to ship or not to ship?

[amber and chris]

Does anyone have any advice on "taking stuff with you" on emigrating from Canada to NZ?

We will be shedding a lot of stuff (furniture etc) but have many things we'd like to take - mostly family-inherited things, a few quite big. Any suggestions on what's worth taking and what's not? Any ideas on costs of shipping things?

We have also heard horror stories from shipping companies about "hidden costs" - people who ship only to a customs building, then you have to pay more to get things taken to your home; costs for agricultural cleaning; things being impounded and held to ransom! - etc. Can anyone fill us in a bit on the procedure and whether such things have really happened?

Any recommendations of moving companies to use?

Thanks!

[tamrib]

We didn't bring any furniture. Sold it all with the exception of our computer and stereo (which we needed a stepdown transformer for to the tune of $150).

We did bring a lot of other stuff though like pictures, bedding, towels, clothes, a few books and office supplies.

Now that I'm unpacking it all I can't believe the crap we brought.and it wasn't cheap. We decided to go with a consolidated shipment and it still cost us approx $11K. A 20 foot container is approx $20K Canadian.

We also used Crown Relocations and while they were good, they certainly weren't the cheapest from what I've gathered but we never experienced the "hidden costs" issue.

Be sure to ask what costs will be incurred on arrival. MAF charges when they examine your good and if they have to clean anything or fumigate it costs even more.

Another thing I would do is ask your relocation company for the documents that MAF will require you to fill out when your goods land in NZ. It was quite difficult for me to remember what medications that I'd packed into the shipment and in what quantities more than 3 months after the fact. I also couldn't remember what other possibly problem items that we'd shipped and was quite cheesed that Crown never suggested that we make note of these items and what cartons they were packed in.

Good luck!

[kanatakiwi]

I just went through this, shipping from Victoria BC to Auckland. had reps from two companies come out and give an estimate. quite a difference in price. we went with the cheaper estimate, but only because he was so very helpful, explained all the forms, suggested things NOT to ship that would raise red flags with MAF, etc. he also suggested shipping door to door, so that we didnt have to go down to the docks and deal with customs, MAF clearance, it was all done as part of the package and the stuff showed up at our door. the movers were great, brought it all in the house and even offered to unpack it all at no extra cost! ( I declined as I wanted to enjoy getting reaquainted with my stuff!) . This only cost an extra $200 and was well worth it. A friend went the other way and said dealing with customs brokers, getting forms approved etc , running around down at the port was pure agony and she didnt save any money by doing it herself.
Sharing a container definitely reduces the price but added an extra month of waiting, as it took a while to fill up the container with other stuff destined for NZ, not a good idea if you are in a hurry.

[RVC]

Amber and Chris:

Have you guys completed your move to Australia? Did you end up shipping all your stuff? Your input would be highly appreciated.

We have enough stuff for a two bedroom apartment, and are wondering if it economical to ship or to just sell here and buy out in South Australia. I would say our furniture is quite nice such as a dark wood bedroom suite including an armoire, sofas, a dining set, 43"HDTV etc. I would say we total we spent around 12K on our furniture. We are going to take our car (we have a 2007 mercedes) for sure, and may fit some stuff in that container.

The only problem that I have will selling all our furniture here is that the items are only 1-2 years old. What a shame to sell it so soon! But 20K for a container? That is astronomical.

Please reply when you have a moment.

Thanks
RVC

[thewebontheweb]

Hi,
I'm in Ottawa and just got three quotes for a 20 foot container to go to Melbourne - they ranged between $9,200 and $9,800 and included door-to-door service + packing of fragile items. Insurance is extra: 2.5% of the declared cost.

[RVC]

does anyone know if australian customs are strict about how much alcohol you are allowed to bring in if you are moving there? I mean, would they charge duty on 12 bottles of champagne if that was all i was bringing?

[comet555]

We were quoted $17,000 for a 20 foot container. That would be from Fort McMurray to Newcastle, NSW. We said forget it and bought all new stuff when we arrived.

We sold off some of our crappier furniture, but the rest we have in storage (for free) at my mother-in-laws farm. It just didn't make sense for us to bring it. We worked out the cost of setting up a new place in Australia and it was about $10,000 to $15,000. The upside is you get all new things and you don't have to wait two months for the container to arrive. You probably won't be able to use some of your electrical stuff anyway. My kitchen appliances, alarm clocks, hair dryers and even our tv and stereo equipment wouldn't handle the electricity here. The tv's also work on a different format so you would have to make sure it could handle electricity and the PAL format (instead of NSTC in Canada). So you'd likely have to replace some of those things anyway. The only electrical stuff that we could have taken was our desktop computer, printer, and digital camera.

Our decision was pretty easy because our furniture was ok but not really expensive. We decided we really only needed our photo albums, one box of books and our hockey and golf stuff. We took only our clothes in our luggage. The few things we want will be mailed out or will come back with us when we visit Canada next.

Anyway.just consider it carefully. It's really an individual choice, so what makes sense for us might not for you.

[backdoor]

We sold everything and put heirlooms in storage. We only brought clothes and lots of blankets! We rented all the appliances and TV when we got here, it was really cheap.