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Topic: What stuff is better to buy than move  (Read 3033 times)

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What stuff is better to buy than move
« on: September 25, 2017, 07:34:18 PM »
Hello all,

I have a question that hopefully someone can help me with.  I have to prioritize the stuff I am moving.  I only have a 20' container, and there are a number of items, especially work related, that I can't leave behind.  So, that means I am going to have to buy some of my furniture in the UK.  But, given that I have limited funds, I will need to buy things from garage (boot?) sales, consignment shops and the like.  What things are easier to find and less expensive?  Specifically, I'm trying to decide on chairs, tables, bookcases, desk, and things like that.  Also, where I live currently, you take a huge risk buying any upholstered furniture that isn't new because of Bedbugs or roaches.  Is that a concern in the UK?  Basically, I want to know what types of furniture you can generally find at a reasonable price. 

Thank you all in advance.


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2017, 07:46:11 PM »
Hello all,

I have a question that hopefully someone can help me with.  I have to prioritize the stuff I am moving.  I only have a 20' container, and there are a number of items, especially work related, that I can't leave behind.  So, that means I am going to have to buy some of my furniture in the UK.  But, given that I have limited funds, I will need to buy things from garage (boot?) sales, consignment shops and the like.  What things are easier to find and less expensive?  Specifically, I'm trying to decide on chairs, tables, bookcases, desk, and things like that.  Also, where I live currently, you take a huge risk buying any upholstered furniture that isn't new because of Bedbugs or roaches.  Is that a concern in the UK?  Basically, I want to know what types of furniture you can generally find at a reasonable price. 

Thank you all in advance.

Have a look on https://www.gumtree.com/ which is a bit like Craigslist to get an idea what kind of things are going in the area you're moving to. I've seen  https://www.freecycle.org/  recommended too.
Second hand shops are huge so you shouldn't be stuck.

Ikea is here too for cheap and cheerful new furniture.


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2017, 08:36:04 PM »
Bring your bed!!  I wish I had brought mine.  Leave behind anything that plugs in (except things that have dual voltage such as laptops, phones, etc).  Exception is a US DVD player if you have US  DVDs.



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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2017, 09:51:29 PM »
Bring your bed!!  I wish I had brought mine.  Leave behind anything that plugs in (except things that have dual voltage such as laptops, phones, etc).  Exception is a US DVD player if you have US  DVDs.
If you bring your bed make sure you bring enough sheets. Beds are a completely different size over here even if they use the same names...
The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2017, 10:25:26 PM »
Think carefully about big furniture like sofas. I see quite a few posted online by Americans who ship them over and then they realise they won't fit in the flat/house. Sometimes, it's because the corridors are too narrow and sometimes because the rooms are just generally smaller.
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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2017, 02:26:58 AM »
Definitely bringing my bed.  I didn't know that about the sheets, I'll grab a second set to take.  I'm not bringing my couch, mainly because it's kind of old and likely would fall apart. I was at Ikea when I was out there to find a place to live, and it seemed really expensive compared to the US, it seemed like they took the American price and just changed the dollar sign to pounds, so I really want to find less expensive things.  I'm glad to know that secondhand is a going thing there.  I'm going to check that all out.


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2017, 06:14:51 AM »
Definitely bringing my bed.  I didn't know that about the sheets, I'll grab a second set to take.  I'm not bringing my couch, mainly because it's kind of old and likely would fall apart. I was at Ikea when I was out there to find a place to live, and it seemed really expensive compared to the US, it seemed like they took the American price and just changed the dollar sign to pounds, so I really want to find less expensive things.  I'm glad to know that secondhand is a going thing there.  I'm going to check that all out.
Yeah, height and width is different. The things you don't realise until you move. Like dial tones on phones are different in each country.

There's 20% tax (VAT) included in the price. That's the nice thing over here, what you see is what you get price wise and IKEA or Argos are the inexpensive new places. Amazon does furniture too.

We got our leather couch second hand. We were looking for a few months though as we were being picky. You can even get furniture delivered from most second hand stores.
The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2017, 12:53:16 PM »
There's 20% tax (VAT) included in the price. That's the nice thing over here, what you see is what you get price wise and IKEA or Argos are the inexpensive new places. Amazon does furniture too.

Exactly this. Also British Heart Foundation (charity) is good for second hand stuff. Also, join a BST group on Facebook for your local area.
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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2017, 01:02:26 PM »
Definitely bringing my bed.  I didn't know that about the sheets, I'll grab a second set to take.  I'm not bringing my couch, mainly because it's kind of old and likely would fall apart. I was at Ikea when I was out there to find a place to live, and it seemed really expensive compared to the US, it seemed like they took the American price and just changed the dollar sign to pounds, so I really want to find less expensive things.  I'm glad to know that secondhand is a going thing there.  I'm going to check that all out.

It'll take awhile to stop translating GBP to USD.  The earlier you can stop, the better for your sanity.

Bring all your linens from the US.  Sheets, duvets, towels, blankets, etc. Better quality, selection, and price in the US.

Jeans too!

In my experience, I find the British don't keep sofas very long.  You can pick up great ones second hand.  Local Facebook selling groups and "a man with a van" service and you'll be sorted in no time!  Expect to pay roughly 10% of the retail prices for second hand.  I recently picked up a £700 stroller for my kid for £20.  There was a broken bit.  It cost £8.95 for the replacement part.   ;D


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2017, 01:09:28 PM »
I just bought a £1200 Miele dishwasher off EBay for £350.  Two years old, supposedly works perfect.  I’m going to pick it up in my cool van.


