To sell or not to sell home contents
 

So it has been a month since we sent all of our information, applying for the K1 Visa, I know we have a wait yet, but my mind has turned to the actual moving of belongings.
I have a friend who emigrated to Australia and after paying expensive shipping, decided once there, that she should of just left most of it behind and bought new.
Admittedly for me the only furniture items I plan to take, is one sectional corner sofa, an arm chair and foot stool.
Other than that it will be clothing, shoes, a few ornaments and sentimental effects like photos etc...
Christmas tree and ornaments.
Obviously all of my electrical items, I assume will be no good with the power difference (anyone have experience of taking some?)
I do not want to be like my friend and have them die one after the other or be dangerous in anyway.
I paid £4000 for my suite and so am reluctant to sell it as it's only 3 years old and I know people will offer silly money for it.
But considering shipping (I have no idea of the cost for such few pieces) would it be worth taking maybe £1500 -£2000 for my suite and just buying new?
I have no clue as to the cost of furniture there and me and my fiance have different views on what constitutes good quality, he is more cheap and cheerful and I am a pay a little more for good quality kinda girl :D
As always your help and advice is appreciated, thank you :)

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Reminds me of when I moved out here. I'd just bought a new suite for £3,800 a few months prior and hated to think of selling it cheaply. 8 years later the leather backs and wood accents still look amazing, so much so that we just spent $1,800 having it recovered at Christmas, rather than buy a new one. The upholsterer said the quality was the best he had seen.

If I were to do this again, I'd definitely sell the UK electrical appliances. You can get adaptors and the like, but it is not worth the hassle. Some items, like laptop chargers, will run on 110v or 240v, but your major items will need an adaptor/step-up-transformer, or simply will not work.

Your furniture may offer you some grounding and familiarity once you arrive. If hubby is 'cheap and cheerful', you may not be able to agree to get one you both really like when you get here. The £2,500 hit you might take on selling the suite will likely pay the complete cost to ship everything you want to bring.

Appliances here are cheap, and in general don't last long. I was amazed to buy a DVD player and it break after 4 months of use. I took it back to Radio Shack and was told the DVD player only had a 90 day warranty. It was still brand new in my eyes.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I sold almost everything, made it much easier once I got here since I knew I didn't have to sit in an empty place while waiting weeks for it to arrive. I never had much furniture of value in the UK though, but it was still relatively new stuff in many cases. Sell cheap, it will go quickly, and you'll stress less about it.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I'm having the same dilemma. Had a shipping company round two weeks ago and they quoted £3500 for contents of a 4 bed roomed house, that was only taking 1 sofa, 2 x dressing tables, chest of drawers and a wardrobe plus personal items. We have since had another company round today and I'm waiting for their quote - we've reduced furniture items down to 2 x dressing tables and 1 x bookshelf as these were my Grandma's so of more sentimental than monetary value so I'll see what they quote. I was in Philly 2 weeks ago which is where we are moving to and went to some nice thrift stores to see if we could buy second hand furniture - they had nice, solid wood chest of drawers for 90$ which I thought was quite good. We did contemplate ditching it all and buying new, but I panicked the next day - think I'd miss some of my things around me, whatever the cost.
It's hard isn't it?!

Clare

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Wow that really surprises me, but my fiance did tell me electricals are cheaper over there, maybe that is why?

I do really like my suite, but also we have to consider the size.
We intend to rent first and then eventually buy a house, from what I see many homes appear to be rather roomy out there, so it may not be a problem.

I am also thinking about £2000 exchanged for dollars, may not be so bad?
I may need my sweetest smile to make him let me spend it though haha :)

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I can't see the point of bringing a Christmas tree.

If the sofa is the only furniture you're bringing, it's probably not worth it to be honest.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Yeah this is the reason for me thinking what do I absolutely not want to leave behind, luckily for me my sentimental pieces are small, ornaments and such.
You see I do not mind cheap, cheap is good. But like you, I would want sturdy pieces that last and well you can't go wrong for $90 solid wood...
Hmm this has given me something to think about, maybe selling the beast of a sofa is not so bad after all, even at a loss :D

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

It is sentimental, my children have opened every Christmas present under that tree is all, plus my fiances mother is getting older and she has been dividing up her decorations that have been passed down through the years by her family and has some put aside for me ready.
I know it seems silly, a tree?
But last Christmas, me and my fiance opened our gifts under that tree, it was our first together and I had a special glass bauble made to mark the occasion.
Ugh I have turned into my mother, lol when did that happen?

