Moving Question

Hello!  I'm looking for some advice and I'm wondering if anyone here can help  me out.  I'm moving over to England in January and after getting several quotes for shipping my things that were well over $2,000 I have decided to not take most of my things with me.  But I do want to have a few personal items with me.  Books, dvds, photos, things that remind me of home and I can't bear to part with, etc.  Part of me feels a bit silly about it all because it's just stuff...but I want to feel like I'm actually living there and not just staying in my fiance's house but that it's home.

Anyway, I'm thinking of just sending a few boxes over, possibly just a few at a time.  I don't want to pay VAT on them and I'm wondering how to avoid this.  I've read about filling out the C3 form but don't know if that's what I need if I'm just shipping a few boxes from the post office.  But will I need one for every box?  Is it only if the value is over a certain amount?  Do I print that off and attach it myself or will they have it at the post office?

I hope that made sense.  Also, if anyone has a better idea for shipping things over, I would love to hear it!  I basically have no idea what I'm doing, lol.

Thanks!

Hi

Your questions make perfect sense to me as I am sorting all of this out too. Someone will come on and review with us. It doesn't hurt to repeat stuff on here as things change and I don't see a need to dig through years ago posts.

I think you have to put "used personal" on every box. Not sure about the form yet either.

I found out from one mover that you either take very little and save or take everything and pay a fortune. I'm contacting another mover for in-home estimate. I guess I have 700-900 cubic feet and that was quoted as 8000-9000 dollars. This is for total door-to-door service that we have to have. I have no idea what the rates should be.

Hi,

I am in the same boat with the shipping issue. I won't be taking a lot but still need to ship some things over. Where does one even start?

Lots of patchy info on moving companies and u-pack-we ship companies. Movingscams or scam.com is only so-so as they are get paid a bit for talking about some companies. First there aren't that many companies that ship overseas and as soon as you search the reviews for them it will quickly narrow them down. Unfortunately you have to be savvy when reading the reviews! Then you pick a few and email or call them for a quote and ask tons of questions. It is a very murky industry. I understand why you either take nothing or everything but it isn't fair to the consumer.

I'm wondering if a moving forum on here could be more specific like the pet one got easier to read and use.

I'm getting ready in an hour to ask Rainier for an  in home estimate and I have had great communication with Premier. There are just two more that I see that I am asking for estimates.

I'm sending some boxes on the plane with us and sending some boxes to the post office of the town we will be moving to. Nothing is a bargain but I have to have several things in my environment to function and be comfortable.

As I experience things/get info, I will pass it on.

Hang in there!

I just came on this forum to write a review about the shipping company I used and saw this thread. (I'm still going to write a review on a separate thread).

I used www.upakweship.com and was really pleased with the service.

I moved from Philadelphia, PA to Pontefract, West Yorkshire. I forget how much I actually shipped, but they'll do 100 cubic feet for $995, with $2 extra per cubic foot for door-to-door service, (minimum $200) which is what I got.

What I was most impressed with was their customer service. A few days before I moved, Hurricane Irene hit, and I was without electricity/computer for 5 days prior to my things being picked up. I had to call several times  to facilitate the paperwork, etc. and the man that helped me (Chris Corder) couldn't have been nicer. I was *freaking out* and he was calm and told me not to worry, that we'd get it done in time for the pick up.

A big UPS truck picked up my stuff. I signed and off it went. It took 8 weeks for my things to arrive. I was kept informed each step of the way through the shipping process.

When it arrived, three men carried my boxes through my front door and into my living room. I was suprised, as I thought it was just going to be put on the curb/driveway.  They were pleasant and very fast. I had 15 boxes and 3 VERY large tubs and it was all done in about 10 minutes.

I shipped mostly clothing and breakables, with some books, CD/DVDs and a good bit of  office supplies as well. Two things were broken when they arrived, but  I could see both were my fault entirely for not wrapping them up well enough (very minor/inexpensive things, so I wasn't bothered).

I got an email to follow up that everything was to my satisfaction, etc.

Again, all in all a very pleasant and positive experience.

This is good info! I guess it works out about the same at first glance if I pay 8000-9000 for 800 cubic feet and they do everything. I think your company makes it great to have flexible size shipments! Unfortunate for me as I can't do much of the packing.