Container costs

[billastbury]

G'day,
We are moving to the Melbourne area this year from Canada and I have noticed a few threads where containers from the UK seem pretty inexpensive.
I have been quoted $14,000 for a 20' container. I have to pack everything myself but I don't have to load it. If this doesn't sound reasonable, can anyone recommend a shipper/method to do it cheaper? We will not be bringing much furniture, mainly my DIY tools and nuts and bolts. (I'm a very old tool freak!) so I am not too concerned with breakages. I don't mind paying $14,000 if that's the going rate but I don't want to get ripped off either. Anything I save I can use to buy more tools!
Ta very much
Bill

[Dolly]

Hi Bill,

Sorry I can't help with recommendations of shippers in Canada. Although doing the exchange in currenty that equates to nearly £8K and everything was packed for us. Very expensive. We filled 30ft of a 40ft container and paid around £5K.

You mentioned that you have a lot of tools....just be sure they are scrupulously cleaned. It could cost you a fortune if customs think they aren't spotless.

Do you have an area in mind of where you want to move to in Melbourne?

Dolly

[interplanetjanet]

We moved from California last August, and we paid somewhere on the order of USD $8500 for a 20' container, and they packed and loaded everything. The final price was pretty much the same as what we were quoted (ALL of the companies will give you a final price only after everything is loaded and weighed). We brought our bed, dressers, baby room furniture, sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman plus a futon sofa with chair and ottoman and an L-shaped desk, among other things. I'd say CAD $14,000 is a bit much if they're not going to pack anything for you, and you're not bringing much furniture. It might have helped keep our costs down that there was very little land travel in our move, though. We're relatively close to ports on both ends.

Check out Stevens International. They're one of the ones listed with great reviews on movingscam.com. See the sidebar on the right hand side where they list international movers. We got quotes from the others listed there as well (Rainier, Southern Winds and Sterling), and Stevens was by far the cheapest. They did a great job, and not even a single glass broke on the journey. Everything arrived in great shape, and all of our stuff was even put into storage for four months after it arrived (since we were looking for a home). The only glitch was that when we went to put the feet back on our sofa set, one set was missing. So at the moment our ottoman is sitting lower than everything else. We still have to submit our claim, so I unfortunately can't comment just yet on how quickly they resolve problems. Still, if that's the only problem we have, I'd say it was overall a great move!

[billastbury]

Originally Posted by Dolly

Hi Bill,

Sorry I can't help with recommendations of shippers in Canada. Although doing the exchange in currenty that equates to nearly £8K and everything was packed for us. Very expensive. We filled 30ft of a 40ft container and paid around £5K.

You mentioned that you have a lot of tools....just be sure they are scrupulously cleaned. It could cost you a fortune if customs think they aren't spotless.

Do you have an area in mind of where you want to move to in Melbourne?

Dolly

thanks Dolly.
We shall be living in the Dandenong hills....probably Kalorama. CAN'T WAIT!

[billastbury]

Originally Posted by interplanetjanet

We moved from California last August, and we paid somewhere on the order of USD $8500 for a 20' container, and they packed and loaded everything. The final price was pretty much the same as what we were quoted (ALL of the companies will give you a final price only after everything is loaded and weighed). We brought our bed, dressers, baby room furniture, sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman plus a futon sofa with chair and ottoman and an L-shaped desk, among other things. I'd say CAD $14,000 is a bit much if they're not going to pack anything for you, and you're not bringing much furniture. It might have helped keep our costs down that there was very little land travel in our move, though. We're relatively close to ports on both ends.

Check out Stevens International. They're one of the ones listed with great reviews on movingscam.com. See the sidebar on the right hand side where they list international movers. We got quotes from the others listed there as well (Rainier, Southern Winds and Sterling), and Stevens was by far the cheapest. They did a great job, and not even a single glass broke on the journey. Everything arrived in great shape, and all of our stuff was even put into storage for four months after it arrived (since we were looking for a home). The only glitch was that when we went to put the feet back on our sofa set, one set was missing. So at the moment our ottoman is sitting lower than everything else. We still have to submit our claim, so I unfortunately can't comment just yet on how quickly they resolve problems. Still, if that's the only problem we have, I'd say it was overall a great move!

Thanks Janet, it is $14,000Au and we do live on Vancouver Island so we could be pretty close. I was kindda hoping that someone could stick a container on my driveway and come and pick it up when its loaded and do the reverse at the other end.
I will check out your suggestions and see what smokes.
Thanks again,
Bill

[interplanetjanet]

Originally Posted by billastbury

Thanks Janet, it is $14,000Au and we do live on Vancouver Island so we could be pretty close. I was kindda hoping that someone could stick a container on my driveway and come and pick it up when its loaded and do the reverse at the other end.
I will check out your suggestions and see what smokes.
Thanks again,
Bill

Oh, ok. Australian dollars makes a difference, but that's still a lot for not bringing any furniture and packing it yourself, especially if you're also near a port. Ours was still quite a bit cheaper, and we brought all our furniture and didn't pack a thing ourselves. We also lived on the 3rd floor (what would be 2nd here) with stairs only!

If you really want them to drop off a container and pack it yourselves, look into Upakweship. I think they do that, but if I recall correctly, it wasn't all that much cheaper than having them pack it. Keep in mind you may also get into issues with what they're willing to insure, because they can't guarantee the quality of your packing.

Good luck!

[billastbury]

Thanks Janet, I have lots of company's to try now.

[Dolly]

Originally Posted by billastbury

thanks Dolly.
We shall be living in the Dandenong hills....probably Kalorama. CAN'T WAIT!

Not too from us then, we're in Frankston South. You've chosen a beautiful area, Kalaroma is just on the edge of the Dandenong Ranges National Park. Lots of twisty, windey roads up there.

Dolly