Yet another thread about shipping...
 

Hi all

I know this topic has been discussed at length on this forum but I’m looking for answers I simply have not been able to find on this platform yet...

We look set to be moving U.K. to US in May, East Sussex to Connecticut, and we are taking all of our stuff (4 bedroom house, 2 adults, 2 kids and a dog) as hubby’s company will pay for shipping but not for repurchasing stuff once we’re out there (Bummer! That’d be so much easier :-/)

What companies have you used that you would recommend?

Most posts related to this i could find were people only taking some boxes/pallets. Having met with 3 moving companies so far they all said we’d be “just over” a 20ft container, meaning we’d need to get a 40, which with insurance and possible searches at customs is rather stretching the budget provided by the company... Also, none of them will reassemble furniture at our destination which just seems like a pain in the butt...

Any advice/recommendations would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance :)

Re: Yet another thread about shipping...
 

I have used shipit.co.uk. They are based in Bristol and trade as 1st Move International. Speak to Tessa Beeching. When it comes to shipping it's better to avoid cheap companies that then add on costs when they have your items to ransom. Shipit were amazing, they came to the house and collected the items and everything got from Cardiff to Seattle in about 2 months. I even had a large balsa wood ship model that came absolutely intact! They will quote you an estimate based on cubic metres but only charge you once the packing is complete and they are the tetris kings, they really pack well and maximise use of space to the point that my original shipment (about 1.5 cubic metres of personal items) was less then they quoted.

If they cannot pack it into a 20ft container and you have to use a 40, they can offset the cost by filling up the remaining space with other people's pallets (like mine). Not sure if that helps or not.

I'm so pleased with them I've just paid them this morning to ship the last of my possessions out (go karts!)

https://i.imgur.com/4HDYdHH.jpg

Re: Yet another thread about shipping...
 

Re: Yet another thread about shipping...
 

Try PSS international - they were my second choice; I decided to use a company more local to me for practical reasons, otherwise I would have gone with them. They are London-based and cover your area.

I was also in the borderline 20ft container scenario - the deal I did with my shipper was to identify items which could go as groupage (separately on pallets for sensible cost). We identified our bulky garden furniture as being the prime candidate - as it turns out we sold some other furniture and we managed to get it all in a 20ft.

I moved my stuff directly into storage, and it comes out soon into the new house. A high standard of protective packing is absolutely vital.

I also strongly recommend you invest in silica gel for packing. Talk to R-Tech solutions. I bought 100 bags of dessicant and placed one in each packing box. I also bought 6 bandaliers of silica and hung these in the container to prevent damp. My stuff arrived in perfect condition and the bandaliers had definitely absorbed moisture in the container - I spent £150 on the lot and worth every penny in my mind

Let me know if you have any other Qs

Re: Yet another thread about shipping...
 

Another shout out for shipit.co.uk / 1st Move International. They are not the cheapest, but were one of the few companies who would collect packed boxes (I spent several months packing prior to looking at shipping companies).

Additional fees for me included port fees at NY and Tampa (final destination), and I opted to hire a truck and picked up my stuff from the depot. It was still sealed and on the pallets, so not inspected by US customs in NY.