[settersred]

Have had several quotes for shipping. As I was advised to "bring everything" the quotes are all around £6000. If I leave stuff behind and use a 20ft container I can save about £1800. :o
This means leaving Kitchen White goods x 5, Sofas x 2, Wardrobes x 2, draw units x 3, a tall display unit, and some odd boxes of books, toys etc..
Bearing in mind that if we rent initially, the rental property will probably have white goods anyway and then we will have to pay extra for storage on ours. :mad:
Is it worth reducing the cost of shipping this end or will these things cost more to replace there? :confused:

[willsken]

If it was me :o and I would have to leave all that behind, I would get the bigger container. So many people have been on this forum and said they regretted not taking their "stuff".

[marcia]

Have a look at some of the NZ websites to see how much it would cost you to replace any items you leave, bearing in mind their age and if they might konk out soon (our freezer and washer are on their last legs and would be a definate no if space was an issue!)

Then see what the difference is between the extra cost of a 40 footer and replacing the stuff you would have to leave!

Or if you are not too much over get quotes for sending stuff you can live without for a bit longer (books and sentimental bits and bobs) and price up sending them groupage, and the rest in a 20 footer.

A few options to consider and add to the dilema!! :o

[Park City Partner]

We are renting our house but still needed a fridge. We just bought a new fridge, 375L (i.e. not big) and it had a sticker on it for about $1,500. We got a bit of a discount as we took the floor model. I think you will regret not bringing your stuff when you price out those same items here.

[Park City Partner]

Oops. I should also add that we had to provide a washer & dryer too. We bought these used at a garage sale and got a great deal. $350 for both and they work great. You can get these items on trademe but it can be a bit of a hassel and there are timing issues as well. Good luck.

[thomas family]

Hi

We brought all our possessions with us and were really pleased, I found it helped with settling, there are enough exciting new things, it was nice to have something familiar. Unless it's cheap/old furniture and could do with replacing then bring it, once you've exchanged your money and are earning NZD it does't go that far. You will have enough expense to start with without replacing all your basic furniture. The cost of kids to go to school, uniforms, doctors, costs of day to day living, replacement car (insurance, WOF equiv to MOT), money to sightsee etc. We paid £4,200 to ship everthing over in a 20ft container, hope this helps. :)

[westies]

Would recommend bringing the lot, you will have enough to shell out for when you arrive, and things definately cost more here!!

[katandbob]

mmm well we bought everything here, we must be the only ones that didnt have much that was worth spending thousands to ship out.

Dont forget that £6000 is $18,000

We spent around $9000 and the wooden furniture in NZ is much cheaper than in the UK.

I even replaced my LCD tv for less than I sold the one we had in the UK!

and we didnt have to wait for the ship to arrive, infact it was all delivered on the same day we bought it!
We got our rental keys on the Thursday morning, the furniture arrived at 3pm, we went shopping for electric goods the next morning and they were delivered by 1pm.
But maybe thats just Invercargill???

I dont regret not bringing the heavy stuff at all, but I wish I had brought more horsey stuff, and of course the only thing that I FORGOT to pack......was a UK extension thingy....which would be REALLY useful as I only have one adapter and i have to unplug my digital house phone to charge up my cell phone!!

Kat

[Smiler]

I dont regret not bringing the heavy stuff at all, but I wish I had brought more horsey stuff, and of course the only thing that I FORGOT to pack......was a UK extension thingy....which would be REALLY useful as I only have one adapter and i have to unplug my digital house phone to charge up my cell phone!!

Kat

Kat if you want a 4 extn one, I can post one to you. You (or Rob ) will just need to put some wire and a NZ plug on the end. OH nicked the wire for his spares box, anorak!:uhoh

[kiwidebs]

We brought most things with us and are pleased we did. The only thing in your list that I might consider not bringing is the wardrobes. Most (not all) houses in NZ seem to have built in wardrobes. Most rentals are unfurnished - meaning you need to provide pretty much everything except an oven. If you're lucky there might be a dishwasher but unlikely to have washer/dryer/fridge-freezer etc.


HTH

[baboonworld]

What is it that you are putting into the 20ft then?? If you have to leave all the other stuff you must be bringing a car or something??

