"Move 'em on, head 'em up"

August 2, 2006 5:48 PM

Need to ship packages from US to London, UK. Is there anything cheaper than parcel2go?

Am moving to London and have a variety of things to ship. Thankfully, no furniture or exercise equipment but more than carry on would allow in books, clothes and kitchen equipment. Any suggestions?

posted by jadepearl to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

I would recommend not moving your kitchen stuff. It is just so much cheaper to buy stuff there.

Are you moving there forever?

When I moved, I took 2 huge suitcases of books and clothes.
posted by k8t at 5:52 PM on August 2, 2006

It's not heavy kitchen equipement nor anything electrical just essentials such as, knives. I will be in London for 9 months to a year. Bringing computer hardware, clothes, books and various other equipment. Airlines are getting kind of picky about weight and number of luggage. I wish to dodge airline extortion fees (had that happen when I moved to Alaska).
posted by jadepearl at 8:20 PM on August 2, 2006

When are you moving? I moved overseas for 7 months, and since it was so hideously expensive to ship books, I used the Post Office's M-Bag service. It took about 2 months for the books to get there, but I blame part of that on the postal service in Morocco.
posted by Liosliath at 10:54 PM on August 2, 2006

For me, who also was in London for 9 months - 1 year, I'd say pack your clothes more lightly, bring a laptop (you can get all your extra here) and if you need books, check them out at the library... shipping is way too expensive.
posted by k8t at 3:58 AM on August 3, 2006

Try Ebay - might find a 'broker' offering better rates. parceltosend is one seller, but they do UK to US only - maybe there are reciprocal sellers?
posted by DrtyBlvd at 5:02 AM on August 3, 2006

When we moved back to London from the USA, I packed up loads of shoe boxes with books and similar items and shipped them through the normal post. Books can be sent at a special 'printed matter' rate and that ended up being the most cost effective way for us. Some packages took ages to reach us though, surface mail being what it is.

I agree with k8t though. If it's a temporary move bring as little as possible. You can beg/borrow/steal the rest.
posted by MrMustard at 5:02 AM on August 3, 2006