Moving recommendations from SouthEast USA to Edinburgh, Scotland

Looking for any recommendations on moving companies for a small to average amount of stuff to Edinburgh from North Carolina.  We don't mind packing it. 

Wondering what are prices for pallets maybe?

Trying to decide whether to ship bikes, trailer, few small pieces, toys, kitchen plates and small items.

Thanks in advance!

Can't you bring most of that as luggage? Definitely wouldn't ship plates unless you absolutely had to have them.

That is a good thing to consider but we are moving indefinately so I think we may just be able to bring all our clothes as luggage.  I would like to have a few things of my own, I think...and it would be costly to replace everything (i am assuming)  Maybe others could add?

Trying to figure if it is cost effective to buy everything once in Edinburgh or if there is a good option for an average amount of things.

I hired a mover. I think my stuff filled a quarter of a container (as in those things on the back of a container ship). Something like fifty boxes and some furniture.

I don't remember what it cost, but it was a few thousand.

I'm older and the move is permanent, so I definitely wanted family things and furniture. But, you know, it costs.

I'm an hour north of Edinburgh and used upakweship because I had used them before in the States.  They were great until things transferred over to their carrier in England.  They were definitely the cheapest at $596 (a year and a half ago) for half a pallet (mostly books, pots and pans, and arts supplies).  The bit of porcelain that I sent in that shipment arrived in shards.. just about all of it.  I don't recommend shipping glass or dishes.  Take that stuff in an extra bag on the plane if it means a lot to you.  If it doesn't, replace it here.  Dishes are not expensive.. it's the small things like quality kitchen utensils and quality stainless steel pots and pans that will cost you an arm and a leg.  Don't bother bringing bedding because their sizes are different here. 

I wouldn't bring the bike either. You'll likely end up being charged tax on the bike or have to fight for ages to avoid the tax. Unless the bike is a very expensive, quality item.. I would just buy one here. Trailer? What kind of trailer? 

If you haven't already found a house in Edinburgh, don't forget the rooms here are much much smaller than you are used to. 

We are moving to just outside Glasgow. When I was researching shippers, I used www.movingscam.com to learn which companies to avoid. We had about 80cuft of boxes to move. We took items we had collected over the years, books, kitchen items, photo albums, art work, pottery, clothing, and hobby related items.

If you have less than a container load, most of the companies will put your boxes into a crate. These crates are certain sizes. I measured our 25 boxes at ~80cuft, but when the moving company came, they said our items would not fit into the 100cuft crate that I had gotten a quote for. Only a 142cuft crate would fit everything, due to the dimensions of some of the boxes. This increased our cost by $500. I guess moral of the story is if you ask for a quote of a certain cubic volume, then you need to ask what size crate they use, and plan your box sizes carefully.

Anyways, for the 142cuft, we paid ~$2500 and a ~$178 insurance premium for our items valued at ~$7500. We used Stevens International for a move from Louisville, KY to Hamilton, Scotland. They were cheaper by several hundred than other companies we got quotes from. Hope this info helps

I used UPakWeShip when I moved from Madison to the Western Isles.  If I recall correctly, their U.S. shipping port was in North Carolina, so you may be able to save money by delivering it to the port yourself. 

I checked around with a lot of different companies, and for shipping a smallish amount of stuff (I only had one pallet, ~50 cu. ft., and it was all boxed), they were the cheapest.  Don't get me wrong, it was still around $1200 by the time I'd paid the customs fees and all that.  But that was less than any of the other estimates, since other companies seemed to charge for a minimum of 100 cu. ft.

Thanks everyone...still pondering...this is all helpful!  Feel free to keep posting any suggestions!

We were just wondering about the same thing. We are moving no furniture; only personal items like some clothes(we will pack in suitcases) baby books and legal documents etc. along with very few items like photos, select wall art, two guitars and some CD's. We are selling everything else so we will have very little to ship. I'm hoping to keep it to the bare minimum as it is expensive to ship and I have the moving cost for three cats to contend with as well.