Hi Amy - I've heard folk say that too. Trouble is, a lot of my furniture takes up so much room and my house looks cluttered. I doubt whether I'd replace a lot of it anyway.

I guess I should work out what size container we'd need and check out prices, so I can do a comparison though.

It's not just the furniture though - its all the little bits, bottle openers, everything. It all adds up and does get really expensive.

It also depends where your moving to - beds/mattresses/sofas etc are much cheaper here in Halifax than they were when where we lived in BC. We had to make do with crappy furniture and beds that cost us a fortune but were basically shite.

We have now replaced them all again since we sold our UK house last September.

It should say in the instruction book. Failing that I would contact the manufacturer.

As a general rule, houses are bigger in Canada. What looks cluttered in the UK is bare here. Get a 20' container. If all you stuff goes in, bring it all. If not then start to be selective - but make sure the container is jam packed full.

Not only have you better things to do with your time when you first get here, it takes a while to learn where the stores are that sell the things you want at reasonable prices. You could end up panic buying a load of expensive junk that you will need/want to replace again in a couple of years.

Our stuff is still mostly in storage; it's about $140 a month I think. we have a bit less than a 4 bed house full stored.

Chuck everything, we have Ikea, the Brick and Jysk.

Has anyone taken their antique furniture for sale in Canada? Is there a market for it?

Also did anyone else take food - tinned or otherwise and does it clear okay in Canada?

always wondered too about that, considering that canadian "antique" stores are what we would call a junk shop (pyrex is not antique!).
Has anyone ever bought or sold antiques in canada? is it worth bringing stuff to sell?

Yes, there is a market. How big a market depends on the quality of the stuff you have to sell. You might get a premium for very high quality items but the difficulty is finding the right buyers. For other stuff you might be better to sell in the UK where you will get pounds rather than dollars.

Antiques in Canada tend to by anything over 50 years old, rather than 100 in the the UK. There are some good antique stores, and some good dealers. However, there many "antiques and collectibles" stores that sell a lot of junk. You can get serious buyers in these stores, but only to see if they can pick up a bargain.

I agree entirely. can't believe how much of our savings we have used to date and we shipped everything!!!!!!!

With you on that - even if you just bring stuff to use 'for now', it's gonna save endless trips to the shops to buy stuff in the first few weeks.

Thanks for the info - Ive always wondered about opening up an antique shop and importing stuff from the UK - and whether there was a market for it.
Food for thought....

Surely it would be cheaper to sell all your furniture/electrical items before leaving. Take kitchen stuff, pots pans kfs etc, bedding, towels and personal stuff? Could this stuff be airfreighted across, it seems the cost of a container is more than the cost of buying second hand stuff over there?

I have 2 double/king beds, 1 single bed, small table and chairs, a corner sofa, some small ikea tables, tv stand and some bookshelves. By the time I do go over all of it will be at least 5-10 years old. I am sure it would be cheaper to replace over there (possibly second hand)? Or have I got it wrong?

You have got it wrong.

One thing we didn't think about was the fact that houses here tend to be bigger and with the added basement we just didn't think about having an extra sofa/beds for a spare room etc.

My friend bought an antique dresser with her, she has fought to stop it from cracking from the lack of moisture, she has two humidifiers going in her (super large) living room, so keep that sort of thing in mind if your moving to a dry climate.