Removals Quotes

hi everyone!  wondering if anyone can compare quotes w/ me?  we're repatriating in august and have gotten 5 or 6 removals quotes for shipping virtually all contents of our 3 bedroom house.  all companies are reputable international removal companies.  we'll fill a 20ft container sole use.  we're moving from suffolk to florida.  the lowest quote we have is £4700 including pack/wrap/shipping/unpack.  it excludes insurance, but i think we will get insurance through a 3rd party.  the highest quote is £5850.

i'm wondering if anybody else has gotten quotes for a full 20ft container recently and can tell me what prices you're being quoted so i can do a sanity check!  thanks for your help.

If you can pack and load your own container you can shave a LOT off these quotes. We brought a 40 foot container from VA to Cheshire last June for about $4200. We have experience loading containers, and went through a shipping company who arranged the container, road transport and clearing on this end, plus advised us all the way regarding paperwork.

You have 2 hours to load and 3 to unload before you incur extra expense. If you plan the load, it will go VERY fast - and if you can get everything into a 20', you should be in good shape, if you have 3 or 4 strong guys who can lift and place.

The last time we sent a container to the US was about 12 years ago, and a 40' container was about 2200 pounds then. I'd certainly look into it before I commit to a removals firm, which usually make obscene profits.

thanks for the suggestion but we already considered the 'diy' route first and ruled it out.  it's just not for us.  now we're just trying to get a good deal on someone else doing it for us.  thanks though.

I work for a removals company (but not in that part of the business, I'm the web person!), and your quotes sound about standard from stuff I hear floating past my head in the office. I also guess/think, again from what I overhear, that it is best to get insurance through your remover. If you'd like to try the company where I work to get another quote www.bradshawinternational.com

Good luck with your move!

Hi,

Could you tell me who gave you the cheapest quote? Our cheapest quote for door-to-door service for a 20 ft sole use container is £4,750 and it does NOT include the insurance. But that is going in to mid-America, so there is some road travel, too, and your move may be easier.

I also don't have any reviews for them other than what was on the company's own web page. The people I dealt with seemed very nice, but reviews from others help (I thought they were a company someone mentioned on here, but the person didn't put a link so I googled it and later realized it was a different company with a similar name -- the company the other person had mentioned was based in the US).

I have someone else coming to give an estimate tomorrow, so we'll see. I'd love to get the price down.

The key is finding a container line that uses a port that works on both ends. The last time we went from the UK to the USA, we used Atlantic Container Line (ACL), which went from Liverpool to Norfolk, VA. We have also used Sea-Land (now defunct, I think) and Maersk.

Find a shipping agent - on this side, think Liverpool or Southampton. In the USA, if it's the midwest think St. Louis, New Orleans, Mobile - because some of the haulage might well be river. The road transport can add a lot, but what adds the most is going through a 'moving company'. A good shipping agent will arrange everything and guide you through the entire process. Some container lines will deal with you directly, but some won't as they know that many folks don't understand what's involved. We've shipped other stuff so DH knew the procedure.

BTW, we have never bothered with the insurance. Not costly, but if you read the fine print, you won't have much of a payout if the 'worst' happens.

The key is finding a container line that uses a port that works on both ends. The last time we went from the UK to the USA, we used Atlantic Container Line (ACL), which went from Liverpool to Norfolk, VA. We have also used Sea-Land (now defunct, I think) and Maersk.

Find a shipping agent - on this side, think Liverpool or Southampton. In the USA, if it's the midwest think St. Louis, New Orleans, Mobile - because some of the haulage might well be river. The road transport can add a lot, but what adds the most is going through a 'moving company'. A good shipping agent will arrange everything and guide you through the entire process. Some container lines will deal with you directly, but some won't as they know that many folks don't understand what's involved. We've shipped other stuff so DH knew the procedure.

BTW, we have never bothered with the insurance. Not costly, but if you read the fine print, you won't have much of a payout if the 'worst' happens.

I never heard of going through a shipping agent. Is that the same as a freight forwarder? The guy coming out today is with a well-reviewed freight forwarder called Rainier, based in Seattle. The moving company that already came out that I thought was recommended on here but was actually a different company  is Corporate Atlantic Relocation based here in England.

As I understand it, a freight forwarder is slightly different. But that just may be terminology, not 'fact'  .

I would call a container line, and ask which shipping agents they work with. We were in Richmond VA for this last move, and knew that the container port would be Norfolk VA. A lot of transatlantic moves go via Norfolk because of the military presence, never mind the location w/r/t shipment of commercial goods. We found an agent who got us a better quote on the container than we got from the container line. He was in Norfolk, but a transplanted Brit, so he was well familiar with what the UK needed to see w/r/t paperwork. His counterpart in Liverpool (the clearing agent) was equally good, and they communicated with each other, so no surprises. Our guy in the US assured the Liverpool guy that we were OK folks, had experience, and could be trusted to resolve any problems quickly. Because we dealt with professionals, there were no problems, and again, the cost of the 40' container was about $4200 in June 2011.

As I understand it, a freight forwarder is slightly different. But that just may be terminology, not 'fact'  .

I would call a container line, and ask which shipping agents they work with. We were in Richmond VA for this last move, and knew that the container port would be Norfolk VA. A lot of transatlantic moves go via Norfolk because of the military presence, never mind the location w/r/t shipment of commercial goods. We found an agent who got us a better quote on the container than we got from the container line. He was in Norfolk, but a transplanted Brit, so he was well familiar with what the UK needed to see w/r/t paperwork. His counterpart in Liverpool (the clearing agent) was equally good, and they communicated with each other, so no surprises. Our guy in the US assured the Liverpool guy that we were OK folks, had experience, and could be trusted to resolve any problems quickly. Because we dealt with professionals, there were no problems, and again, the cost of the 40' container was about $4200 in June 2011.

Doing it your way, did they pack the house for you and load it into a container? Or did you do that yourself?

We packed and loaded ourselves and unloaded at this end. We numbered boxes as we packed, and had a list of contents for the customs forms. We also knew what was where when unpacking.

If you plan the load - measure your furniture, draw a loading diagram etc., have uniform boxes (as much as possible) and use space wisely you can load a container in the allotted time. Even if you go over, the charge is about $75 per hour, so a couple of hours which you shouldn't need with a 20' container) is cheaper than paying a removals company. 

One person has to be the 'load master' and direct the traffic; it can't be a bunch of guys grabbing and stuffing. The key is planning. You can get the inside dimensions, and remember to not pack too high as you load. With a 40', we built a bulkhead mid-way to stabilize. Having a detailed contents list also minimizes the potential for customs to pull and do an 'every box' check on this end.

The 'owner' for the customs declaration needs to be the UKC if it's coming this way, or the USC if going that way. That minimizes or eliminates duty. We paid absolutely nothing as DH was a returning citizen out of the UK for >10 years. They do not really care that you have 20 rolls of toilet paper or paper towels (which are great to stuff in boxes for padding) and nobody is going to ask you for receipts to show that the sofa is >1 year old.