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2017, 02:34:27 PM »
We always do a bunch of price comparisons quickly! IKEA is definitely a good one for some stuff like coffee tables/end tables and housewares but I do find for other things still a bit pricey and you can find better deals elsewhere.

My main checks for furniture and stuff are IKEA, Amazon, and Ebay and then comparing them to my local "Car Boot" page on Facebook. You can also physically go to car boot sales when they're on or check out charity shops (British Heart Foundation I think was mentioned and they're a good one to get furniture at if you have one of their shops near you). With things that are less of a priority but are more expensive, just slowly save up and buy them when you see a good offer on at the shops/when you've had time to save. In addition to car boot care pages on Facebook, there's the Facebook marketplace and there are other local "free" pages where they will be giving things away for free but sometimes it requires you to have contributed before taking so you just need to check out the pages rules. Other than those, there's an app called Shpock that's a car boot sale type app. I've purchased shoes from it before but they do have all kinds of stuff. Gumtree is an option but I always find that there's nothing really good or worthwhile near me so I just stopped using it.

That's all where to look for things you're buying, as far as *what* to bring vs buy, I would agree that good pairs of jeans/trousers are definitely worth taking as it can be reallly hard to find ones that fit you right (when you find a pair that fit you right, buy them all!). If you want a flat sheet for your bed, those are trickier to find so I would bring those but I find I've had no problem replacing towels with IKEA towels for cheap as well as finding cheap fitted sheets for the bed (although, as others mentioned, that may vary if you bring your own bed from home).

I personally prioritised taking things that were more personal like photo albums and collectables so that I'd feel more at home. My philosophy was that over time, I could replace any appliances/furniture as needed but those personal and sentimental items could *only* be had if I brought them with me. If I went back in time now, I'd probably even pack less clothes (I would've left some back at my parent's house so I could bring less over when I visit them!) and just less in general as I found that my husband's flat was just too small for all my items to fit nicely so the place just looked cluttered for a while (since moving, it all fits nicely more or less haha). So yeah, I would be packing things you definitely can't get here (like certain foods or sentimental items) and things that will be too much of a pain or too expensive to replace (like flat sheets or a laptop) and just slowly replacing the rest by importance once you get over here and can see how much space you have/what you need. Also, I forgot, Argos is a good one for some appliances so it might be a good place to go for blowdryers/ete although you might find them cheaper on Amazon (it's all just a big comparison game if you have the patience!).
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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2017, 03:30:37 PM »
I would recommend joining Costco.  Really good value on most things.  I moved in January which is furniture season here.  I got an awesome sofa for £197!  That was definitely luck though!


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2017, 03:53:01 PM »
Definitely agree that Costco is a good shout in some ways. I ended up cancelling just because I wasn't really buying food in bulk as there's only two of us in the house with no children or anything to feed, so one bulk purchase would last us AGES (so we mooch off my in-laws who go to costco weekly haha). We got an amazing deal on a tent there though!

It all kind of comes down to what you want. With our sofas, we got two matching reclining leather sofas (one with a fold-down cupholder bit!) for our lounge for something like £300 on Ebay (new from a seller, not used). It was more than we wanted to spend and who knows if it'll last years and years, but it's been a year and they are perfectly fine and comfortable. We basically didn't want to go too expensive yet but we needed something newer as our last sofa was falling apart. For us, it does the job until we are at a point where all our DIY is done and we have nothing else more important to buy/save for. If you are wanting something to just do the job, I would recommend cheaper ones from Amazon/Ebay or Ikea (or second hand). If you are wanting one that's going to last a while, a sofa is something you'll end up needing to spend a bit more on.

KF got a pretty banging deal from Costco, so maybe that's the way to go! hah :D
My, how time flies....

* Married in the US and applied for first spousal visa August 2013
* Moved to the UK on said visa October 2013
* FLR(M) applied for  May 2016. Biometrics requested June 2016. Approval given July 2016.
* ILR applied for January 2019 (using priority processing). Approved February 2019.
* Citizenship applied for May  2019
* Citizenship approved on July 4th 2019
* Ceremony conducted on August 28th 2019

'Mommy, Wow! I'm a legit Brit now!'


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2017, 04:01:01 PM »

KF got a pretty banging deal from Costco, so maybe that's the way to go! hah :D

When we moved we went in a different decorating direction.  We shall not talk about how much our current sofa cost...  sometimes I think I've become immune to UK pricing...


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Re: What stuff is better to buy than move
« Reply #14 on: September 26, 2017, 04:12:48 PM »
When we moved we went in a different decorating direction.  We shall not talk about how much our current sofa cost...  sometimes I think I've become immune to UK pricing...

hahah to be totally fair though, I think you probably need to spend a bit more for quality when you have kids as you want something tough-wearing etc. It's just the two of us in our house (minus the dog), so we are okay to just get by with something cheaper to do the job. But we did just go plain black leather. I saw some cool designed fabric ones but I thought stop thinking how a redecoration might make things difficult! hhahha
My, how time flies....

* Married in the US and applied for first spousal visa August 2013
* Moved to the UK on said visa October 2013
* FLR(M) applied for  May 2016. Biometrics requested June 2016. Approval given July 2016.
* ILR applied for January 2019 (using priority processing). Approved February 2019.
* Citizenship applied for May  2019
* Citizenship approved on July 4th 2019
* Ceremony conducted on August 28th 2019

'Mommy, Wow! I'm a legit Brit now!'


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