduces the chances as owner packed boxes do tend to attract more attention, and possibly more lengthy detailed inspections - which can cost you more in terms of customs fees, usually payable locally. Most company's will also only offer total loss insurance for owner packed boxes and cant cover individual items if you pack yourselves, so you can only claim if the whole consignment is lost.

In terms of you loading the container at your house this will depend on your individual move - whether there is room to park a container lorry on site etc. If you use a removal company most I suspect would load the lorry themselves, even if you do the packing. As a company we use specially designed BubbleCraft to export wrap your furniture (including sofa's) to protect them whilst shipping - if our customers choose to do the packing themselves this usually means they pack the boxes, but we will still wrap the furniture items.

You can of course find company's where you do everything yourselves, personally I wouldnt recommend it, but I guess it is a case of weighing up the decision based on the cost for you, and at a time when things are quite stressful for you anyway, most customers we find tend to find it alot easier to have the removal company do the packing!

Hope that helps?

Kirsty

thanks very much for all your advice, i think we will just let them do it then as this sounds the best option.