Shipping from U.K. to U.S.

[mrswooten4ever 0]

1stmoveinternational quoted me £885 to ship 3 cubic meters. If you are shipping personal effects you have to be in the US to receive them. They have been the best so far plus they shrink wrap everything. I have had previous experience were goods have been water damaged so the wrapping in plastic idea appealed to me.

Adele

[Lou Lou 1]

With UPS I certainly didn't have to be in the US to receive them, and they knew exactly why I was shipping the goods. With a 4 day door to door service I just couldn't fault them. It was all sorted a few weeks before I left the UK, and I knew it was all there safely, which meant one less thing to worry about.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

This is why I got confused, all the shipping companies say its US customs rules that you have to be there to ship goods if you are not the USC, but Lou-Lou's experience with UPS says differently (which would certainly help me move some non-essentials I think)

Lou-Lou was it recent that you used UPS or ages ago? And btw thanks for your continued help with this

[Lou Lou 1]

The majrity of the stuff was just over two years ago but I'm pretty sure the rules haven't changed as I sent some about 8 months ago while I was in the UK again. There is the argument that your non essential personal goods are now also his personal goods if they want to get technical but I'm pretty sure they won't. I'm sure customs didn't even glance at my list but if they did they sure would see that I wasn't try to pull a fast one with them. Jay, have you spoken to anyone at UPS? I found them very helpful sorting it all out but must admit I didn't have a wrorry about the customs bit. It does seem to be these shipping firms that cluck about it more so than anyone else.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Nope - havent spoken to anyone as yet - just trying to make sense of it all!

[zyggy 9]

Nope - havent spoken to anyone as yet - just trying to make sense of it all!

This is the deal ( I used to be a CBP Officer) .. an immigrant can bring as many used personal effect as they want to duty free for up to 10 years after the date of entry. All that is required is that you give your shipper a copy of your I-94 and a CBP Form 3299.

If you want the full document on what you can do, read the following CBP Publication "Moving Household Goods to the US"

http://cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/pu....ctt/moving.doc

[miss g 1]

has anyone taken a motor bike across?? i have a 125 cc ... always thought i was gonna sell it but maybe i can take it across for summer use.. any advice??

i dont really have alot i started tossing things out ages ago

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

1stmoveinternational quoted me £885 to ship 3 cubic meters. If you are shipping personal effects you have to be in the US to receive them. They have been the best so far plus they shrink wrap everything. I have had previous experience were goods have been water damaged so the wrapping in plastic idea appealed to me.

Adele

We used 1stMove International in late September 2.4 cubic metres to Houston, TX. They quoted us on 2 cubic meters and we measured and calculated the boxes very carefully. After they got it all ready to ship, it was 2.4 and more cost than we were anticipating. And then there was the insurance tacked on.

We also liked the way they wrapped everything on the pallet. Everything arrived with all the plastic wrap still sealed by 1stMove so we knew nobody had been pilfering the boxes. We were hit with alot of charges by the ships agent when it arrived in port. And then the container was "randomly selected for a second level customs inspection, so more charges. The agent said that's not uncommons. So our things were basically held hostage until we paid several hundred US$ on top of the shipping. It was a bit frustrating.

Customs was a breeze in Houston. We did that ourselves at the CBP office and it took about 5 minutes. That's clearing your goods with no duty charges. It's not the same as the ship's containers having customs inspections. That part was free and 1st move did refund us 90 pounds.

If you happen to be shipping to Houston and need more help, I understand the whole process a lot more than before we packed and shipped. You can PM me.

Edited January 6, 2009 by Nich-Nick

[StillThePrettiest 3]

wow, that sounds quite different to my experience... when did you ship, Nich-Nick? I also shipped to Houston, TX - shipment was packed in London at the end of April 2008 and delivered to my door in Houston in late June or early July - forget which... I used Allied Pickfords

they packed all the smaller items into boxes, all wrapped - didn't have a single breakage - and all the furniture was wrapped in bubble wrap and sealed; it all came off the truck in the same condition it went on

all the port charges were included in the fee I'd paid up-front in London, and there was no re-measuring or extra charges for the shipment - they came to see everything I had before it was packed, quoted a price, and then stuck to that price afterward; I have no idea if it came in under or over the cubic foot amount they'd estimated but as the price was great I didn't care

and then our shipping container was also selected for a second inspection - they say that's about 99% of them these days - but my share of that was a paltry $10

I didn't have to go to the port or anything; they did all of that... as someone said above though, I did have to be present in the country for it to be delivered to me

so it was a very smooth procedure with no hidden costs; I was very pleased with Allied