Please help me - how do I move this stuff?

Right, we're off to Tampa in November, to sort out my storage unit once & for all & ship my few remaining US worldly possessions over here.  Mostly books, some kitchen stuff - including china, antique pottery & silverware, misc-misc.  Price is not the biggest consideration -- more so, getting things here unbroken & convenience of shipment, then price.  (Saying that, I don't want to pay a fortune, but I just don't know how much this all costs -- we're not looking for the absolute cheapest deal, but not the most costly either.)

I don't think I have enough for a big moving company to do it. (??)  TBH, I don't remember how much I have, but I know it doesn't take up but maybe half of a 6' cube storage unit - guesstimating the dimensions.  I have resigned myself to ok -- we'll repack everything (it was put in boxes/storage rather haphazardly in a poorly planned move out & over here) if need be, but would rather not.

I've looked at upakweship - but it doesn't appear they are convenient to Tampa (nearest is Jacksonville -- no time to mess about with that) and Leeds (nearest Manchester I think -- would rather not mess about with that).

What are my options?  Can I do it via UPS?  Some other courier?  USPS?

Please help?  (I'm down to just under 2 months to get a plan together & have no idea what I'm doing!)

All advice, suggestions, recommendations welcome!

Wow - do I wish I were in a position to do this with you.  We're trying to get back to Florida in November as well, and it would be south of Tampa.  Too bad we couldn't put our stuff together in one container...I'm sick of paying storage fees!

Wow - do I wish I were in a position to do this with you.  We're trying to get back to Florida in November as well, and it would be south of Tampa.  Too bad we couldn't put our stuff together in one container...I'm sick of paying storage fees!

I hear that!  We've been paying storage rental now since March 2004 -- initially, it was only $35 per month, but it immediately went up & up & up to now I think it's around $70 (or more) per month.  For what I've paid in storage fees, it would have been cheaper to ship it all over from the get go.

If I understand correctly, peedal, for the length of time you've been here (longer than me?), you've probably paid a small fortune.

You could hire a company to pack and then use a cheaper courier service. 

i know when we've moved, we've always had our breakables packed by the movers and it was only about $200 or so for the service.  Totally worth it, IMO.

Mrs Robinson,

Well, we only started using the storage place about 2 years ago when my mom started redecorating her house and wanted my stuff out!  (Fair point, as I had been out of the country for 3 years by then!)

But you're right about the fees.  They seemed so "reasonable" in the begining, but have gone up 4 times in 2 years!!  Yeah, it's a good chunk of change.

I miss my records....and my kids' baby pictures....and books....and everything!

I miss my records....and my kids' baby pictures....and books....and everything!

Yeah, all my photo albums, old family photos, personal & family scrapbooks, family paperwork -- including my parents' stuff (wedding certificate, birth certificate for my dad, etc) are there.  I was the inheritor of all old family paperwork when we cleared out my mom's house back in 2001-02.

Depending on how many boxes... my parents have sent me stuff 1-2 boxes at a time, just marked "Used personal effects" via USPS, but not too cheap.  I've only run into Customs/VAT problem once, when my mom put a high value on one of the boxes.

I know people do it themselves all the time, but if you're moving valuables (breakables as well as sentimental stuff), I would hire a company to do it, because then they make sure you've not only filled out everything necesary, but because they do the packing, they're then responsible.

I moved my stuff with UPS.  They bill based on the total weight of the shipment, so the more you send, the less you pay per pound.  You can guess-timate the weight of the things in the storage unit (e.g. 15 boxes, weighing 20lbs each) and use this calculator: http://wwwapps.ups.com/calTimeCost?loc=en_US

If you use UPS, make sure that you know what customs forms you need to fill out and insist that they are attached to your package.  You may be given additional forms, which are used for commercial shipping - the girl who rang me through made me fill them out as well, because she had never handled an individual moving to another country.  Also, be sure to keep a copy of any "special" HMRC forms you have included (mine were discarded somewhere along the way and I had to fax new copies over).  And, in case your forms are discarded, write on all other forms that you have included HMRC Form XYZ.  That was how they knew the form was missing and that they needed to contact me.

Forgive me (in advance) for all the silly questions, but I really do need the Complete Idiot's Guide to International Moving.  My moving (in the past) has always consisted of either a) packing up a rented Uhaul & driving it across town from one apartment/house to another, or b) loading up my car with everything that would fit in it, calling it good, & driving all by myself from Kansas City to Tampa.  (Oh!  And we moved across the street after I got over here when we bought our house -- which was across the street from the flat where we lived.  We had no furniture so it was literally just carrying stuff across the street.)

You could hire a company to pack and then use a cheaper courier service. 

i know when we've moved, we've always had our breakables packed by the movers and it was only about $200 or so for the service.  Totally worth it, IMO.

So do I just ring up a regular (domestic - not necessarily international?) moving company & say - Here, come & pack this stuff?

Depending on how many boxes... my parents have sent me stuff 1-2 boxes at a time, just marked "Used personal effects" via USPS, but not too cheap.  I've only run into Customs/VAT problem once, when my mom put a high value on one of the boxes. 

Thanks for the suggestion, Elizabeth.  Sadly, I don't think I have anyone stateside (certainly not in/around Tampa now), who would be willing to do this for me.

I know people do it themselves all the time, but if you're moving valuables (breakables as well as sentimental stuff), I would hire a company to do it, because then they make sure you've not only filled out everything necesary, but because they do the packing, they're then responsible.

I think this is ultimately what I would like to be able to do.  However, somehow I've got the impression that unless I have a lot of stuff, regular international moving companies aren't going to be interested in talking to me - having my business.

I moved my stuff with UPS.  They bill based on the total weight of the shipment, so the more you send, the less you pay per pound.  You can guess-timate the weight of the things in the storage unit (e.g. 15 boxes, weighing 20lbs each) and use this calculator: http://wwwapps.ups.com/calTimeCost?loc=en_US

If you use UPS, make sure that you know what customs forms you need to fill out and insist that they are attached to your package.  You may be given additional forms, which are used for commercial shipping - the girl who rang me through made me fill them out as well, because she had never handled an individual moving to another country.  Also, be sure to keep a copy of any "special" HMRC forms you have included (mine were discarded somewhere along the way and I had to fax new copies over).  And, in case your forms are discarded, write on all other forms that you have included HMRC Form XYZ.  That was how they knew the form was missing and that they needed to contact me.

I was trying to remember who had posted about UPS - must have been you.  I have thought about doing this -- the paperwork sounds frighteningly complicated for my pea-sized brain.  I really don't understand about all the customs forms - HMRC or otherwise.

Waaaaah!  Why couldn't there really be a Harry Potter & his kind who could just help me get all my stuff over here by magick?!

Thanks for the suggestion, Elizabeth.  Sadly, I don't think I have anyone stateside (certainly not in/around Tampa now), who would be willing to do this for me.

I just meant that when you go, you could do it yourself, and ship it to yourself, as opposed to hiring a company to do it... but you're running the risk of being held up at customs.

Waaaaah!  Why couldn't there really be a Harry Potter & his kind who could just help me get all my stuff over here by magick?!

Tell me about it!  I'm doing it the other way now - still trying to figure out how much 'value' to put on sending my laptop back and not having my parents have to pay customs tax on it!

ignore me - I totally lost the plot there for a minute!

I recommend UPakWeShip.  They have great prices and will take shipments of items that are less than 40 cubic feet.  I am shipping about 45 cubic feet with them and it is $450.  They handle all the customs things and such.  Lots of people on the forum have used them, which is how I found them.

I think Carolyn said they aren't convenient to Tampa though.