Shipper UK-USA small volume not weight???

I am in need of help finding a shipper UK to USA to take a small amount apx 1 cubic meter by volume not weight.  1st Move has a min of 2 cubic meters all of sudden
Im having very hard time finding one to take small amount & who doesnt charge by weight.

Thxs!

Have you tried Virgin Atlantic's unaccompanied baggage scheme?  I think they quoted me about £2.30 per kg.  But I remember them saying something about possibly doing it based on volume.  May be worth contacting them for more information.

Oh wow, I didnt know airlines would take shipments.  Thank you Karin.  I will check all the airlines.  UpakWeShip quoted me 2.80 per kg to ship air.  But they charged by weight not volume for ocean.  Many thxs!

Could you let me know what you find out? I still have a ton of stuff in the UK that I need to either ship over or sort through again and ship what little I decide I really need to keep. I'm possibly going to be able to go over in the autumn so I need to start collecting info about this. The airline would be the easiest option.

I definately will provide any info I find out    I have been at this all day & havent found anything usefull as of yet    I am currently checking airline cargo fees, as excess baggage fees are only good if you only have say a 3rd or 4th suitcase, as they cost £130 each & are limited to 50lbs in weight.  Stay tunned...

Airline cargo according to United & American Airlines is only available to "known shippers".  Known shippers are companies who are vetted.  This is due to tighter restrictions implemented by the TSA who control shipments.  In order to ship via commercial airlines you need to use a freight forwarder/middle man, which in turn will cost you more.  Stay tuned as I am doing non stop research on small shipments to find the most cost effective way to ship.

I dug out the email I got from Virgin Atlantic.  And here is the info. They definitely take stuff from individuals going from the UK to the US, not sure if its different the other way round.

I am pleased to offer you the following rates:
 
-100Kgs = £2.80 per Kg
+100Kgs = £2.10 per Kg
 
+ a minimum £61.00* admin fee (*for shipments over 138Kgs you will be charged an additional 0.830p per additional Kg, for shipments over 235Kgs you will be charged an additional 16.6p per additional Kg)
 
Please note the following:
 
1.Our minimum charge is £161.00 (including the admin fee)
2. We only offer a Airport to Airport service.
3. You would need to telephone us on 0844 873 8000 to make an appointment to deliver your items to our Heathrow cargo facility.
4. You would need to deliver your items to our warehouse at Heathrow at that appointed time.
5. Payment can be made by cash, debit or credit card.
6. You must not send any hazardous items (such as aerosol sprays, flammable liquids (includes nail polish & nail polish remover), fireworks, batteries or matches) with your goods.
7. You are required by Customs to provide us with a packing list of your goods that we need to forward with your shipment.
8. We do not accept plasma televisions, petrol generators or freezers / refrigerators.
9. All items must be suitably packed for airfreight.
10. All items will be charged by weight or volume whichever is the greater.
11. You are responsible for arranging Customs clearance of your goods at destination, we do not offer a Customs clearance service.
12. We will not accept goods destined for re-sale, commercial or exhibition use, please contact a freight forwarder to ship these items.
 

Thank you Karin!  I have sent an email off to Virgin Cargo to confirm their rates.  I also made a mention to them, that due to TSA rules other airlines were only accepting vetted known shippers.  I will post results once I have them.  Its sort of the same strange case where theres only one airline that accepts pets in the cabin on international flights (United).  Stay tuned   

Yikes, looks like rate per kilogram went up a bit 

Thank you for your enquiry regarding Virgin Atlantic's unaccompanied luggage service to Los Angeles.

I am pleased to offer you the following rates:

-100Kgs = £3.69 per Kg
+100Kgs = £2.93 per Kg

+ a minimum £61.00* admin fee (*for shipments over 138Kgs you will be charged an additional 0.830p per additional Kg, for shipments over 235Kgs you will be charged an additional 16.6p per additional Kg)

 

Please note the following:

 

1.Our minimum charge is £161.00 (including the admin fee)

2. We only offer a Airport to Airport service.

3. You would need to telephone us on 0844 873 8000 to make an appointment to deliver your items to our Heathrow cargo facility.

4. You would need to deliver your items to our warehouse at Heathrow at that appointed time.

5. Payment can be made by cash, debit or credit card.

6. You must not send any hazardous items (such as aerosol sprays, flammable liquids (includes nail polish & nail polish remover), fireworks, batteries or matches) with your goods.

7. You are required by Customs to provide us with a packing list of your goods that we need to forward with your shipment.

8. We do not accept plasma televisions, petrol generators or freezers / refrigerators.

9. All items must be suitably packed for airfreight.

10. All items will be charged by weight or volume whichever is the greater.

11. You are responsible for arranging Customs clearance of your goods at destination, we do not offer a Customs clearance service.

