Any Shipping Recommendations? (Moving Boxes from US to UK)

I am wondering whether anyone has shipping recommendations from USA to UK. I have seen a few posts on the topic, but have a slight twist in that I don't need to move furniture or anything like that. I simply have 7 boxes (18" x 18" x 24" high) each weighing around 50 lbs.

I will be shipping from Colorado and don't really care when they arrive in the UK, so long as it's sometime in 2021. We have gotten rid of almost everything we own except for old photos and keepsakes, a few extra clothes, and other items with sentimental value. So no rush to have them after we move, we just don't want to lose them. I was considering UPS, but the person at my local store estimated $400 per box which seemed really high.

Any affordable recommendations from those of you who have made the move?

You could try just the regular post office.... I mailed 2 boxes that size from Hawaii to Scotland and I think I paid around $300 for the both......

Or try contacting your airline and see if you can send them as cargo....or excess baggage....  since planes are flying empty maybe you can see if you can get a deal because of Covid......

Those are great ideas, and I didn't even think of them. Thanks!

I'm in the same boat! Thank you for the airline cargo idea, will ask about that...

In the meantime has anyone used one of the shipping companies for smallish amounts like this recently? I've found a few posts on here suggesting/recommending companies but they're a few years old 

For VictoriaSt and others, I think I'm going to go with Ranier Overseas Shipping (Newcastle, WA) that I've seen mentioned a few times on these forums.

They were very honest with me that I'd essentially be paying the minimum fees even though I really only have a half-minimum shipment, but I don't need the boxes there quickly and their quote was still less than UPS/Fedex/etc by a significant margin. Plus I can decide to add a few things in at the last minute if I need to.

I used Ranier  and was very happy with them.  My stuff was packed up at the end of December in Honolulu and was in England by March 30....which was a lot quicker then expected because I chose the cheap slow boat option.... unfortunately because of the lockdown my stuff didn’t get to Scotland until July 16 .....but that actually worked in my favor as because of lockdown I couldn’t work on my flat so if it had shown up sooner I would have been at a loss as to what to do with it anyway.....

Here's a suggestion from way out in left field:  You could ship it to a military base in Europe if you know somebody.  Which would only work if you know somebody and can get to the military base....
It worked for us 20 years ago, I shipped a 17 inch CRT monitor that must have weighed 25 kilos. 

Here's a suggestion from way out in left field:  You could ship it to a military base in Europe if you know somebody.  Which would only work if you know somebody and can get to the military base....
It worked for us 20 years ago, I shipped a 17 inch CRT monitor that must have weighed 25 kilos.

Not sure if that’s such a good idea with Brexit now and people having trouble getting things over the border.....you also have to take into account the TOR relief that you’d probably loose and get taxed on your stuff trying to get it into the U.K

Not sure if that’s such a good idea with Brexit now and people having trouble getting things over the border.....you also have to take into account the TOR relief that you’d probably loose and get taxed on your stuff trying to get it into the U.K

  That's all true.  Could work if you can ship it to a military base in the UK. 

You can also consider an option like Send My Bag (doesn't have to be a bag, can be a box).  Max weight is in that 50 pound area and it's probably about £60 per box.  It's FAST.  Like collect on Monday, delivered by Friday.  It's not great if you want to ship anything liquid but if you are just talking general household, non-food items, it would be an option.  I know you don't need fast, but it might not be any more expensive than some of the other options.

Saying that, BRING YOUR BED.  I've been here over 10 years and still miss my beloved pillow top mattress!

I'm using UPakWeShip for my stuff from NC to England. It was 1315 for a 50 cubic feet UCrate. It hasn't been put on a ship yet but I was able to pack everything myself and I was able to fit everything I wanted except what is going in my checked bags.

Thank you for the suggestions, I emailed Rainier but they said they wouldn't even give me a quote because my shipment needs are so small - they just wouldn't be competitive. I appreciated their honesty! We're now pretty much decided that we'll use mybaggage.com, with 6 boxes all weighing less than 30kg the quote we've been given is just over £700 (including one oversized item). We feel that's a not-too-bad amount and as we've got a bit of a time crunch we'll roll with it! Just thought I'd drop a post in case anyone is searching in the future