It sounds really corny but for me as a child what I recall about Christmas was the tree, the lights, decorating it, people smiling, just a nice time of year.

As another lady commented, sometimes what is most important to a person doesn't have any monetary value at all, but those are the things we are least likely to part with :)

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Just bring the bauble :lol:

I understand, of course.

With shipping, it's kind of all or nothing. If you're bringing some stuff, might as well fill the container.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

i would def forget the tree. we brought ours across as we had free shipping, and what looked like a normal sized tree in the UK looked like a scrawny twig compared with everything we saw here. We went out and brought a larger bushier thing straight away as ours looked pathetic lol)

I would bring the more unique ornaments though (ie don't bother with just regular easily replaceable items). That way you put those memoruies on the new tree, best of both worlds.

other things to bring -
pint measuring jugs to use with your English recipes.
Yorkshire pudding 'tin'.
Steamer basin for xmas pudding/treacle pudding type of thing.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Exactly
My rocks and fossils and found objects are what I chose...but then there were 19 ft. of empty space in this 20ft. container to fill :lol:

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Oh yes good points on the cooking stuff. Also the shallower tins for mince pies.
:lol:

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Not sure I agree with that. There's a middle ground where you don't bring furniture or anything else heavy, but you fill a few cardboard boxes and send them via Excess Baggage or similar.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Yes, agreed. I was thinking something like that would work for the OP if she left out the sofa and tree.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Just an aside (maybe subject for a new thread)....if you return to UK - what do you take with you (aside from your ..ahem.....fond memories)?

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

And you can send ornaments this way?
When you say heavy, how heavy?
Because all my photos weigh maybe as much as a water filled kettle.
As for my clothes I have way too many, shoes too for that matter.
I would consider down sizing my wardrobe but you'll never get me to part with my shoes :p

Coincidentally do you have to have a 20ft container?
Do they not just section off a part you are not filling and use it for someone else?

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

No
Yes :thumbup:

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

So am I right in thinking you pay for the space used?
Or is it based on weight?
Or both?
:confused:

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

There seem to be differences going from and to the UK. Shared container is common from the UK, but not going back, apparently.

Both volume and weight are a consideration.
A dining table and chairs which are probably going to be miles too big but they were newish.

Some crappy old vintage furniture and my Torquay pottery :wub:

Approx 1,000,000 books although I thought we'd cut them down.

Sentimental kids' toys etc.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I'm a USC moving back to the US next month. Although we used a 150cubic ft crate to ship stuff over here to the UK, we are doing some serious downsizing and only shipping boxes back. We plan on going with either www.excessbaggage.co.uk or www.weshiptheworld.co.uk. Hopefully no more than 7-9 boxes worth of ornaments, memorabilia, kitchen items, clothes, shoes, linens. Seems reasonably priced, esp since it can arrive in the US about 5-7 working days depending on the type of shipment you choose.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I was told volume but weight is not an issue. So our 3 canoes were going to be £240 as very long, so we had to discount these. We will be sharing a container. I'll put on details of the quote when I get it tomorrow. The quote we got already the price included a months free storage in the UK, 8-10 weeks shipping, people to come and pack and put together an inventory, boxes, delivery to home in USA and unpacking. The £3500 quote did not include marine insurance or approx 450$ to 500$ for Homeland security to scan goods once in States.

Clare

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Most important,Besenyi.....:lightbulb:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...SH20_OU01_.jpg

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Thanks for that - will price that up too:thumbup:

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

If you don't mind me asking, what was the quote for that many boxes?

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I'm just going through this and in the end I bit the bullet and got a sole use 20' container.

I had intended to bring only essentials. Then quickly realised that my tools, my auto parts, and my hi-fi took up a fair amount of space.
So those and the essentials would have cost circa £2500 and all the extra hassle of a shared container etc.
So for £3750 I can basically relax on the packing into as small a space as possible and just take pretty much anything/everything I want to. Which means I'll be taking a couple of beds, a sofa & recliner, and some furniture that I had never intended taking.
That's door to door with me packing but them loading and unloading.
An extra £600 for them to do all the packing as well.
Insurance costs are not included as they vary by value of items.

I've been told that the only real consideration for weight is that you/they need to be able to pick it up and load it. Some of my items will weight close to 50kg as an example.