We brought all our stuff with us (inc piano and a motorcycle, 2 large lounge suits, washer, dryer, dining table, kitchen table, desk, p c, shelves, double and superking beds and about 50 boxes) and we fit all that in a 20ft container. Cost us £4500 inc ins (plus MAF fees at this end) GB Liners

[willsken]

OH nicked the wire for his spares box, anorak!:uhoh


:laugh :laugh

[davehunter]

Depends where you are going, if you are going to a major town, then you shouldnt, have any problems getting replacements. However, we brought everything via pickfords and dont rgret it, things can be quite expensive in NZ, especially the more remote area, and the choices are very limited. If you have got relitivly new good stuff them bring it. Its a whole hear of agro getting here and you want to make it as smooth as possilbe. Ikea flat pack stuff is a big hit out here, everybody raves about ours, just slit the boxes open, and reseal them with tape to avoid customs charges.
LCD or plasma tv will need to be capable of PAL B/G. uk is PAL I, check in manual.

Best of Luck Dave Hunter

[IanW99]

How close are you to a full 40' container? If it is nearly full, then I would recommend you fill it (doesn't cost anymore). This includes things that you are considering selling, as generally you will get more selling them in NZ than in the UK (and you never know you might need them).

If you are worried about storage while you are in rental property, then chances are you can store most of the boxes in the garage (or even a spare room). We never unpacked half our boxes until we moved into our own home.

Ian

[Familyofmonkeys]

Agree with Ian, you can always get shared 40 ft container.....prices are negotiable, you just have to pester a bit. If you rent somewhere with extra bedroom or garage that you could use for storage, it would probably work out cheaper than cost of storage unit and extra insurance to cover it. We bought everything...unless you want to spend time replacing stuff, or are prepared to buy alot second hand, it will cost way more to replace most items when you add it all up. We rented furniture for few weeks until our stuff arrived, and it worked out very cheap to do. There are links to rental companies elsewhere on forum, so worth doing a search. It's so nice when your own stuff arrives though...makes you feel much more at home!

[bumpffslam]

I suspect that its the same as moving within your home country, ie most of us have a whole lot of stuff we don't use and probably don't need. We cart it around because it's easier to take with us than face up the the fact it's not needed and should be deposed of. Just because you paid X pounds for it, does not mean it's value is still X pounds. Face up the to reality - much of its worthless to you.

All that stuff in the attic, in the garage, tops and backs of wardrobes - what's it all for? Fact is you can buy junk in New Zealand to replace what you have - why bring it with you!! Take the opportunity to cleanse your self of the useless. Have fun at a car boot sale!

Yes bring things of personal value, yes bring newish white goods (provided they are 240V). Bring your favourate clothes - unless you are ready for a complete makeover!!

Bringing furniture, unless heirlooms, needs thinking about, eg how will my UK style furniture look in a NZ house? Do I want the same old style or am I ready to embrace modern styles? Yes the familar is very comforting but unless you're prepared for adventure and new experiences, why are you moving to NZ?

And this is written by someone who has a dozen packing cases still unpacked 2 years after arriving!!

[nippa&pippa]

We brought everything..everything including new stuffs like washing machine as it is lots cheaper to buy new in UK than in NZ..
In our experiences, bring everything is done better benefit to us that help us settled quicker and much to our children's delight to see their toys, familiar bedding, familiar bed, familiar items made them more settle even I did brought new bedding and toys on arrival to get by till our shipping turn up but nothing settle kids.
We unpacked everything and take out (to check for shipping damages) and work out what we need during rental stay and repacked what we don't need, then put all boxes in garages and in bedrooms. We rented place with nothing in the house apart from oven!! mean we need our own fridge, freezer, washing machine, microwave, table, chairs, beds etc.

[settersred]

Lots of replys here guys and thanks for your input.

Since writing our first post we have sold our house and moved into a rental.
During this process we got rid of loads of stuff that was not needed and we are determined to fit into a 20 ft container.

Had Pickfords, Bishops and Brittania to quote and they all said we can go with the 20ft but might have to leave tha sofa's, this is not a problem as they are so old and I have been wanting new ones for over a year.

