Kats.

Hi,

My husband and I are moving from London to the Bay Area in California later this year with his work. I've just started looking at shipping costs - we're moving from a 2 bed flat but not bringing everything (the big items are 2 couches, 1 recliner, desk, a few bookcases, plus boxes of books, kitchen stuff, and clothes). I got a quote from Anglo Pacific (who I've heard are very good) for £3500 for 600 cubic feet in a shared (groupage) container.

This seems really high as we're not bringing everything (no bed or tables etc). Does anyone have any shipping company recommendations and costs to share? Thanks!

Bob

Sounds reasonable, you are heading to the other side of the US...but have a search of the forums as there are plenty of threads from the summer.

All depends on what is included, packing, pick up, storage, customs inspections, delivery...what's the actual service?

Kats.

Hi Bob, thanks for your reply. I had a search but didn't come across anything with specific recs and costs, I may have been searching for the wrong thing! If you could point me in the right direction that would be great.

The quote I got includes packing, pick up, delivery - no storage costs in there and the regular destination customs fees and port fees are included, but not any taxes or inspection fees.

It does make me wonder if we should leave behind all the big furniture items and just take boxes of books and clothes etc if all of the quotes are around there (we're happy to pay a bit more for good service, we don't need the lowest possible but are just trying to make sure it's around the right figure).

Bob

In the main USA forum, at the top there's a "search this forum" use relocation, shipping, container and loads will pop up.

Won't all be for the bay area, but the general cost doesn't change all that much if you're looking for a ball park number.

As to who to use, it all depends on who is contracted out on the other end, and you could search them out on the scam moving website.

If you're paying for the shipping, I'd not bother unless it's top quality furniture. If someone else is, who cares about the quality.

MoshiMoshi

In case you do leave the furniture behind, and to give you an idea of the budget end of the scale, we paid around 750GBP for ten 30kg boxes, which travelled from Germany via London to Los Angeles last year. That was door-to-door, including insurance, but we provided containers and packed everything ourselves. Extra charge was $90 fee on delivery (storage or customs, I'm not sure).

We used a company called EuroUSA Moving and Shipping -- no frills service, but someone always picked up the phone, and our stuff arrived without incident after 3 months.

(Ten 30kg boxes worked out for approx 600 books, plus clothes, kitchenware excluding plates and pans, and various miscellany we forgot we owned until it arrived here.)

I'm sure you can find a comfortable middle-point between 750 and 3500GBP, depending on your requirements.

Kats.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

Kats.

Good point - at this stage the company is giving us some money towards the move, we're waiting to find out if any other moving costs will be covered by them. If it's just the lump sum for us to use, I think we'll be better off getting rid of the furniture.

Thanks again, I've just been browsing previous threads in the main forum for more shipping info and have come across loads of other things I haven't even thought about yet (car insurance, driver's licence...) - exciting but scary!

Bob

Check out the wiki on company relocations, plenty of info on what people have asked for and the kind of things people have gotten.

All stuff worth asking for as you don't have anything to lose.

Also don't forget the tax implications of a cash lump sum, it'll be considered income.

Sentosa

I've just used upakweship from Florida to U.K they do ship from u.k. to u.s. I shipped 9 boxes 18x18x24 a total of 47 cubic feet the cost $805 We took it to a local drop off and it will be delivered to my sons home in u.k.
The people at upakweship are excellent nothing too much trouble even when I asked stupid questions, they guided me through everything, it takes 5 to 7 weeks by ship.

Kats.

Thanks for the info, I'll check them out too!

joannabanana

We are moving from the UK to California (southern) and I narrowed it down to Pickfords or Vanguard Logistics. Pickfords quoted us £860 for 135 square feet shared container which would take 9-13 weeks, but they weren't clear at all on fees for when we arrive, and were very short with me when I called them with some questions.
Vanguard quoted us around £700 for the same size, arriving in 4 weeks, and we actaully used them when we moved here from the USA, and they were fine then. (although at the time they didn't warn us there would be an additional £250 in fees when our shipment arrived! I've confirmed all the fee's this time though).

Kats.

Yeah, the fees at the other end sound a bit random. Thanks for this, really useful to get some actual costs and measurements to compare against.

crispin

I would steer clear of Pickfords - I used them recently (Cambridge to San Francisco), they quoted 8-12 weeks and it took nearer 18 (1 week was due to snow in the UK) - their communication was poor at best unless they wanted money. Having said that things were packed very well - only one beer glass was broken in the move - but 4 months is a long time to be without all your stuff...

Crispin

anotherlimey

5-7 weeks by sea?

Are they going the scenic route?!

anotherlimey

The other end is frequently handled by a third party agent, and they might try to fleece you with fees etc.

It's not unheard of for these companies to demand $600 for a customs inspection when they have you over a barrel.

So it's worth finding out who's clearing the shipment on the other end, and what the fee schedule is for any inspections (Customs do charge a small fee for inspections, but it's nowhere near $600). They might not want to tell you, but there's no reason they can't (they will be subject to change by Customs anyway); but they won't quote duties, if any (but not normally applicable for personal stuff.)

If you can find a company who takes care of both ends, that will probably be more expensive upfront but cheaper overall.