It varies by shipper and customs clearance costs and where in France you want it delivered. Ask a shipper whom you might be likely to use. We used Bekins International - try them. https://www.bekins.com/types-of-moves/international/

 

You probably should get an estimate from an international mover based on what you're planning to ship. One oddity is that movers in the US tend to charge by weight, while movers in Europe charge by volume. If you get an estimate from a company that does international moves (many of the national chains - like Bekins - do international moves as well as moves within the US) they figure in the difference when estimating the cost. Also, the customs clearance costs (which you'll have, even if you are getting your household goods in "duty free" for the move).

 

In 2006 my wife and I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina from Washington DC. In 2009 we moved to San Diego, CA from Buenos Aires. In both cases we shipped a full 20-foot container of household goods, and in both cases used Atlas International.

In very general terms, the cost of each move was about $13,000. I don't remember the exact figures, but it seems to me that that was the average of both moves. That included packing us out, storing the goods until the ship was available, shipping the goods, getting things through customs, short-term storing of the goods at the destination until we were ready to receive them, delivering and unpacking, and removing all packing materials. There was also some insurance included.

We were recently considering moving some household goods from Norfolk, VA to Paris, and again contacted Atlas. We asked for estimates on one or two lift vans (45'' x 87'' x 87''), each weighing about 1,000 lbs. Also, the same services that we got in the move to and from Argentina.

For one lift van the cost was about $5,000 USD. For two lift vans it was about $8,500 USD. Again, door-to-door service.

I don't know where that fits into the spectrum of expensive or not, but in both moves -- and a third move across the U.S. from San Diego to Norfolk, VA -- not a single thing was lost or damaged.

I would also add that in the Argentina move, and in the recent Paris considerations, Atlas put us in touch with their local destination shipping agents. In the Argentina case no other company was willing to do this before a contract was signed, and it made all the difference in the world. More recently, it also made a difference to be able to talk with the local French receiving agent and get their views on clearing customs, etc.

Hope that helps. If you would like a contact at Atlas International, please let me know.

 

Thanks for the detailed info, extremely helpful. We will be using an Allied agent as well so very pleased to hear of your experiences. Now what to do with my brand new US Electrolux washer and dryer!

 

Sell them. Seriously, the issues involved in using US large appliances like that are just too much hassle. Besides the need to run them on a transformer (due to the voltage difference), the washers here usually work on the cold water tap only (they heat the water in the machine) and if you've got a gas dryer, there's no gas hookup for it in most "laundry rooms." Never mind that US sized major appliances like that most likely won't fit into a French home. There is a standard European size for appliances - and it's much smaller than the US ones.

 

I know, just going thru the grieving stage!

 

My husband wanted to ask about TVs. Also just bought a brand new one of those

 

If it is a US TV, it will probably not be usable in Europe since there are different TV standards - the voltage and frequency can be adjusted if necessary but it the picture scanning and transmission is different, it may cause problems. I'm no expert so you need to take better advice, hence my use of "may"

 

OK, "made me look." Things have changed a bit since the era of tube televisions, but it's basically the same problem. Beyond the voltage issue, which apparently can be overcome, there is still the broadcast standard.

Used to be NTSC in the US and PAL or SECAM in Europe. But with flat-screen televisions, the standard are still different. It's ATSC in the US and DVB-T in Europe. Means that, even if you could get the TV to function (using a transformer or whatever), it won't pick up over the air transmissions or satellite/cable/Internet transmissions.

There is also still an issue for DVDs and BlueRays - in that the world is divided up into regions. DVDs produced for Region 1 (US) won't play on a player designed for Region 2 (Europe) and vice versa. This is far easier to get around, depending on your DVD player and its features.

 

Thanks, we old'uns aren't quite as up to date with all the technical know-how.

 

Buy any electrical appliances new when you arrive.

Washer, dryer, Tv, radio/hi fi, iron, vac, power tools.

Basically anything corded, that is not rechargeable.

Its not worth the hassle of importing them, and once you realise this you are stuck with an appliance with virtually no resale value, which you paid extra for to have brought here.

Regards


Ian

 

Plus you will have warranties and no problems getting repairs done.