Bendex

Hey All,

We're in the process of getting quotes for shipping, and one of the companies is pretty competitive....but you pack your own stuff and load it onto the shipping container

Has anyone else done this ?

Did you have any problems with customs as a result ?

I would really appreciate some feedback on how other people shipped their goods.....

Thanks

Bendex

ags

We are leaving the UK shortly and I am not taking a container but will be packing most of the goods myself. My removal company has provided the boxes. I have been told that the packing of the goods makes up a large portion of the cost, so by doing it myself will save quite a bit of money. It is not the first time I have moved from one country to another and usually pack the stuff myself, and so far, no breakages!

SimonG

From my previous posts you'll know that we packed it ourselves. 3 Adults took 5 hours and 50 minutes. Most off it was already boxed up and just ready to load. Our price included 6 hours, we started off at a pretty good pace and eased off about half way through.

Customs wise we'll find out when we get go to clear it. I have the forms, the bill of lading and can now either get a company to clear it for me or appear in person at Thamesport to clear it myself.

This was pretty much what we did when we arrived. The shipping company called me into their offices, provided me with the necessary documentation and then went across to Toronto Airport Customs to have the forms stamped officially. The customs people looked at the paperwork, asked me why in the world I would want to move to Canada, stamped both copies and welcomed me to Canada.

sej7278

Yeah I'm looking into moving back to the UK and shipping some stuff.

It does all look rather complicated, mainly the paperwork, and picking it up the other end - do they just phone you when it gets there and you have to pick it up that day or what?!

Nobody seems to offer to get it from the port to your new home though.

What paperwork is needed for Customs - it's not as if anything is for resale....

I'm moving from California to England, stopping off in France to see the folks on the way, which is probably where I'll want to get the stuff delivered.

ImHere

Customs and Border Protection here in the US of A are currently running at a heightened state of security and the UK is on the hotlist. Sooo if you cant get it packed by the shippers (and they are an US known company) and its shipped via a pre-inspection port then you might just save youselves some grief.

ImHere

Oh just re-read the OP...forget what I said, youre going back to the UK. Pack it yourself and save some.

Hilden

Hi

I am also making the move back to the UK quickly. We are going to pack ourselves. We have found a company that will load the container this end & we can unload it ourselves in the UK. We thought that was a good deal as want to squeeze as much in as possible and they would probably be better at doing it than us.

The company suggested we go to Costco or somewhere like that to get all the packing materials as it would be cheaper.

Hilden

Bendex

We found moving house boxes (in household sets) on an Ebay store so you could save there.....

Which shipping company is doing that for you ? I think the pack yourself one we looked at was Upackweship....but I don't think they load the container for us....

NC Penguin

I was present when Allied Pickfords packed our personal effects for the move from the UK to the US.

Two guys packed remarkably quickly and efficiently. I was impressed how they packed china, glass, records and even an office chair.

Once the shipment arrived and we unpacked, there was not one single item that was broken, cracked or chipped.

This site was helpful when we were looking for movers last year (moving from apartment to house). It may prove useful for international moving.

http://www.movingscam.com/

I would sugest you look at BBB reports on Upackweship. The name rings a bell because I'm sure I've read negative reports about them. Maybe it was on the movingscam website or elsewhere.




NC Penguin

Linda Maxwell

we used a shipping company to come back with, but they sent me loads of boxes and tape to pack stuff myself, and I left the big items for them. One major mistake they made was to pack a box of booze, that I had left out to finish off before leaving. (I just did not notice until packers had left, and they itemised the box) Some of the bottles only had a drop or two left in them, but customs here charged like a bull and it cost us 125 pounds, for about $30 worth of booze.
Something to watch out for.
Linda

sej7278

How did they find out - do they go through all boxes or something? Or did you label the box "booze"?!

NC Penguin

US Customs are entitled to search through shipments leaving and entering the US. Don't know if sniffer dogs would recognize booze, especially if it's in glass bottles!




NC Pengun

ImHere

If they boxes are packed by owner then chances are yes they will. every one of them.

Linda Maxwell

As I said the packers itemise everything they pack, the had 11 bottles of liquer on the information sheets, one copy goes to customs, one stays with the packing co. and one with you. I would not have minded but 2 of the bottles were tonic water. :scared:

SimonG

We had about 8 bottles of spirits when we came to Canada, the movers just packed them up as 'Kitchen Equipment'.