Shipping stuff abroad

Quasar

Hi,
I will eventually want to send personal belongings abroad, such as books, clothes and sundry other items. I have been looking at shipping companies on the internet, but I wonder if anyone here can make recommendations and give me the odd tips? Thanks.

skid112

Hi there, most online quotes will look for you to provide the sq metre size and price based on that. Cost very much depends on sqm, where and how the package will get there. Europe, for example, would be a part of a lorry or all the lorry, some companies offer small van sized options, these go by road and Eurotunnel/ferry. Further afield, far east, USA, Australia, will be via sea for the cheapest options.
For the clothing invest in some vacuum bags, good quality ones, you will be amazed then at how much you can get into a suitcase or trunk.

spadoosh

We used a company like shiply. Cant remember the name of it now but worked the same. You list what youve got and then people put offers in for the work.

Its good because it allows for more flexibility than conventional shipping methods meaning savings to be made. In our case it was being moved back to the UK in to storage so no rush, we ended up going with a driver who was travelling around france topping up money every now and again with this kind of work.

ttoli

Join an expat forum for your destination and post there , I live in Cyprus and the local forum is a goldmine of shipping info.

LadyDee

Quasar wrote: »

Hi,
I will eventually want to send personal belongings abroad, such as books, clothes and sundry other items. I have been looking at shipping companies on the internet, but I wonder if anyone here can make recommendations and give me the odd tips? Thanks.

Check out Movecube by 7Seas Removals.

Quasar

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I'll keep checking this thread until I have decided what to send and when.

martindow

Where will you want it sent? If you give a destination you may get some more specific answers.


For a lot of Europe - France, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, for example parcel carriers will send fairly large boxes say 18 inch cubes up to 20 or 25kg very cheaply using road transport taking a few days - typically under 20 pounds via dpd or through companies on parcel2go.


Further afield in Europe Greece or to an island can be quite a bit more but still might be competitive using road services.


To other continents airfreight will be fast but expensive, sea slow but much cheaper. Make sure you get door to door quotes - very cheap services where it is delivered to a dockside or airport can end up with lots of extra fees to pick it up or get delivered.

Quasar

martindow wrote: »

Where will you want it sent? If you give a destination you may get some more specific answers.


For a lot of Europe - France, Spain, Germany, Scandinavia, for example parcel carriers will send fairly large boxes say 18 inch cubes up to 20 or 25kg very cheaply using road transport taking a few days - typically under 20 pounds via dpd or through companies on parcel2go.


Further afield in Europe Greece or to an island can be quite a bit more but still might be competitive using road services.


To other continents airfreight will be fast but expensive, sea slow but much cheaper. Make sure you get door to door quotes - very cheap services where it is delivered to a dockside or airport can end up with lots of extra fees to pick it up or get delivered.

Italy.

It is not so much the cost as I will get quotes, I was just wondering if anyone here could recommend a reputable company. I don't yet have sizes and weights as I have not made definite plans. I am just gathering information at the moment.

itsanne

I hope the ghastly B word isn't chasing you, Q!

Quasar

itsanne wrote: »

I hope the ghastly B word isn't chasing you, Q!

:hello:
Only in part, Anne, only in part. The call of my roots is getting stonger.

martindow

If you search for problems with carriers you will find complaints about every company - people don't usually write saying that their parcel was delivered OK. This makes it very difficult to choose and compare the reliability of individual companies.

I regularly send items to addresses in Europe, including Italy, using DPD or UPS either directly or via P2G. Posting via the post office in Italy seems very unreliable but I've had no problems with these carriers. I'm generally sending fragile items which are not covered with their insurance so I send them uninsured, packing very well and self-insuring.

For your personal items you may well find that you have to do the same as there are a lot of excluded items. I imagine that you will carry precious valuables in person so this might not to too much of a risk.