Shipping stuff to the US - where do I start and what do I do?

[griffini]

I am moving to Boston in August with DH and 2 young DC (4 and 2). I have done nothing towards this so far. I need to sort out shipping our things out - how far in advance do you need to book them? Any advice on good companies? Any dos and don'ts?

Hi, there are specialist companies that do this (although I don't have any recommendations).
From what I have heard they will come and look at your stuff asses how many packing cases you will need and I think some will even pack it... and they should sort out all the necessary pwk at the other end...google something like 'shipping personal effects'
The actual transit time I guess would be around a month, maybe a little quicker.

I shipped the entire contents of my hose to the USA and back again (5 years later) and it wasn't too complicated. Get in touch with someone like Pickfords and they will come round and give you the forms and tell you what you can and can't take. It took about 6 weeks for our stuff to ship- it has to clear customs and that can take a couple of weeks.
DO NOT SHIP any alcohol in your consignment- if you write alcohol on your forms customs are more likely to open your container and go through your entire shipment!

You will need to fill out VERY detailed insurance forms- we had to itemize how many bowls plates and glasses etc we were shipping.

the packers we had on the way out (ie in the UK) were excellent but the ones in the US weren't very good.

They will put stickers on every single bit of furniture.

Don't bother taking tv's with you they won't work but you can take table lamps etc and buy voltage convertors but to be honest its probably not worth it.

We moved in the June and dh's company organised the removals company and that was in the April- there are only certain days that container ships sail. You don't have to do it months in advance but no harm it getting organised. Its one less thing to worry about.

The removal company will have a company that they work with in the USA so they will sort all that out.

I am trying to remember who we used but it was in 2002 so can't remember.
I would use a well known company though rather than a small one- I feel they have better experience with international moves.

Hope that helps.

Let me know if I can help any more!

Thanks Kansasmum - I'll google some big companies and get them to do some quotes

How did you find living in the US (we're going for 3 years)? Did you have kids when you were there?

we used daviesturner to move to states- very good- all stuff arrived within 6 weeks and was all packed for us- but you have to buy all new electrical stuff due to diff voltage here. if your company is paying send it all- if not consider trying to minimise heavy/big stuff as it is quite expensive I suspect.good luck with your love!

good luck with your move!!

hi, we moved here oct 2008.

i just went through yellow pages & picked out some of the bigger co.s most of them INSIST that they pack - so that they know what it is. there are some things you just can't take - NO alcohol, no foodstuffs, no liquids (this includes things like kids paints, biros etc, no flammables (inc all cleaning things, spare house paint etc), and no soil - so go through garden eqpt & clean it all thoroughly just before the actual move.

tbh, it wasn't much worse than moving from one town to another - once you have to pack it all up & put it in a box, it doesn't matter how far that box is travelling.

it will take about 6-8 weeks to get there, depending exactly where you are, and can take up to 2 weeks to clear customs.

ask the person giving the quote about how often they sail. if dh's co. is paying, make it clear that it Is only a quote - fuel charges went up massively as we moved, and the cost of shipping was rising by the week.

ditto what kansas mum said about insurance.

US unpackers don't actually unpack - they just deliver boxes to the right room (maybe). keep all the cardboard boxes - they're not included in a house move here, so when you leave you have to buy/provide your own. we have a cardboard box room in our basement, where we flat packed loads of them.

good luck!

Griffini- sorry for the delay in replying. LOVE living in the USA- my girls were 6 and 8 when we moved and slotted right into their brand new school fine- it was a great school in a great family orientated area. My little boy was born in the US.

We lived in Kansas in the midwest- very very conservative but lovely. Friendly people greats schools, and loads of stuff for kids to do- sports, dance anything you wanted!

Hope you enjoy your time there.