12. We will not accept goods destined for re-sale, commercial or exhibition use, please contact a freight forwarder to ship these items.

Ok, after ALOT of research, this is what I have determined...

-Ocean shipments under 2 cubic meters you pay by weight, over 2cubic meters you pay by volume.

* I honestly dont think there is anyone that ships small ocean shipments by volume. 

-Small ocean shipment, Upakweship offers small ocean shipment by weight & all air shipments by weight.  Both are pretty competitive Im sure with other companies.  Im sure they also offer large ocean shipments, but I didnt ask about that so I dont know the particulars or if that would ship by volume.

-Ship air or ocean? - this you will determine by the value of your items, speed of which you need your items, amount your shipping & sensitivity of your items to temperature & humidity like guitars. 

value-is the cost to ship more than items are worth?
amount-if your not shipping much it might be worth it to you to just ship it air.
sensitivity-guitars we are shipping cant handle temperature changes or humidity changes.

I have just gone through all the boxes I had pack, which wasnt many & I looked at each item & asked myself, is it worth shipping?, can I easily & cheaply replace it?, does it have very strong sentimental value?  By the time I went through all the boxes I think I eliminated about 25% of the items.

I must admit though I am taking some items I could probably leave behind, but they are my little "treats" extras, that I promise I will make up for by eventually getting a decent job lol.

I hope this information is helpful & if you have any questions, please ask & I will let you know if I know lol.   Many thanks everyone!   

Correction it should read...volume not items, sorry.

By the time I went through all the boxes I think I eliminated about 25% of the items.

Oh lordy lol!  I just got a call from a shipper I requested a quote from.  She said her company ships from 1 box to many & charges based on VOLUME!  She also said they ship air by VOLUME too!  Now she said something strange...that they do packing because the USA customs is so picky.  I said my boxes are already packed but not closed, she said that should be ok then.  She also said there is plenty of time to get a shipment out before July 16th.  She is sending me stuff in the mail so she can get me a quote.  I guess everything varies from one shipper to another.  Theres no set rules by any means.  I think I only managed to confuse the whole situation, sorry 
I will report back on the quote.

Oh lordy lol!  I just got a call from a shipper I requested a quote from.  She said her company ships from 1 box to many & charges based on VOLUME!  She also said they ship air by VOLUME too!  Now she said something strange...that they do packing because the USA customs is so picky.  I said my boxes are already packed but not closed, she said that should be ok then.  She also said there is plenty of time to get a shipment out before July 16th.  She is sending me stuff in the mail so she can get me a quote.  I guess everything varies from one shipper to another.  Theres no set rules by any means.  I think I only managed to confuse the whole situation, sorry 
I will report back on the quote.

Please do, I'm very interested in hearing about this. Thanks for your hard work!

No problem, definitely will post what I find out.  Might take a few days, she is sending stuff via snail mail lol.  Im also following up some other leads.  I have figured out my total volume & tomorrow I am going to weigh my boxes so I have total weight too.  That way I can compared shippers via weight & volume.  Its never easy but will be worth it in the end once home & near my Dad 

Ok, so we weighed our boxes & it didnt come to much 164kg & volume wasnt much either .62 cubic meters.  I suggest anyone planning on moving things to find out your total weight & cubic volume, that way you will know from quotes what it will cost you by volume & weight.  As I found there are some that do ship by volume & not weight.  Now going by a Feb quote from Upakweship (just to get an idea, as I am getting an updated quote now) it would cost £457 ocean & £390 air.  Now do bear in mind that doesnt include any of the fees like airport handling fees, custom fees.  It just at least gave me some sort of idea.  Now the trick to shipping ocean by Upakweship is to pack boxes up to the max of 40kg as they charge by the number of boxes.  Example 1st box costs £190 & each box after that £50 & the max weight per box is 40kg.  Now mind you this might be different if you have a large shipment, as my quote was based on under 2 cubic meters in volume.  Another very important thing I learned was that since I live over 150 miles from the nearest port, no one wants to deliver such a small amount & if one is lucky enough to find someone they will charge you an arm & a leg.  Sorry the important thing is that since I have to pick up at the port area, I must specify I am picking up once "cleared customs" at shippers warehouse or the like.  Reason this is so important is that if you say you will pick up from the port, means you will handle the customs & paperwork & pay the fees.  Trust me I dont think anyone inexperienced wants to handle that.  I surely dont lol!  Now I know Upakweship has gotten good feedback, so as long as cost come back good & they can pick up before July 16th, I will be using them.  Still nothing in snail mail from that other company.  When I have more usefull info I will share it.  I hope this is helpful to someone & that I am not just posting crap lol.