150cuft costs circa £1500 from most places.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I'm afraid your hifi is unlikely to be worth bringing to the US. Loudspeakers are fine, obviously, but most components are not dual-voltage. Some are, but it's rare.

I'm intrigued why you'd want to bring car parts across the Atlantic too, but I guess there could be reasons, assuming you're also bringing a car somehow.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Bear in mind beds are a different size in N America. Queen size is roughly (but not the same as) King size in the UK. But if you like your bed, bring it with you if you can. Nothing worse than being somewhere completely new and not being able to get a decent night's sleep, just magnifies the stress.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I built 80% of my hi-fi myself. To sell/replace would cost me circa 5k
I'm qualified in electronics and electrics so it's not really an issue.
My only problem is getting my turntable motor to run on 60hz instead of 50hz (actually I'll just buy the alternate pulley for it). Pinky & Perky anyone? :lol:

Cars are my trade. I do a lot of track driving and race car prep.
I have a few cars each side of the pond and they use similar/same parts.
I'm leaving one here (UK) for doing some track stuff when I call back over, building a track car over there (US) so need the spares I've accrued.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

That all makes sense. It sounds like you know more about these things than most.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

My experience was that we were going to rent an apartment and the initial plan was never to go for more than a few years. So we left all our stuff in storage (I bought a decommissioned container and stored it in a farm shed) and shipped out a few boxes of essentials with http://www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk/

It cost three hundred pounds for about five large boxes at the time and that was plenty.

Once we got to the US we spent about $8000 on fitting out our apartment. This was everything including furniture, beds, electronics etc. down to pots and pans. A quarter of this was our sofa set, so all in all I think buying stuff in the US was reasonably affordable. Yes we didn't buy the best quality stuff but it only had to last a few years. When we returned we managed to get over half the money back by selling on craiglist and to neighbours. So all in all it was far easier and better value to buy goods new from your walmarts and discount furniture stores (rooms to go!) and potentially sell it, then thinking about shipping all your stuff back and forth if your stay is potentially only for a short period of time.

I also thought it was really quite liberating not having our UK stuff/crap and just having the few sentimental essentials (photos mainly but some other bits too)

Of course we wished we could have stayed... but thats another story :)

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I sold the lot! 2 suitcases of clothes and a few sentimental nick nacks and my golf clubs was all I bought over.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

We had 20 boxes collected yesterday, along with pictures and a few longer items. We are shipping them with 1st Move International, who put them all together, bubble wrap, waterproof membrane the lot on a pallet. It seems both well protected and secure.
We were lucky, the buyers of our home said they would take everything inside it as well for £4k, so the will convert to $6.5k which we can put towards lots of new furniture.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

I think it must depend on what situation you are heading into. If you are moving over 1 person to move in with a already resident partner the gubbins you need to move can be minimal.

We are moving a family of 4 & 2 cats (and planning for a long term stay) and will be having a sole use container. That makes it more economical to move the beds, sofa, all of our books, my quilting fabric, his tools (some of which are 110v anyway), the quality cookware etc. We figure that once we have paid for the container everything we take is stuff we don't have to buy to make our new residence our home.

I am still decluttering and getting rid of things that wont' be needed and don't need to be kept, and leaving some stuff for my daughter & family who will be renting our house from us.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

:lol:
Appears so in typed word. Inside my head it's not so clear cut.
Until it's all packed and ready I'll have the "WTF!?" moments many times a day.

You'd think so wouldn't you.
I'm moving alone into a house that's already set-up.
Still taking a container. I think it's partly because it makes sense and partly because I have convinced myself I need the things I've worked hard for over the years.
Although there are times when I'd be happy to walk away from it all without a problem.
But getting rid of all the stuff here seems harder than packing it and taking it.



That makes sense.
Once you are up to around half a 20' container in volume you may as well have a sole use container and not be stressed about volume.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

Our plan for the US move later this year is to put important stuff we want to keep into relatives' attics. Sell the electronics etc and rent the house out furnished. Ship paintings by fedex and turn up with suitcases of clothes, playstation and disk storage.

We're in the process of decluttering the house.

Re: To sell or not to sell home contents
 

We just sent the sentimental bits, and will be buying cheap furniture to start with, just to set us up. Then replace things with new nicer things as we get settled.

We used MoveCorp and they were truly terrible.....avoid at all costs! They will give you a cheap quote, then once they have your stuff in the yard the price ramps up and up!!.....in the end the cost doubled!