Mini move from the US to the UK
August 6, 2013 6:52 AM Subscribe
My husband and I will be moving from Boston to the UK after a year-long stay: What would be the best (safe and reasonably cheap) way of shipping accumulated belongings, books, CDs and a few other household items that will not fit my luggage?
Speed is not so much an issue, something like 5-8 weeks is OK. Assume a mix of large and small items and some fragile ones as well. The USPS has discontinued its wonderful surface shipping, which took about 6 weeks and the boxes would be delivered almost as if nobody had ever touched them. Is there as a good substitute you would recommend?
Speed is not so much an issue, something like 5-8 weeks is OK. Assume a mix of large and small items and some fragile ones as well. The USPS has discontinued its wonderful surface shipping, which took about 6 weeks and the boxes would be delivered almost as if nobody had ever touched them. Is there as a good substitute you would recommend?
Investigate the excess baggage charge. It may just be cheapest to take it with you.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:53 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by DarlingBri at 7:53 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]
Seconding checking out the excess baggage charge--sometimes it is worth paying the extra $75 or whatever for the extra kgs.
If you can't get friends to take stuff in their luggage as they go, give the major courier companies a call and ask about their sea-shipping rates. I once got 250 pounds of stuff sent across the ocean for ten cents per pound (but that was a few years ago and it did take four months to get there...).
posted by rpfields at 9:16 AM on August 6, 2013
If you can't get friends to take stuff in their luggage as they go, give the major courier companies a call and ask about their sea-shipping rates. I once got 250 pounds of stuff sent across the ocean for ten cents per pound (but that was a few years ago and it did take four months to get there...).
posted by rpfields at 9:16 AM on August 6, 2013
Here's something to consider. Instead of flying, take the Queen Mary 2. I just saw this on the Cat Question, but I think it's pretty cool.
The fare from NY is $1,999 for a 7 day cruise. I don't believe that cruise ships have luggage constraints, so you can pack a trunk!
Plus, think of how relaxing it will be!
Weird, but cool.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:10 AM on August 6, 2013
The fare from NY is $1,999 for a 7 day cruise. I don't believe that cruise ships have luggage constraints, so you can pack a trunk!
Plus, think of how relaxing it will be!
Weird, but cool.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:10 AM on August 6, 2013
Best answer: My SO and I shipped about 10-15 boxes from the UK to the northeast US, containing personal items, books, etc. It cost us about $1000, and took about 6 weeks to arrive.
There are many small companies offering these services. We found ours by googling "moving company" or "removal service" and our area - and just got lots of quotes and picked the one that best suited our needs. They supplied boxes, we packed, they picked up our boxes - and we next saw them when they were unloaded off a truck in front of our new apartment building in the US.
Considering we didn't have a vehicle in either country, it was the least stressful option - and we could travel lightly in the weeks in between.
Feel free to memail me if you have further questions.
posted by jb at 2:02 PM on August 6, 2013
There are many small companies offering these services. We found ours by googling "moving company" or "removal service" and our area - and just got lots of quotes and picked the one that best suited our needs. They supplied boxes, we packed, they picked up our boxes - and we next saw them when they were unloaded off a truck in front of our new apartment building in the US.
Considering we didn't have a vehicle in either country, it was the least stressful option - and we could travel lightly in the weeks in between.
Feel free to memail me if you have further questions.
posted by jb at 2:02 PM on August 6, 2013
Actually - we might have shipped more like 20-30 boxes. We had a lot of books and 5 years of stuff.
Either way, you'll want to get lots of quotes. Since we were looking at slow by-sea shopping, places generally charged by volume, not weight, which was a good deal for our book-heavy shipment.
posted by jb at 2:04 PM on August 6, 2013
Either way, you'll want to get lots of quotes. Since we were looking at slow by-sea shopping, places generally charged by volume, not weight, which was a good deal for our book-heavy shipment.
posted by jb at 2:04 PM on August 6, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Not the answer you were looking for but a very serious one. This is based on having the same problem as you a couple of years ago and having since made the return trip
posted by cacao at 7:33 AM on August 6, 2013