Pickfords are coming to collect our things in just over a week and I've read through the paperwork about how strict it all is and how around 80% of shipments are scanned incurring a $250 fee and that some are opened up and inspected.

I've asked for a list of reccommended items not to pack to try and avoid the risk of being scaned or worst still being inspected but all Pickfords have said is to use my own judgement.

So far I've told my son not to pack in the shipment any of his toy weapons i.e. swords, guns, bow and arrow... What about batteries, perfume, candles, furniture wax and cricket set - can a cricket bat be contrued as a weapon at all do you think??

Any help/advise would be great as the days are slipping by!

Your child's toys will be fine, let him him have them!! They will be listed as toys on the inventory, which is what they are.

No liquids, no food, no weapons, no pornography, no lottery tickets (I think), no alcohol, no liquid cleaning products, no plants, no raw wood, no garden tools (you would have to show that they have been sterilised or some such, probably not worth it)
Batteries, not sure, I would leave them out.

Second that. Also, having a small chuckle at worrying about plastic swords in the land of guns.

I know! He'll fit in well with the natives with all that weaponry.

Our boys have amassed quite an arsenal of Nerf guns over the last two years, I keep finding those little foam bullets everywhere.

Round here you can actually buy real guns for less than the cost of some nerf guns...

I think Pickfords are just covering their arses (or just being too lazy to take your question seriously). Other than the obvious (real weapons, drugs, chemicals, etc.), I wouldn't worry too much.

We had a cricket bat, batteries (not millions, but whatever spares we had) and some nonperishable food (again, just leftovers, mostly spices and tea) and had no problems. I didn't know about the food restriction at the time. Our cargo was xrayed but not opened.

Thanks Everyone My son's "weapons" are made of wood and the swords are rounded at the tips but Pickfords were still trying to say to take them as checked baggage when we fly..

I guess perfume is considered a liquid so I'll need to put that in checked baggage. I have a pair of really good hairdressing scissors - shipping or checked??

all my kids toy swords etc went with the rest of the toys.

Candles and matches went in the packing too - but no cleaning products.

What pickfords was MOST adamant about was food stuffs and booze - they refused to pack any of it (however a colleague of my husbands was allowed to 'stash' some booze and tins of beans etc in a half packed box when his pickfords packing team 'looked the other way' for him.

Im getting ready to pack soon but only have 2 suitcases.. might end up wearing 10 layers on the plane

Don't worry about the scissors. I am a quilter and I think I had about six pairs.

I think you might be worrying too much about all of it, actually. Don't pack anything illegal or anything that might raise questions as to why you have it at all, and follow the agricultural guidelines, and you should be OK. What you pack won't make any difference as to whether or not they scan your packages - they don't know what's in them before scanning them, so it must be either random selection or questionable details (or lack of detail) on the packing list that makes them choose particular shipments.

Your perfume will probably be OK if you pack it so it won't break. I have some dyes that I packed, they are half a dozen small plastic bottles and I made sure they were tightly closed, then put each one inside two ziploc bags and groups of three inside a sealed plastic sandwich container. I then packed the containers in other boxes so they'd be sure to remain upright. No problems at all.

Wouldn't perfume fall under the "no liquids" rule though for shipping??

What I'm concerned about is if my shipment is scaned and they pick something up the inspection cost is $2500 Can they pick up on liquids when they scan??

not necessarily that some liquid is against US government regulations but having it in the container increases the risk of damage and insurance payouts, which they really don't want to deal with.

We basically smiled nicely during our last move when they said no liquids, no food and then loaded a ton of both into boxes which they took anyway. Of course we didn't take fresh fruit or meat, but we did take some other items they didn't want us to take.

Having "come over" pretty recently if you have kids my advice is to hold off on some clothes and pack more books, toys and DVDs in your luggage than you think you might need. Our airfreight has been held up at customs at SeaTac for over 2 weeks now and my kids are climbing the walls.

You're probably fine, I shipped across a knife roll, with at least 2 dozen sharp chef's knives in it.. They went down on the inventory with a side note that they were tools of my trade, it didn't get delayed or inspected at all.