You might try asking some of the local moving companies that are part of the large national chains of movers. Many of them do international moves - and honestly, they don't do the whole move themselves. They each have some affiliation with one of the big international network companies, which then hand off the shipment to a local mover on the other side of the pond.

If you have a local mover you know and have some confidence in, ask them whether they can handle an international shipment and if they can't, who they could refer you to. Having the local connection really can make things go a bit more smoothly.
Cheers,
Bev

 

We contacted a local mover with whom we’d moved 3-4 times that was regional and quite small. They are affiliated with an international mover.

The international mover provided all of the paperwork required so as NOT to have to pay duty or VAT and they arranged for the subsidiary movers to deliver our furniture and goods to our home. They were exceptionally responsive throughout the process.

FWIW, we live in a tiny village of 1,300 built on a steep hillside. Our street is under 2 meters wide, the street that climbs the hill requires a switchback...plus it’s steep and narrow.

Stephens International handled getting the shipment into a shipping container and onto the boat, got the shipment through customs, and put it onto a semi trailer for the trip from Calais to the Dordogne. They then arranged for a small local mover with small trucks to meet the semi, transfer our goods to the small truck, drive to the top of the street, where they had to stop, and then they rolled everything about 125 meters down the hill to our house. It was exceptionally well coordinated and the move into our house was completed in a couple of hours.

Use a local US mover that you know and like. Depend upon whomever they use. Or, if you don’t have a local mover, contact Stephens directly.

Best of luck.

Ray

 

I used a company called I Love International Moving this year to bring my furniture from California to Paris and I was really pleased with the service I received on both ends of the transaction.

https://ilovemoving.com/

 

We used Bekins to move stuff from Florida to our place in Spain (a small village with lots of hills and narrow roads) excellent service.

 

Thank you very much, everyone!

 

May I ask what such a move cost you? Or some kind of ballpark? We live in Montpellier, so only the trials and tribulations of a city to navigate, and only enough furniture and personal goods for a one bedroom apartment or so. we've packed it all into boxes and stored it in two pods in Colorado. Any estimates as to what it should cost to get them here?

Thanks.

 

The simple way is to ask several International movers for an estimate. They will each send their representative, price up the job and tell you how much. Far more accurately than any of us can.

 

Of course, but what I'm looking for, from the trans-atlantic movers is whether we're looking at $1,000, $10,000 (or somewhere in between), or more.

 

Makes no difference. If you only have a few boxes, it may well be that they can fit you in with a larger shipment. I think, if I remember correctly it cost us US$1800 and we moved only half a truck worth of stuff 10' x 10' x 12' or 1200 cu ft. That included everything.

 

I checked out a few places through Good Migrations. Much more expensive than the original company I was going to go with. About $3500-$4500! I think I am going to go back to the original company (Int?l Movers Network) because their estimate was ?just? $2500 for a studio/I bedroom apartment. They charge by volume (cubic feet for U.S.). My furniture, boxes of clothes, and boxes of books are about 165 cubic feet. They are charging me about $14.50 per cubic foot + $75 document fee (for customs, I think). They offer the same services as the other places and offer insurance, too, of course. I will let you know how things go. They had some good customer reviews that they shared with me. (Those could always be fake, but they seemed legit to me.) We shall see. I?m willing to give it a try.

 

slushpup



UPDATE (WAY overdue!) Well, it's May 2020 now and I just realized I never gave an update. I did end up using International Mover's Network. My shipment arrived in France within 2 months, I believe. There was some damage to my kitchen tabletop, the glass and frame on one of my framed prints was broken, and a leg on one of my end tables was damaged. I didn't unpack the kitchen table and notice the damage until AFTER the insurance expired, so didn't get any compensation for it--my fault.

What was really bad, though, is that the delivery people spoke neither French nor English--they only spoke Polish, so it was a REALLY confusing time. Overall, not a very good experience with International Mover's Network.

 

I can recommend EuroUSA International Moving Company | Affordable International Moving. We have just used their U-Pak service and it all went very well. They also offer moving services for entire households including furniture, cars, etc.

 

Hi Slushpup, my wife and I used a Polish shipping company called Doma to send 11 boxes from Chicago to France, door to door. We have a close friend that uses them all the time to ship goods to Poland. The price was low but we are a bit concerned because the paperwork to accompany the boxes was very minimal. Some of the threads I've read on here regarding proof of a permanent move and contents have me a little worried. The shipment should arrive in France sometime in Nov. I'll report back.

 

Hm, given that most European movers seem to charge for moves based on volume rather than weight (the US standard), I think you have found yourself a genuine "international" mover. The way I check the reviews for these sorts of things is to read all the negative (i.e. 1 or 2 star) reviews to see just what they are complaining about. Very often, you can tell when the negative stuff is mostly self-induced or a one-off kind of thing vs. an ongoing problem that should cause you to reconsider.
Cheers,
Bev

 

Our bill with Bekins was based on volume because with international moves which are going to be travelling by container/ship, it is volume that counts.

 

You should consider budget first before hiring any moving company. For hiring you can use Yelp or other similar platforms to see companies reviews. Chose 2-3 movers and get their quotes. This makes a sens.

 

Anyone looking at moving this year - I spoke to an international moving company about getting boxes from France to Australia and they basically said they couldn't do it as there are so few ships currently moving about!

 

An international mover quoted me $12 per cubic foot: NY to Le Havre, then 100 miles inland.