graemereid01

Hi folks,

I know there are a few threads discussing experience's people have had when moving to the US, but none really touch on the questions I have so I figured I'd ask the Board for their input.

I'm looking to move from the UK to California later on this year.

Myself and my American wife have been over here for 3 years now - so have accumulated some furniture, but as just renting, not a house full.

Basically I'm wondering if anyway has a rough estimate of how long it would take to ship/send our stuff to the US. I understand it will totally depend on volume/weight of stuff we send - but only looking for rough estimates.

FYI we'd probably only send king size bed, cot, and 4 dressers. And then approximately 15-20 boxes.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

penguinsix

I think you'll get quotes of 4-6 weeks, but the reality is anywhere from 3-9 weeks. Depends on the shipping route, whether the boat stops on the East Coast or goes direct through the Panama Canal.

Is it really worth it--basically you are shipping 4 dressers and a bed (negating the boxes for now). I mean the boxes I'm assuming could go via UPS or some other form of shipping. The way I'd measure it is:

sell the bed and dressers, UPS the boxes (or excess baggage charge on plane if cheaper) vs. a small sea shipment.

Unless of course these are heirloom pieces you want to pass along later in life.

dunroving

Sound advice - ditch the big stuff, ship the boxes and buy new furniture when you arrive.

Clarki

I brought a few sentimental pieces, I used excess baggage and it cost me around £900 for them to pack, haul away and unpack for me. it took about 4 months for my stuff to arrive. If you don't need things urgently, this option works well.

Bob

As well as ball ache from customs, whether a full or shared container is used and if you had to wait for the movers to fill it.

For the cost and hassle, unless someone else is paying for it, better off flogging and buying new.

ian1976

We filled a 20' container for sole use for our move from the UK to San Francisco. It ended up costing a bit less than it would've cost to buy everything new. But it's surprisingly difficult to get rid of old stuff in the UK and also I didn't want the hassle of having to buy a whole house full of stuff when we arrived. Also sitting in our new home with all our familiar possessions after they arrived was kind of nice

All up it took about 12 weeks, but we had it stored for 4 weeks in the UK before it set off.

Hellopaul

Hello ian1976.

May I ask who you used for your shipping and if it all went well? After much umming and ahhing, we've decided to ship our stuff (20ft. container). We did consider flogging it all and buying in USA, but we figured we'd probably end up spending more than it would cost to ship it (especially with the lousy pound at the moment) and we have some nice furniture which we've inherited.

We're thinking of using Westward Freight or Global Moving Services, but are also waiting for quotes from a few others...(the wait is kind of putting us off using these others!)

Thanks!

Englishman in Eugene

I would also advise sending as little furniture as possible and buying new in the US.

We shipped three single bedframes with a load of boxes of personal belongings, because we'd bought them new recently and felt it would be a waste to get rid of them again. US mattresses don't fit European bedframes, so now we have three bedframes that we will need to adjust somehow or throw out.

Ous shipping took 11 weeks to arrive, partly delayed by Christmas, and we think the bedframes also caused a delay because they needed special wrapping (even though they were disassembled), and special long pallet.

Aaarrrggg

My cousin took a bunch of furniture over to Australia and recommended a company called "Crown Relocation." I think we're going to use them when we go to the states next mth. They'll come round and give you an estimate.

My cousin said they were particularly good compared to another company she used because it's them at both ends... rather than 2 separate companies that can blame the other if something breaks.

Hellopaul

Thank you! I will contact them.

We're in a slightly unusual position in that we knew we'd be moving again soon when we last moved, so most of our stuff is still in boxes, so no need for a 'full packing' service. But we'd like some help from an experienced container loading person to make sure our stuff has a decent chance of arriving safe and well. Most companies are offering one of two extremes - an expensive, they-do-everything approach, or the 'we load the container ourselves in two hours' method. I can rustle up friends/family to help, but nobody I know is experienced in the fine art of container stuffing.

Anyway, I'm rambling on. Will see what Crown can do.

Hellopaul

Anyone had experience (good / bad / indifferent) of Westward Freight in Kent?

Thanks!