[Oregonkiwi]

Well, it's taken a couple of years, but we finally have all our stuff in one place! Last month we shipped over the remaining boxes that were in storage in California and they arrived today.:raebanana

We used UPakWeShip and are very happy. Alison at Upak was very helpful and took the time to answer my millions of emailed questions, and Bruce at Carotrans here in Auckland was also very helpful and kept us updated on our shipment's arrival. Everything turned up when and where it was supposed to.

We chose shipping "to port" i.e OH dropped off the boxes at a warehouse in Sacramento and picked them up from a warehouse in Auckland. Getting MAF and Customs clearance ourselves was very straightforward, in fact everything went very smoothly.

One word of warning - if you get a quote that excludes port/NVOCC charges, take this into account when you're figuring your total costs. I admit that I didn't, but fortunately we had a small shipment and the port charges didn't blow our budget. But as discussed over here (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20100) those fees can really add up on a larger shipment - Carotrans charges NZ$100 per cubic metre for port fees, plus other fees.

If anyone's interested, for our 42 boxes (1.7 cu m or about 70 cu ft) we paid:
Upakweship (shipping & insurance) US$890.00
Carotrans (port/NVOCC fees) NZ$279.97
MAF & Customs: zero

Now back to the unpacking:)

[timeanzbound]

Awesome! I will be using UpackWeShip in a couple of weeks...glad to hear they are good! Who did you use to move your boxes from the port? I need a mover to ship it down to Queenstown once it arrives in Auckland.

[Oregonkiwi]

Who did you use to move your boxes from the port?

My husband and our Subaru.
(Sorry I can't give you a more helpful answer.)

[Mrs Pony]

I was looking at them too... from what I've seen they cover all the customs stuff in the price they quote too

[Ashby]

I got a quote from them with high expectations but they were more than $1000 higher than about 3 other quotes. The other quotes also included customs charges and also full service moving.
The difference was in the base price of the container--which was very high for UpakWeship--around $7000 plus all the other charges bringing it up to $8000. Yikes!

I have been shocked at the wide range of prices. From $4000 (port to port) to more than $10000 and everything in between for a 20' container.

I think we are going to move our date around and see if we can get a better price. (actually, I refuse to leave without the dog so we are going to stay until she can leave with us instead of trusting someone to finish the vet procedures and ship her!)But that should put us at the end of NZ summer which I hope may be cheaper??? It is much cheaper for airfare so hopefully.

[BkyMonster]

Excellent. used Alison as well, she is very helpful. Just dropped my stuff off today, Had about 77 cu ft (though only 21 items, 17 boxes and some other stuff.) so looks like our costs will be similar to yours.