Moving to USA from the UK....assistance required

[Donis1410 2]

I posted this on another (not so good and very stuck up) immigration site and they weren't very helpful....

I am hopefully looking to move to the USA at the end of July this year.

One thing I still need to look into and work out is getting some of my larger property, such as photo frames etc shipped to the USA from the UK.

Does anybody have any recommendations for companies, prices, service and what method is best?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I posted this on another (not so good and very stuck up) immigration site and they weren't very helpful....

I am hopefully looking to move to the USA at the end of July this year.

One thing I still need to look into and work out is getting some of my larger property, such as photo frames etc shipped to the USA from the UK.

Does anybody have any recommendations for companies, prices, service and what method is best?

There's an older thread in the UK forum called "Yes!! It's another shipping thread" full of companies, links, etc. Google that exact title.

Then there's random small discussions about shipping in the UK forum. Here UK forum You might want to use the 'advanced search' feature (top right under the menu bar) Search word "shipping", then scroll down to where you can pick which forum to search. Find Regional Discussions, then United Kingdom. That way you'll find only UK talk about shipping things.

And as a side note, you might benefit from this thread London 2012- K1s from NOA2 to interview thread to help you get ready for the London part of your journey.

[nutsmunkey2000 3]

I used a company called excess baggage and I can say that they provided me with a very good door to door service for a decent price. There are plenty of companies based in London that specialise in sending stuff overseas (mainly africa) that you have to watch out for as they have little or no insurance coverage....Beware of these cheap shipping companies!!

As I said Excess Baggage were great and after I call to a girl called Mari they sent me 3 heavy duty flat packed tea chest sized boxes plus some tape which I used to box my stuff up. I then arranged a suitable date for them to collect the boxes from my house. They shipped the boxes to my new house in California and actually carried them inside the house (many shipping companies will only offer a tailgate service meaning you have to get them off the truck yourself).

All in all they were good and helped out with the import paperwork making my life easier. The only thing I would say is that you have to be careful when loading the boxes as they charge extra if you go over the set maximum weight.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I used Excess Baggage 5 years ago. We had 30 (!!!) boxes to ship from London to Connecticut, from little book boxes to a gigantic bike box. Excellent service on both ends -- only one thing (a mug) was broken in transit. When we ran low on boxes and tape during the packing, all we had to do is call them up and they'd bring us more stuff.

Highly recommended.

[photomile 101]

Can I ask you guys about cost?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Can I ask you guys about cost?

Just looked it up--

Sept 2008: 23 or so Dell computer boxes, 2.5 cubic metres, weight 650 pounds - £1,011.00

A considerable amount of that was insurance. Extra £100 to build a special foam lined crate to hold a family heirloom antique clock.

But the worst part was an extra $650 in the US in fees. It's like the stuff was held hostage and we had to pay the ships agent, transport to a customs warehouse because the container was "chosen" to go through secondary inspection, and we had to pay the warehouse. Nothing was inspected because it was still on the pallet, shrink wrapped, and sealed with the moving company's tags. Rip offs you don't know about in advance. They will say you may incur some extra expense in the US.

We retrieved it ourselves and cleared customs ourselves. The clearing customs was something we had to have before they would release to us. It had nothing to do with the inspections. That part was a cake-walk in an office building. The customs guy said we didn't need to do those forms because he liked to make it real easy. We gave him a list of inventory and he gave his approval clearance on the bill of lading or some such piece of paper. Normally you have an agent in the US that clears customs on your behalf and a moving company that brings it to your door. I don't know why we do things ourselves. LOL.. well it was because everything was pretty much going to NYC or Philly and then by truck to Houston. We got ours on a ship going to Houston and intended to pick up at the port. It got the lucky secondary inspection so it was at a Customs warehouse with concertina wire looping around the tops of tall fences. Cool! Got to see some dodgy parts of Houston and drive inside the scary fences.

We like 1st Move International on the UK side. Everything was in perfect order when it arrived.

[Holly2234 66]

Excess Baggage will give you a quote on the website. Even if you dont know exactly what youve got, you can give yourself a rough idea.

[Donis1410 2]

I have been looking at the excess baggage site, there prices appear very good, the only thing that concerns me is the insurance and any "extra" fees from customs once the items arrive in the USA.....as a lot of the items are not brand new, nor for sale