Bishops were the cheapest at £3200, Britania at £3700 and Pickford ? can't remember but similar price. We would prefer Britania so I have them coming back next wk to re-quote as we have dumped even more stuff after sorting through boxes from the old house. They will have to bring their price down though. I will let you know how negotiable they are.

Tickets booked for 13th Sept, dog sorted, just need to confirm date with shippers. The only thing I dont want to do is the goodbyes.

[dharder]

Do I want the same old style or am I ready to embrace modern styles?

From my brief glances at Trademe and some furniture shops, it is not necessarily replacing old style with more modern when replacing my furniture with some bought in NZ - in a lot of cases, it looks like the other way round :)

For me, it is not mainly a question of 'do they have sofas there', I'm sure they do. It is more a question of 'how much time do I want to spend looking for sofas in a new place, where I'm not familiar with where to go for what shopping, not accustomed to prices, and probably still thinking in a different currency, and how much do I want to spend on top of the initial spending that I assume will be quite high'. It may also be the case that you then have to wait for your furniture that you bought in NZ, depending on delivery times. So personally, I just want to be able to move in.

Daniela

[kirkandliz]

I'd definetely agree with the majority here - bring as much as you can.
While it would be nice to think of ditching the stuff you have had for years and getting new when you start your new life there is a LOT of money to be outlayed when you arrive and start setting up your new life without having to replace all the things all the things you just sold!

Unless of course you are financially sorted ..... in which case no worries :)

If you can bring stuff and last through to when the container arrives then it will pay off. You can always try to stock up as well. I was worried that we were spending too much money in the UK before coming out but am def glad we made a fair go of the January sales before coming out here!

[StevieD]

Debs - that is radio hams for you!! :laugh

[Sam B]

I'm in the bring it all category. We scaled down to a 20 foot container by junking all our white goods and modern furniture, and just keeping older (semi-antique) stuff. I was also ruthless at chucking out junk and accumulated c**p, which I would highly recommend anyway.

When we got here, it was a shock how much we had to pay out in start up costs. Good quality white goods are VERY expensive, and other things soon add up. Plus, my stuff from England just seems more precious than ever (IF IT EVER ARRIVES!!!) so I say, junk your junk, but bring everything else.

[Klipa]

when you talk about "white goods" do you mean plates, dishes, etc?

We have sold most of our stuff here (canada) as none of it were things we want to bring with us. We do have a few large storage bins full of photos, books, etc that we are looking into having shipped over.

After reading some other posts, I'm thinking I should buy some items such as dishes, towels and such before we leave and ship them with our personal items. We will be shipping by the cubic metre so not sure if this would still be worth it as I don't think we have anywhere close to filling up a small container.

If I buy some things new here, including a bike, what are my best options for avoiding taxes on their arrival. Do I simply need to open and re-tape the boxes to show that they have been opened or do they need to see signs of wear?

What are the main "smaller" items that you would definitely suggest we buy here and send over?

Thank you.

[barryp]

Dishes and towels are cheap enough here that I wouldn't bother (bring just enough to get by for a few days).

I'd load up on small items that are expensive here, sadly many of them might pose issues in shipping:
- vitamins and uncontrolled medications such as aspirin
- cooking spices
- long-life camera batteries
- plug adaptors for appliances
- books, cd's, and dvd's you just can't imagine living without

I'd also make sure importing a bicycle is worth it. You do have to use it beforehand for Customs' purposes, yet have to make it spotless for MAF's purposes. That's quite a bit of time to invest in something that's easily available here (though not as inexpensively).

[IanW99]

when you talk about "white goods" do you mean plates, dishes, etc?
...

If I buy some things new here, including a bike, what are my best options for avoiding taxes on their arrival. Do I simply need to open and re-tape the boxes to show that they have been opened or do they need to see signs of wear?

What are the main "smaller" items that you would definitely suggest we buy here and send over?

Thank you.

White goods are so named for appliances that are traditionally white e.g. Fridges, Washing Machines etc.

For buying new items, to avoid any fees they need to be personal / household items and they need to be used. There is no time limit on 'used' and definitely don't need any wear and tear.

The recommendation is to take the item out of the box and check that it works (hard to repair/replace later) and then re-package (original box is fine).

Ian