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[algemesi]

Dear Forum,


I've accepted a position in the United States and am planning my move back. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to reduce the cost of an international move?

Graciès...algemesì

[just_dave]

The cheapest solution, of course, is just to decide you don't need to pack up and take home every single thing you've accumulated in X number of years overseas.  Expats often have "moving on" type sales.  But that's often an impossible decision to make (especially for married couples: "Well if YOU'RE going to take that, I'm certainly going to take this." 

One tip I can offer from experience is to check on the cost of additional "checked luggage" vs. having stuff shipped.  When my family and I moved from the US to Japan we found that it was going to be MUCH MUCH cheaper to take 19 large boxes of stuff as accompanied baggage than to send it see freight.  Doing it this way also meant we avoided having to have it all go through the formalities of port customs clearance (and having to pay for land transport from the port to our new home 6 hours away).  We made sure to check everything out with the airline ahead of time and made sure all the boxes were within size and weight limits.

But this will depend on the country and the airline.

[expatinuk]

I found it much cheaper to do the container shipping. I put all my stuff into one container and had it shipped over. Well... everything except my living room sofa and chairs... and now I wish that I'd brought them!

[just_dave]

Container shipping is usually the cheapest.  And that's how we have arranged most of our moves in the past.  You can rent a full, half, or quarter container and it's amazing how much stuff you can pack into one of these. For our short move from Kuwait to Oman we actually put our car into the container along with all our household goods.

But if you're not bringing an entire house-worth of stuff, do look into the costs of "accompanied baggage" because in certain cases it can actually be cheaper than sea freight -- and it arrives the same day you do.  This worked for us because there are five people in my family and since each person is allowed up to two large bags that was 10 large boxes right there.  I think we ended up paying something like $700 in "excess baggage" which was way cheaper than the $2,000+" the freight shipping would have cost.

[the_walrus]

I found it much cheaper to do the container shipping. I put all my stuff into one container and had it shipped over. Well... everything except my living room sofa and chairs... and now I wish that I'd brought them!

Where does one find out more about these container shipping companies?  Who are they, do they drop the container at your house, etc?

[expatinuk]

I found it much cheaper to do the container shipping. I put all my stuff into one container and had it shipped over. Well... everything except my living room sofa and chairs... and now I wish that I'd brought them!

Where does one find out more about these container shipping companies?  Who are they, do they drop the container at your house, etc?

They deliver the container to your house... you should have arranged to have someone there to load it as the truck drivers do not load the container. Most shipping companies can arrange that for you as well. The shipping company also arranges for unloaders at your new address.

The unloading in the UK was the most expensive thing I had to pay for.

PM me and I can tell you the name of the company I used. He does a lot of work for the diplomatic corps.

[expat_scand]

I agree with the suggestions here - either arrange a container (if you have a lot of worthwhile things to move) or shed yourself of all but the essentials that you either ship/mail as small boxes or take as extra baggage.

You have to consider the big picture: if you have a fairly large collection of 'stuff' that is worth saving then paying for a container can be far more economical than re-buying everything at your new home. If you don't have much that is really worthwhile, then you have the excuse to do a major ritual cleansing.