shipping container sizes/prices??

I have seen in many shipping/relocating companies... that they use steel containers that are 7'x7'x20' or longer.  And they mention shipping smaller packages but not too much info on that.  I did see somewhere(?) a container size of 4'x4'x7'.  What were the sizes and prices of containers everyone shipped?
Thanks~Gina~

Hiya Gina. I didn't ship anything over here so I'm not much of a help to you unfortunately. My dad is currently shipping over 2 boxes to me of sweaters and other things I wasn't strong enough to be able to carry in my already heavy luggage over here. He just took it to the post office and it cost him $80 to ship to two little boogers. Seems like it could have been cheaper somewhere else, I'm not sure - but I'm sure some other people on here would know better.

From what I know, the containers for shipping a whole house are the size of rail road cars.  We don't have enough stuff to fill one, so we're going to go with a partial container.  It's cheeper, but may take a little longer to get stuff.  (I took my bf 3 months to get some stuff in Miami).  They box all of your stuff in wooden crates and throw it in the container with the stuff of other people going the same direction.  We're going to use Allied-Pickfords, as bf had good experience with them.  I'll look and see if I can find a specific web site describing the containers.

Thanks Sarah!
BECCABOO... P L E A S E  let me know how things work out!
And GOOD LUCK!
THANKS~GINA~

this is something i'm interesting in finding out about as well....anyone know of website where they break down what fits in what size container?  (as in 1 bed, 2 easy chairs, 1 sofa...that sorta stuff).  i know storage places that use containers over here do....  it'll help me out more than dimensions.

thanks!
m

HI M,
Try www.movedirect.net
You will fill out a brief inventory list and they will gather bids for you.  It will take a couple of days to a couple of weeks.  You will want to save the inventory list you submit since it won't show up again (this is what happened to me).  These are just ballpark figures and I am unaware of the rep and services of theses companies but you'll get an idea of cost.

I got a bid from themovingworld.com for $5000 to move our entire household including minivan and car.  (This was just for fun.)  And I thought it was a mistake, but I recieved more bids from them that were really cheap.  I also received bids that were really expensive.  

Beccaboo mentioned sharing a container with other travelers and I've seen this alot on online descriptions.  So if you have large stuff, but not enough to fill the container (7'x7'x20'), this will most likely be what you are offered.

I've seen many useful sites on packing procedures and how to figure out your total volume but I will have to get back to you on that.

Let me know if you find anything interesting.

Good luck!
LOL~Gina~

Hi M,

I finally found the website I mentioned that explains the procedures for packing and volume.

http://www.shipit.co.uk/index.html

If you go to the 'volumes' section, you'll find a list and pictures of household furniture and their volume (you had mentioned sofas and chairs).

'packing' section: I want to mention a procedure they use and a few thoughts on it.  They 'shrink-wrap' the stuff.  When I told my husband and laughed about it, he laughed back.  My husband says his company uses 'shrink-wrap' for their shipments and that it makes the package virtually indestructible (hahaha)!  It just goes to show you how looks can be deceiving.  Anyway, he brought home a roll (and will bring more) for our packing.  It looks and feels somewhere between regular food wrap and celophane.  This company (the link above) uses also a black shrink-wrap that you can see for yoursself: goto 'packing' then scroll all the way down and 'click for images'.

As for cost, it mentions how they calculate it but no estimates.  I haven't asked for a quote from here, so if you do, please let me know.

LOL~Gina~

It seems an age ago so my memory is quite foggy to give real details here. Just wanted to say that I shipped over a house load and a car with Pickford's. It was around $5000 and took about a month or so. Or was it three months? The entire contents of my 3-bedroom house were stored in a Self-store unit for about six months prior, and it filled, top-to-bottom, a medium-sized unit. Hmmm, perhaps 10x12x8? The contents and the car took a container each. But I'm fairly certain there would have been room to spare in both.

Lisa how was the "move".  We are planning a move next year and $5000 sounds cheap to me.  At the moment we are planning on selling everything because we are guessing the cost to move a portion of our household would be astronomical.  It would be nice if we could send some things over.  Did you have much breakage/damage?  Would you recommend the movers?

Does anyone know if Allied, Allied-Pickfords, Pickfords and Allied International are the same company?  Just want to be 100% sure.

Thanks
~Gina~

Lisa,
 You stated you shipped a car over there?  is your car legal to drive in the UK...and was there anything you had to do with it to get it on the roads there?  just very curious...  as I am about to sell my 4x4 toyota pickup   :'( and will not have anything there until we can afford to get a second car or a motorcycle for me.

I am sure I will still have to sell, but curiosity has me wondering now!!!

I'm moving over from NYC at the end of December and I just have 5 or 6 large boxes that I need to ship over. I can't pay UPS prices, and if the items I ship take 3 months to get there that's ideal believe it or not. I don't need a relocation company, is there a way I can ship this myself by talking directly to a shipping company?

Any suggestions on inexpensive sea shipping for just a few boxes?

Thanks!

Elle and I shipped a large box about 1' x 1' x 2' of items (china and other things) from the Illinois/Iowa border area.  It cost around $40 I believe (Elle can confirm how much it cost) but it was sent by our friends via ship rather than airmail therefore it took about three weeks to get here!!

You'll probably do better filling your quota of luggage weight to its extent every time you come back with all the items you want to keep and bring over here. It'll be really heavy if you don't have anyone meeting you at the airport.  We ended up bringing back three cases with wheels on which were just under the maximum weight.