CarrotCruncher

Hello All,

I am seeking advice again... I have been costing up the price of moving my furnishings and belongings V's buying all new / second hand. There is an added thing and that is my children are rather attached to different items, and to make their transition as smooth as possible I would like to accommodate their wishes (within reason) and have familiar items around them ...

I have been looking at international moving companies, that have been mentioned on britishexpats.com (I have searched through, honest!!). I have also been trying to cost up buying a container myself, self packing, with a comprehensive inventory, and moving all of my goods that way. (I currently work for a haulier, so the container will be at cost and the haulage this side will be gratis).

The catch is I cannot seem to find an international freight forwarder that will forward house contents or removal items. In fact most say they do not ship containers with perishable goods or personal effects. Has anyone done this? Either hired or bought their own container and arranged the transportation themselves? If so could you please let me know the name of the company, or if you know someone that has the name of the company they used. Of course only ones that were any good please!

Many thanks

CC

penguinsix

Do you really have a full container full of goods? You might be able to find space with a shipper if you crate the stuff yourself and then just turn over a wooden crate to them.

jumping doris

We used Eurousa
www.eurousa.us/

They packed our entire house contents, including non perishable foodstuffs...teabags, Heinz beans, curry spices etc. into a 40 foot container.

Jerseygirl

I think the O/P wants to keep costs down by doing the packing himself.

jumping doris

We didn't want to pack ourselves as our move was paid for. However during the packing process, the packers and the shipping agent both made comments about a container being more likely to be searched if it had been packed by the owner. I don't know if there is any truth in that.
Our container was selected at random for xraying and it delayed delivery by 4 weeks. We really worried it would be opened , not because there was anything in it but because they don't search gently.

I would take less and have it packed.

Jerseygirl

We had ours packed 'cos my husband's company were paying...as far as I know nothing was searched. You are quite right and it does make sense...if you pack the container yourself it is more likely to get searched at the POE.

Irn-bru

I was allowed food tinned etc the first time I moved here. But on Sept 2005 when I last moved they said the international regulations for food etc had just recently changed and they weren't allowed to pack any food any more.
They were very nice and stashed my alcohol amongst the books when they saw the dismay of my face re the expense of all my grog
So I was very relieved when my container wasn't searched!

jumping doris

I got a list from some US Govt dept about permitted foodstuffs. Flour and rice weren't on there and I wanted to bring some organic bread flour and some paella rice we'd got from Spain. The packers were not too happy about putting them in but we did and a small stash of alcohol.
We also had an unmarked catering size pack of white chocolate powder!

CarrotCruncher

Hello, thanks for your replies. I have priced up being professionally moved, there are an awful lot of companies that offer this now, and the costings came back between 4k and 9k. This method does severely limit what you can bring. With that in mind I have looked at leaving as much as possible and replacing when i get there, This works out about the same as the highest quote I have, if not more.

I am funding my move, so cost is a major factor. The other factor is my children, as exciting as having all new things would be, some familiarity and comfort would make the transition easier for them. Me too, if I'm honest!

So far the cost of a 20ft container (yes I can fill this maybe not stuffed to the roof but enough to make it worth while), and haulage to Southampton and shipping the container as far as Chicago will be £3000. There will be a further haulage charge to get the container from Chicago to my new home, but that sshouldstill ensure that everything is well under the median pprofessionalquote. Insurance quotes have so far been roughly 5% of the total value of the items I will be shipping, so that needs to added plus a brokerage fee and the $250 customs charge.

I have been told to number each box, have a comprehensive list detailing what is in each box, and have it all in triplicate, one in box, one on outside of box, and one with complete listing. This will reduce the risk of being completely unpacked. It may still happen, but I shall ensure I do everything to avoid that.

I was planning on Packing a box (24 Jars) of Oxo Instant gravy, typhoo tea, and curry pastes, Biscuits, crackers and the entire cadbury production line I'm guessing that should be avoided... pffft....

If anyone has 'self shipped' I would be really ggratefulfor any insight whatsoever!

Bob

most of that will be fine except the oxo...

Irn-bru

Cause we brought big trays of baked beans etc over in our 1st move we never thought of checking until the day of the move by then it was too late to think of getting a list! I just took their word when they said no baked beans etc.

Jerseygirl

Heinz baked been are readily available around here...took me 2 years to find them though.

Irn-bru

I know but when you are moving to a strange place you don't know quite what you will find. Also it's a lot cheaper buying it in the UK along with all your other favs and getting work to ship it out than buying it here.
Well when you could

gruffbrown

That's a whole hill of beans

gruffbrown

W