Cheapest way to ship personal belongings (clothing, etc.) to UK???

Hi there,
Some of you moved to UK already and hopefully you can help e with my dilemma.
Since we are starting from scratch in UK, who knows when I find a job, etc. I am planning to ship our clothing and some bedding, etc.
Do you know a cheapest way to do that. Someone told me that Airlines allow you to bring a couple extra cases for free since you are moving. I called Airlines, they don't do that anymore.
Please help.

Have you checked out the threads on the moving board? http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?board=18.0

There's a lot of different situations that worked for people, so my advice would be to read through those posts and see if anything will work for you. 

Well if it is only clothing and bedding i would suggest cramming as much as you can in to your suit cases. What my husband and i did was pack a little bit everytime we went over, thus less to move at the last moment. We ended We ended up storing items at his parents but it doesn't sound like that is your situation.

It will cost quite a bit to send but i know my parents have shipped a large box (it was all my Christmas decor) i THINK first class for about 90ish dollars though USPS. I am not sure but i would think if you go to your local post office they might be able to give you a price range of what to expect.  You can also use UPS or FedEx, but they will be much more expensive.

For relatively heavy things like bulky clothes and linens, it might well be cheaper to bring extra or overweight suitcases.  The last time I went home, it was cheaper to pay the extra $50 for an overweight bag and jam it full to the upper limit than it would have been to ship the items separately.

I just made the move and after months of searching for affordable ways to ship stuff I just gave up. It was going to cost about $800 to ship a few boxes of things. And the US post office charges about $115/30 lbs. If I had more stuff, like furniture or household items I might have paid to ship, but since all I wanted to bring were smaller personal items it just wasn't worth the money.

I basically decided to limit myself to 4 suitcases. I sent one with my husband when he left and paid the excess baggage fee when I flew out. It meant I left quite a bit behind, but I've been here a month now and I honestly can't even remember what I left behind. I haven't missed it. Other than a few sentimental things I HAD to have with me, I have had no problem replacing those items with thing purchased here.

 

We used a company called U Pack We Ship there is a website and there are offices in Oxford and can't remember  where else.  They go by volume instead of weight.  We had 81 medium boxes and it cost about $3400 so if you only have a few boxes it won't cost too much.  The website tells you how to measure your boxes and how to estimate the cost.

BUT your first box will cost you about $500 (at least).

Hold on.  This is not true.   Check out this page that the sent me after contacting them: http://www.euro-america.net/upak_baggage.htm

Mirrajay-

Either I totally misunderstood them, or I must not have negotiated enough, or something because the rate quotes I got from them were no where near that good. California is farther, but not far enough to explain the discrepancies in our quotes.

Anyway, glad to know it worked out well for you. I will remove my previous comment, as it is clearly inaccurate from your experience.

I havent actually SENT yet, but will most likey do so today, so we'll see what they charge in the end.   I'll update this thread for the OP's sake.

Mirrajay-

Either I totally misunderstood them, or I must not have negotiated enough, or something because the rate quotes I got from them were no where near that good. California is farther, but not far enough to explain the discrepancies in our quotes.

I don't think distance enters into it at all.  upackweship has contracts with shipping companies all over the country, I've seen posts by people who had their stuff go out of Texas, South Carolina, New Jersey, Rhode Island, etc.  based on where upackweship had a contract.  I live in PA, but if I was to ship with them, my stuff would go out of NJ. 

Oh,and the quote I got from upackweship:

$275 for the first box, $80 for each additional box from your door in PA to your door in Lincs.
Deduct $115 off the rate if you deliver the shipment to us in Charleston SC.

And then I got a second quote from them for space in a shipping container instead of by the box:

Based on 35 cubic feet
Rate $670
Minimum Charge $670
Extra cubic feet charged at $7
Service: From our shipping terminal in NJ to your door in Lincs

Based on 35 cubic feet
Rate $995
Minimum Charge $995
Extra cubic feet charged at $9
Service: From your door in PA to your door in Lincs

I got my quote back in April, and quotes are only good for 30 days. (I was looking things up to see how much I need to save before I move!)

I am not sure of the differences in quotes, but I did just get a contract from them for the $71 each box from Charleston to Surrey.   

I am not sure of the differences in quotes, but I did just get a contract from them for the $71 each box from Charleston to Surrey.   

$71 for each including the first?  NICE!