JMWF

Anyone who has made the cross-atlantic move before, how did you ship housewares etc...?

i've looked at canada post, fedex and ups and all three are very expensive to move good overseas.

i want to ship a few bags with kitchen stuff, towels & bathmats and linens. any suggestions on how to do so?

thanks very much, i realize this isn't the intended use of this forum, but i'm sure some people have some experience.

j.

BKP

My husband's company paid our shipping expenses. If your work is transferring you I would assume they would do the same. Are you doing this move on your own? If so, then I can't really help except to top your post! Good luck!

JMWF

work is not transferring me... quite my job to become a student again - hence the price adversion ;-)

thanks again...

janisj

I've found the shipping costs to be so high that it usually pays to store the heavier things at home (or sell it at a garage sale if you are not attached to the stuff) and buy new or used after getting to the UK.

When I moved there, shipping was paid for me - but I've looked into costs for friends. I would not pay to ship dishes, flatware, pot/pans, utensils or more than the most basic bed/bath linens.

nytraveler

The problem is that while shipping is exxpensive - buying household goods in the UK is very expensive to - way more than in the US at least.

One other thing - unless you're shipping furniture too bed linens won't do much good - since bed sizes are diferent.

zeppole

Since I lived close to New Jersey, I used a shipping line that went straight from a New Jersey port to the port of Genova in Italy -- not what you need, I realize, but it wasn't expensive, as far as I was concerned.

I only shipped books, because in Italy, when one rents, one rents a furnished house.

I paid for only a portion of a palette that was loaded onto a container ship. Since I knew I was paying for more space than I was actually using, I ended up shipping some household goods -- and I'm sorry I did it.

My suggestion is that unless you are talking pricesless heirlooms -- which you should probably put into safe storage anyway -- don't bother shipping. Buy yourself towels and such when you get here.

Most tourists only see the prices in touristy places and get the impression you can't find cheap linens and bath towels on sale abroad. You can find everything you need in the UK at outlets, IKEAs etc.

If you would like a transatlantic shipping estimate for a large amount of goods, I used Shipping Overseas Services in New Jersey.

zeppole

PS: One reason I didn't find the cost expensive is that I was shipping books I needed, which couldn't be replaced. Household goods can, inexpensively.

janisj

&quot;<i>buying household goods in the UK is very expensive to - way more than in the US at least</i>&quot;

Not necessarily so. Of course, there are high/very high end shops. But Ikea is Ikea the world around. Plus there are other lower cost chains. And for some kitchenware - open-air weekly markets, charity shops (like thrift shops back home), and even car boot sales are good sources of really cheap things.

obxgirl

JMWF, There are a number of Americans who've done this and are current posters. For starters, search for posts by &quot;gruezi&quot; and &quot;Grcxx3.&quot; I know there are others and I apologize for omitting them.

&gt;&gt;even car boot sales are good sources of really cheap things.&lt;&lt;

For linens? Ugh. Nasty.

travelgourmet

It is expensive. Your options are really using something like FedEx or a moving company. Neither will be cheap.

If you are really only talking about kitchen stuff and linens, I would just go to Ikea and leave the stuff at home.

Also, while I am not certain, I would think the beds may not be the same size, so the linens might not be overly useful.

pittpurple

We moved to Edinburgh 2.5 years ago - we thought it was a temporary move so only brought the basics, we came with 8 suitcases of clothing and photos, etc. on the plane and shipped about 4 boxes UPS - we had a limited amount of money for relocation expenses.

There's no reason to bring any kitchen stuff, towels, linens etc. - you'll have a much smaller place in the UK and most flats come furnished so you'll just be doubling. Any linens will be much cheaper to buy here at any discount store unless they're really fancy or something.

If you still have stuff to ship check out the forums at uk-yankee.com for advice.

alanRow

&lt;&lt;&lt; And for some kitchenware &gt;&gt;&gt;

try the Pound shops. But for anyone coming to the UK and needing basic kitchenware (and most other things) is Ikea

KayF

We didn't move from North America, we moved to the UK from Australia but I can tell you that you can buy household goods quite cheaply here. We only brought a suitcase each - everything else is in storage back home.

Try Woolworths for towels and kitchen stuff. Any large Tesco or Sainsburys will have reasonable pots and pans, crockery, etc. Also a shop called Wilkinsons has very cheap household stuff including bed linen.

None of this is top quality but you can use it for a year or two then toss it out. Flats here are small and you won't need very much. I would suggest not shipping and buy stuff just as you need it, e.g. buy one teatowel to start etc. You'd be surprised at how little you can make do with, we have!

Kay

BKP

How exciting!

From what I've heard the cheaper the option the slower the boat. We had an air shipment and a sea shipment. It took our boat shipment more than a month to arrive, about 6 weeks from when it was packed. Some things that we had shipped we ended up buying new over hear anyway. We couldn't wait 6 weeks for oven mitts! We also ended up bringing about 5 large boxes on the flight with us. That was pretty expensive but at least we had those things when we arrived.

jamikins

We used Brytor to ship our stuff from Vancouver to London...if you have only a small amount they will pool them with others for the container on the ship which lowers your cost.

janisj

&quot;<i>For linens? Ugh. Nasty.</i>&quot;

For those who can't read - I said . . . &quot;And for <u>some kitchenware </u>- open-air weekly markets, charity shops (like thrift shops back home), and even car boot sales are good sources of really cheap things.&quot;

I never even hinted at buying used or nasty linens. Linens would obviously be covered by the &quot;<i>Ikea is Ikea the world around. Plus there are other lower cost chains</i>&quot; bit . . . . . . .

zeppole

I got my stuff packed up for me and taken to the shipping depot, and I paid for storage (not much) until I was settled in with my Italian address. My shipment was put aboard the next departing boat (about 2 weeks later), and that boat took 3 weeks to arrive, and then it took another week at least to get through Italian customs.

Perfectly fine for books, winter clothes, and all that stuff I should have thrown away anyway.

Not good for bath towels!

BTilke

When we moved overseas, all our household goods (except certain electronics, such as the TV) were sent over in one sealed container. Cost was several thousand dollars.

If you want to do it cheap, then Ikea is for furniture, linens and housewares. I'm very fond of some of our Ikea products...we alternate bed linens with a set of fine cotton bedding from Switzerland one week and an Ikea set the next.

Tchibo, a German chain, has nifty buys one household items.

And yeah, check out the charity shops. Our favorite salad bowls came from a charity shop in Maidenhead, got a set of six for &pound;4, still in their unopened original box.

Carrybean

You're in Canada now?

JMWF

thanks everyone - some good suggestions.

ikea will be the way to go for most stuff... was hoping for some 'too good to be true' shipping method to get a few choice items there... i'll look into some of the shipping suggestions.

ps - yes i'm in canada now