androb

Hello,

Now we have our passport requests, we are trying to work out what to ship to Canada and what to not bother taking. We have searched on previous posts for a similar topic but not really found much.

We have two small children, so understand the importance of taking personal items to help with the settling process.

We realise that it is not worth taking white goods and most electrical items. However, we would like to take our electric sofas and our computer.

The main thing we are trying to work out is what is the most cost effective thing to do?

1) Hire a whole container and pretty much ship everything (pricey).

2) Just take the basics and hire a part container (not so pricey).

We have noted from previous research trips that furniture can be expensive (especially bedroom furniture).

We appreciate your experiences and advice.

Many thanks in advance.

Androb.

MillieF

Congratulations Lots of furniture can be very expensive here (I find?)
I brought everything with me, and would do so again....except white goods....saying that, we brought electrical tools and kitchen 'speciality' bits and a currency convertor and I would do so again. Very best of luck!

Eddmac

An estimate quote I got for a 20' container, packed by the shipping company and all costs door to door was just under £5k, apparently this will take the full contents of an average 3-bed house.

I suppose if you compare this versus the cost of replacement you can decide if this makes sense for you?

Also, if the container is not full, the cost decreases as it's less work to pack.

SchnookoLoly

For us it was definitely going to be a part-container, we didn't have much in the way of furniture. You can always call in a company to come in and look at your stuff and do a quote - they can help guide you to see if you are better off having a full container or a part container depending on your volume.

Your computer should work fine in Canada. We brought our desktop over. There's a switch on the power source on the inside that tells the computer if it's on a 110V or 220V circuit (spent 45 minutes trying to work out why the computer was turning on but nothing was coming up on the screen until I found that stupid switch...).

Electric sofa - do you mean a heated sofa? That probably won't work. Usually things with heating elements don't work properly on the "wrong" circuit without a transformer... and chances are that is going to cost you quite a bit, in addition to the shipping cost.

Beds - be aware that bed sizes in Canada are different, so you'll probably struggle to find sheets. If you're fine to import sheets from the UK, or to buy sheets when you're in the UK and bring them back to Canada, then that's fine, but something to be aware of.

True, don't bother with white goods - just buy replacements in Canada. (Also, at least in Ontario, if you buy a house the white goods usually are included. Same with renting. Check the standard for where you are looking to move.)

Hope that helps.

withabix

voltage converter......?

Buy them when you get here. Cost peanuts on Amazon.ca and are free delivery - they weigh a lot so thats a bargain!

MillieF

Thanks withabix, apologies...it all gets to me on occasion

androb

Many thanks to all for your replies - I must say I do like the idea of a currency convertor powering my kitchen appliances :-)

The sofas have electric leg rests that raise up and down (think Joey on that one 'Friends' episode if ever you saw it!) and they are the comfiest sofas we have ever had so will take them if we can. The voltage convertor is a good option.....

I think the sensible thing would be to have a clear out then get a company to give us a quote - our minds cannot cope with the enormity of everything at once, so one step at a time I think!

Many thanks again,
Androb.

Aviator

Canadian Currency Converter

Me too if I get more out than I put in!

rivingtonpike

It really does depend how much stuff you have in the first place and what condition it's in. All I would say is that to replace a house-worth of mundane, individually inexpensive things with new things, costs a fortune! We had a big clearout before we moved and still managed to fill a 40ft container. As Millie posted earlier - and I entirely agree - if it's useful and still works, apart from a few things with heating motors (even one of these worked for us for a couple of years with a currency converter as a stopgap until we replaced with Canadian), almost everything has worked for us here. You might even find you have 220v in your garage or laundry (we did) which will run pretty much anything adequately up to perfectly well.

Just depends what "stuff" you have already. Good luck.

feelbritish

Well if you are anywhere near Vancouver Island we are going back hopefully when we sell house and will have a load of furniture to sell plus appliances etc! Wish there was a forum for this!

deepcpearl

Hi Androb. I would say don't bring bedroom wardrobes with you as Canadian homes and apartments all have built in closets. I did and ended up throwing them away.

GrandmaLynn

Hi
we also brought 2 electric couches and bought the charger for $100, it charges all the entertainment equipment too.
We brought everything what would fit into a 20f container for £1700, if your interested I wrote all the information on here.
Regards
Lynn

JonboyE

^^^^

This with bells on. And, you'll pay too much for everything as it takes a while to learn which stores are value for money.

Plus Canadian houses are generally bigger than in the UK and you have more rooms to fill. If you UK stuff starts to look a bit shabby you can buy new here and move the UK stuff down to the basement.

ann m

Don't forget the Classifieds section on this forum - I don't know how much traffic it gets, but it's just one more place to advertise stuff!

feelbritish

Thanks Ann, have advertised our B&B for sale there I think I am now far more pro-active than my realtor!