Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

Hi Guys,

I am interested to know what others have done when returning?
Have ypou shipped all of your stuff back lock stock and barrel? Shipped some of it, or sold everything and just jumped on the 'plane?

We could easily fill a 20ft container and thats coming in around 11,000 NZ$

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

We're in the US and are selling it all - house, cars, furniture. Will end up mailing back (via USPS) about 6-7 boxes (clothes, books, small bits and bobs), probably spending $1K on that by the time it's all over. Otherwise, flying over with 2 suitcases each.

As a matter of fact, we're taping together 3 boxes tonight to send off tomorrow. Have already sent 3.

Everyone's situation is different but for us, we want as little "baggage" (literally and figuratively!) as possible once we get to the other end, so that our housing options are not dependent upon our "stuff". :D

Good luck and keep us informed on what you decide!

Denise

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

We too have come around to selling it all, was tough to get our heads to accept it in the first place but as we chipped away at the list of valued things, testing ourselves of when did we last use it, when next use it, where will we store it, will it fit, we have joyfully / reluctantly released ourselves of all of the large stuff and just taking back a pallet or two of personal memories and momentos.
We have had most of our things for 15 yrs or more and look at it as why pay to ship well used stuff when we can buy appropriate new or 2 nd in UK with the money we saved from not shipping.

Just our choice, and took us a while to move from 'take it all' to 'take the minimum' but as we dispose of stuff we are happy with the decision.
Cheers, June.

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

We sold most of the furniture when we returned from Canada. As the houses in the US and Canada (probably Oz & NZ as well) are bigger the furniture and the amount of it is also bigger so you may find when you get back it won't fit and will end up selling it anyway.

Probably best to get rid of that sort of stuff as it's a shame to pay to ship it back then end up selling it.

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

I sent one small box of personal items Air Canada Cargo at $191 the weigh was 60lbs

Upon clearing it through customs it was another $150

Since I dont drive here in UK yet and just staying with a friend I am storing it in my room
Then have to move it to another location which at minimum will be a rental car or other means of transporting this box with my two bags of luggage, carry-on and laptop

I am feeling like I should have brought only what I could carry and the box is more of a liability than it was worth

I suppose if you are moving into an arranged place then this is not a problem

The whole point is that one must carefully weigh up the situation well in advance

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

All depends on the value of the stuff. On one trip we took very little and gave away a great deal, coming back with about 5 suitcases (duffel bags) each. Just paid the additional baggage fee as it was faster and easier than shipping via the Post. On another assignment we had a shipping container paid for and actually went out and bought new furniture (it was cheaper overseas) specifically so we could return it with us.

I guess the first question is whether the value of all your stuff is > the cost of shipping it?

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

I would sell it as you know second hand goods fetch really good prices in NZ and things like white goods,tv, ect are really cheap in the uk you should be able to get more than enough new stuff with 11 grand nz

neil

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

Sell the big stuff, too much hassle storing it if you end up renting, selling it if you don't have room for it, or buggering about with things like big TVs if they don't work properly (or get broken in transit).

In fact, sell it all - and give some decent stuff to charity shops, it'll make you feel good.

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

We took a 40ft container out to NZ in 2005 and returned with a 20ft container in 2007. No regrets, we sold some stuff which we could not fit in and the childrens motorbikes had to be sold as it was much harder importing them back to the UK than taking them over in the first place.
It depends if you feel you need what you have. If you are going to have to re buy everything and haven't got a job then it may take a while. Good Luck with the move.:)

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

DDL
When you sent your boxes back to the UK by USPS - can you tell me if you had to fill in customs forms about the contents? I have boxes of very mixed items and when I have looked online to get a quote for international shipping I haven't seen anything about any customs forms.

I have 7 boxes to ship so if anyone else has any experience about other ways to ship I would be grateful. USPS appears to be around $900 to send them from Florida to the UK and UPS is $2,080. Thanks.

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

UK Customs website has info on personal goods sent back to UK.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/sending.htm

Not related to posting, but to shipping, I chanced upon this website with plain english and links to Customs
http://www.ukimports.org/uk_customs_...s_form_c3.html


I just received a estimate from Navis Pack and Ship for Ocean shipping, door to port and customs release ready for my pick up .

(2)Pallets @ 48” x 40” x 88” = 600 LB.(each)
This equates to 196 cubic feet or 5.6 cubic meters.
Estimate Price: $1530.00 + $95.00(pickup fee) = $1625.00

John

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

I'm currently going through the purging phase to be able to put my apt on the market this summer. I have already decided to sell/give away all furniture (though my cast iron bed will be hard to part with as it was a 40th b'day gift to myself) and electricals - no point in paying to taking those as a) the furniture may not fit in a flat/house where I end up living in the UK and b) too much like hard work to make the electricals work.

I will just be taking clothes, personal items and books - but the books are the hardest to sort out as I am a complete bookaholic. I may have to invite friends round to be ruthless for me!!

I do have a question about computers though. Obviously my desk top will not be going but how do people do a transfer of stuff from a US PC to a UK PC?

Thanks for all the people posting shipping info - it is very useful to have.

Lorac

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

Thanks John. But what I wanted to know also was, presumably when I take my 7 boxes into the P.O. Would I have to fill in all the contents details, and how much detail do you actually put in? I obviously want an easy transaction, have nothing to hide and everything is legal but I don't know how much detail I would need to declare. Some boxes have a few larger items in and other boxes are a mixed bag!

Also do all Post Offices carry the the forms or does anyone know if I can download the appropriate documents, do I hand them in or should I write the contents on the outside of the box.

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

We just today put about 100 books into a recycle dumpster. Even at 0.25 cents we only sold two in our yard sales and no hits on Craigslist at all. Hard to let them go because have always valued books more than other possessions. We are taking a few favs but really cut it down because of weight to ship and space to store the other end.

Why would you not take or ship your desk top ? If for elec supply reasons then if like many desktops it has a little red protected switch on the back, this can be accessed and flipped to change it to 240 V before you plug it in in the the UK.
However, if its because you don't want to ship it, then I think the easiest way to transfer files is to purchase a external hard drive here in the US, back up all of your files onto it from your desktop hard drive. There is no file incompatibility between US and UK. You can then connect the external drive via USB to your new machine in the UK and copy them all to your new machine's hard drive. External drives make a great back up device too to copy all your desktop files to this other external drive in case your desktop crashes. If this sounds complicated (I don't know your expertise) then don't worry, it is extremely simple to install and use.
Here is a link to the external drive I bought recently (this is my 2nd Seagate, other is on my work laptop) , http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CEoQ8wIwBA# and it tells a bit about how to use it - or go into your local BestBuy or wherever they have knowledgeable staff and they can advise too. One thing you should know is how much harddrive memory you currently use / need so that you can get an appropriate size pertable drive. Or IM me for help.

Re: Ship everything back or sell it all?
 

It has been a while since I sent a parcel (Denise / DDL can be of better help) but the last time I sent package to UK then I filled in a US Customs Declaration - there is little room on it for details, just for e.g Mens Clothing and a value. These forms are available in all the US PO, ask at desk to get the right form according to value of contents <>$400. Or the forms are online too http://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/ and explanations are also on the same web pafge.
So you just enter the contents on the Form along with your name / address / recipient and PO staff will stick the portion with the list to your box and (I can't rem if PO keeps stub or if you do)

Regards, John