Moving/shipping advice from Toronto to Melbourne/Australia

Can anyone provide advice on shipping possessions from Toronto to Melbourne when they make the big move down to Australia? I'm moving on my own, currently have a 1 bedroom (700 square foot condo) in Toronto and am not sure if it's really worth moving a lot of stuff. The only really valuable furniture item that I have is a 2 piece leather sofa set (3 person condo-sized sofa plus a lounge chair). Potential only other items of value that I'd consider bringing is a round dining table and my mattress set. (Everything else in my condo is throwaway furniture or incompatible electronics). I also have a few boxes of personal items.

Has anyone else done a similar move of this size? I think that some moving companies are willing to pool small moves together with other people into a big container, and ships everything together when the container is full? Any estimates as to cost?

Also, how do they handle if the person doesn't know exactly where they'll be living when they arrive in Australia? Storage options?

Thanks, any advice from someone who recently moved to Australia is greatly appreciated.

I've just moved to Melbourne from Calgary a couple of weeks ago and I would probably say it's not worth it for that amount of furniture. I had a similar amount (maybe a bit more) and it cost around $5600 plus $250 when your here (fortunately my employer is paying the costs).

It can be a hassle buying new all over again, but on the bright side you get all new stuff plus you don't have to wait for belongings to arrive (if, like me, you wait a bit too long to ship everything). We will be living in a mostly unfurnished place for at least 3 weeks and that is a huge pain!

Also you can buy new furniture here relatively cheap (if you're willing to assemble it); there is a place called Fantastic Furniture where you furnish a 1 bedroom apartment for about $1999-$2999. Again not the best quality but the price is right.

That is just my two-cents, but if I had to pay to ship my own things I would only send the important, sentimental things and sell everything else.

If you've got anymore questions let me know. You'll love it here, it's the middle of winter and you can actually go outside and enjoy it!

Thanks for the info Panny. Did you need to use a full container, or move everything you owned? I got quotes from a couple reputable international movers, for a groupage move of limited items that I figured are valuable enough to bring (good leather sofa and chair, good queen size mattress set, 4 boxes). Their quotes were a lot less than what you mentioned, for groupage they charge per cubic meter, door to door, port/THC fees included, only quarantine charge will be extra.

I agree, unless it's valuable I wouldn't bring it. There is a ton of stuff I own (cheap quality furniture) that I won't even consider bringing, costs wouldn't be worth it. Can just go to the Fantastic Furniture or Ikea down there!

No problem jim.

I think I probably shipped more than you were intending to bring. Overall, I have 47 units being shipped which includes a couch, loveseat, entire bedroom set + matresses. We ended up getting a group container as well, the advantage is the price is cheaper ($5600 vs. $8500-$10000) while the disadvantage is that sometimes you wait longer for shipping (it was about 2-3 weeks difference). Of course it makes it easier to send everything when it's on someone elses dime!

Let me know if you have any other questions, I haven't been here long but having just gone through the process I'm sure I could answer some of your questions about the process.

Thanks for the offer panny. I'm actually several months away from moving, awaiting approval, just doing early research right now so I don't need to scramble at the last minute. I'm sure I'll have some questions as the time gets closer.

I'm doing a similar move in a few months from Toronto to Melbourne.

What does it cost for the container and the names/contacts of shipping companies you guys used?

Did your things arrive safely?

Were there any charges when you went to pick up your stuff in
Melbourne customs clearing etc?

Any other tips in terms of packing moving would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot, already stressing

Hi there, I'm a little different but we have shipped our belongings from Victoria BC to the Gold Coast Qld twice. We used Bekins once and I can't remember the first company we used, it was a while ago.

Everything arrived safely and the only extra costs were the quarrentine spray and customs clearances. It was very frustrating to know our container had arrived but World Wide Movers took 3 weeks to get it moving to be checked with customs.

We used a shared container, door to door to keep the costs down.

Good luck.

Hi guys. This is a very interesting topic for us as we're making the move to Adelaide shortly and are determined to only take sentimentals items like photo albums and keepsakes. We're selling EVERYTHING else! I intend to put the boxes we're keeping into storage until we come back for a visit to Western Canada in a year unless I can find someone to share a container. Can anyone tell me about the "group shipping" idea and how much it might actually cost roughly. Is there anyone looking to share something soon? We're in Ontario right now but planning on moving the few boxes out to storage in Alberta or BC at the end of June unless we do the shared shipping from here...So much to do and so little time!

I haven't moved yet, but will be doing so in the next few months. Last year when I was doing my initial research, I got very good references for Brytor, who specializes in international moves, and will do "groupage" moves to Australia, and arrange door-to-door.

A groupage move is when you don't have enough items to fill an entire container - the company will keep your stuff in storage until there is enough to pool together to fill a container, and then it will all be shipped together (but no worries about it getting mixed up, they will still keep the items clearly divided within the container).

Brytor's main office is in Mississauga... google them and you can find their contact info.

It was a tough decision but we went with shipping everything that we owned we got a quote $4700 USD with 1 month storage in Toronto and shipping to Melbourne for a 20ft container. Thanks for the valuable input. If anyone wants to share a container we are game We havent yet decided on whom to ship with but I will certainly get in touch with the contacts listed above.