gsnichol

Hello everyone,

I'm not quite an ex-pat yet but I will be in a couple of weeks...

I'm moving from Newcastle to Tucson to work next month and am currently engaged in the headache that is arranging to ship my belongings over to there. I only have things like books, CDs, a hifi and other bits and pieces, no furniture or electrical appliances, yet I have been quoted almost $3000 by two different companies to do the move!

I think I can use FedEx for about £600 in total for everything I wish to take. The customs stuff is a little confusing though.

Does anyone have any advice or experiences of sending their own possessions to the USA? The removal companies will do all the customs forms on my behalf, but I still don't think this justifies the price!

I'd be grateful for any comments or advice.

G

User Name

It's a lot of fun.

gsnichol

I hope your tongue is most firmly in your cheek as you say that!

NJ_Dave

Ditch the hifi -who is to say that it will work in the USA? And it will cut down the weight and volume of your goods significantly, meaning a cheaper quote. And do the customs forms yourself -the forms are a piece of piss, and it takes about 5 minutes to get your goods cleared.

dragonfly

We used Overs removals they are based in Aldershot it cost us 1200 GBP they did all the immigration paperwork we did not take furniture or any electrical items as they wont work however I do regret not taking the furniture but we are all wise with hindsight. There web address ie www.overs.co.uk

Ray

Hi Dave ..good to see you about ... there is work to be done here ...

gsnichol

Well as far as I can find out there's only one US customs form to fill in per box stating that they're all personal items and should be exempt from duty. The hifi is only little and not that heavy and it works on 110V (I checked)...

If I use FedEx and attach the customs forms to the boxes, will they not be inspected in my absence and then simply delivered to me by FedEx? Or will I have to go to a warehouse somewhere and clear them personally?

Elvira

And the reason you are not addressing this query to Fedex is... ?

gsnichol

Because they're helpfully only open Monday - Friday during office hours and because Monday is a bank holiday I will have to wait until Tuesday...

Arizona Wurzel

Where in Tucson are you going? Have you been there before?

Ray

Well!! enjoy the break ...No easter holidays here !!!

gsnichol

Erm...Tucson, Tucson?! :0 Seriously, yes I was there in December for an interview. I'm told it will be ever so slightly warmer in Tucson now compared to glorious Sunderland (oh how I will miss overcast days...) but things are getting even greyer here now that we've been relegated . I'll be working at the University of Arizona and I start next month. I didn't think they had English people in Tucson? Someone asked me if I was Australian...

Anyway I have a moving expenses budget but the visa application took a hefty chunk out of it, leaving me with only £1000 to ship some things over. Mostly books and what have you (need them for work anyway). I know I can buy most things over there cheaply but I'd like to make maximum use of the allowance. I just didn't think it would cost nearly $3000 to ship three boxes of things; I shudder to think what it would have cost were I moving furniture too!

dunroving

Get used to it. I'm from Brum and if you don't have what is clearly a BBC or London/south England accent you'll probably be asked this a lot. If you will be teaching, you'll find your accent may be an advantage with the students (go figure).

gsnichol

Pfff I'm from Sunderland so you can imagine how I speak...

dunroving

Oh, of course, sorry, then you'd better get used to being asked if you are from Scotland.