I always try to take as many items as possible in my checked luggage, as I had too many items shipped to me that never made it.

Do some research into customs charging you fees. There are many horror stories about $5 worth of goods being held by customs until a 100 euro fee is paid.

 

Unless it is very expensive stuff or stuff you really can't do without, why bother. We do have clothes, etc. over on this side of the pond.

 

I just went through this and am pretty sure I found the best deal if you want a high certainty that the boxes will arrive. There are cheaper carriers but customer feedback indicates a lot of problems...

anyway the cheap solution is USPS international freight. They have different specs for different classes, and the same class is not always the most affordable, and the most expensive class doesn't nec. mean the package arrives sooner.

But I did manage to send 270lbs of boxes from CA to rural Spain for under $5/lb. Fedex and DHL charge up to $30/lb. So buy a scale and weigh each item and determine what is and isn't truly replaceable and something that you can or can't do without.