Hi guys,
I've been MIA for a bit because I was busy moving out of my condo and getting all of my affairs in order for my big move to London. I can happily say that I arrived March 9th via LAX-LHR and am living in my London flat.
Now for those who have been wanting to know about what companies to go with and experiences using an overseas company- I hope to shed some light for you all. I only got quotes from two companies; UPAKWESHIP and Rainier. I found out about them through, you guessed it, HERE. I first contacted UPAKWESHIP and got quotes from them. They are as follows:
Shared container: 50-100+ cubic feet $1091 (you drop off at terminal, they deliver to your door) $1291 (door to door service) any overage in cubic ft space you would pay $10.91 per additional cubic ft for first option and $12.91 per additional cubic ft for second option. They deduct $200 if you ship through their LA or Charleston terminals.
U-Crate: 100-150 cubic feet $1817 (100 cubic ft crate) $2214 (150 cubic ft crate) the kicker with this one is you would have to go pick up the crate, take it home, load it and then bring it back to their terminal for no additional charge. Minus the level of sanity you would lose with this option lol. They deduct $600 if you ship through their Charleston terminal.
U-Pod: 200 cubic feet $2400 flat fee, although with this you would have to bring your belongings to their terminal to load it, since their trucks cannot carry the U-Pod. Apparently, it's too heavy for them. They deduct $500 if you ship through LA, Charleston or their NY terminal. The dimensions for all the options I listed can be found on their website. These preices don't include insurance of belongings or any possible customs fees (just to be warned)
Now the second quote I got was from Rainier and in the end I chose them because they offered me competitive rates AND their movers packed and loaded my belongings for me. I only had to be there to supervise. Side note for those moving out of California (San Diego in particular) they had a company called Sullivan do the packing and loading on their behalf. They're in a partnership to my knowledge. Anyway here are my quotes:
Wooden lift van 'wooden crate': $1950 for 200 cubic feet based on an est weight of 1250 pounds and 200 cubic ft gross volume. This was for door to door service.
2 Wooden lift vans 'wooden crates': $3225 for (2) 200 cubic foot liftvans based on an est weight of 2100 pounds. This was for door to door service. The price for both options included the following:
Pre-move survey
Packing materials and labor
Loading of liftvans
Consolidated ocean freight
Customs clearance
Inside delivery, unpack and removal of debris on day of delivery
I ended up fitting everything into (1) 200 cubic foot wooden crate based at a weight of 1180 lbs at $168.21 per 100 lbs which equaled $1984.88. I also insured my crate for $10,500 at $25 per 100 lbs valuation: $262.50. So my total for moving was $2247.38 which in my opinion is pretty cheap considering all the work they did and what UPAKWESHIP wasn't! I should receive my belongings in 2-3 months, unless there's an issue at customs.. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen!
I also booked my flights and prepaid for 4 extra pieces of checked luggage for my journey here. So whatever I wanted right away came with me. Whatever wasn't packed in my luggage or in my wooden crate was sold, donated or tossed. You have to be ruthless when doing an overseas move. There were a lot of things I was sad to sell or get rid of, but I knew I could replace it- as long as it wasn't sentimental. I wish everyone the best of luck on your future moves and hope that sharing my experience was helpful to you
