Moving Household Goods From Philippines to U.S.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

There are probably some members here who have moved goods from the Philippines to the U.S.  Any ideas or recommendations are appreciated!

 

We are moving in 2022.  We are already trying to reduce the amount of household goods we have and plan to only ship sentimental items or things that have some value in the U.S. and would cost a lot to replace.  I have one quote for LCL (less than container load).  200 cubic feet (5' X 5' X 8') for $3000 to $3500.  Just to get a picture in my mind, I did some math.  A large Balikbayan box is about 4.5 cubic feet.  So 200 cubic feet is about 44 large BB boxes.  That space should be about right.  When I moved here I send over 30 BB boxes.

 

A 20 foot container was quoted at around $10,000, but they have to do a survey.  A 20 ft container is about 1376 cubic feet.  We don't have enough stuff we want to keep, to go down that road.

 

Ideas?

 

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, seekingthetruth said:

There are probably some members here who have moved goods from the Philippines to the U.S.  Any ideas or recommendations are appreciated!

 

We are moving in 2022.  We are already trying to reduce the amount of household goods we have and plan to only ship sentimental items or things that have some value in the U.S. and would cost a lot to replace.  I have one quote for LCL (less than container load).  200 cubic feet (5' X 5' X 8') for $3000 to $3500.  Just to get a picture in my mind, I did some math.  A large Balikbayan box is about 4.5 cubic feet.  So 200 cubic feet is about 44 large BB boxes.  That space should be about right.  When I moved here I send over 30 BB boxes.

 

A 20 foot container was quoted at around $10,000, but they have to do a survey.  A 20 ft container is about 1376 cubic feet.  We don't have enough stuff we want to keep, to go down that road.

 

Ideas?

 

 

I worked for one of the relocation providers in the Philippines moving expats in and out of the country.  Are you able to mention the company that gave you the $10K quote?  You need to be careful in this space.  Alot of dishonest companies out there and many will not quote everything up front but surprise you on the back end when it arrives in the US.  I can put you in touch with a number of companies, but they will be the large global companies which means their prices will be high but the quality will be better.  The $10K for a 20 ft container seems a little high but shipping rates are a little bit high right now, plus 2022 is a long way off in this space.  No matter what, if you can get by with an LCL you will save some money as long as timing isnt too important.  May take a few weeks longer in order for the container to fill up.  

 

Also, I wouldnt tell the providers your looking at 2022, its too far away actually.  Also, for the survey, you can have a virtual survey done by most of these companies.  You put an app on your phone and then on the date and time you walk around showing what your shipping and they can estimate the volume etc.  What you plan to ship is perfect for this type of survey.  Surveys are free too.  Dont ever pay for one. 

 

Also you need to be clear what your looking for with them and they need to quote that way.  You probably want door to door but some may quote door to port to show a lower cost, but then you need to get it from the port in the US to your door.  Also, insurance is about 3% of the value of goods shipped.  You can do lump sum or itemize it but by far and away lump sum is much much easier.  

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by flicks1998

[flicks1998 1,044]

I was also going to say time of the year will also effect your rates.  Summer is peak shipping season and prices are higher, I would say December and January is the next highest priced season.  Low season will definitely be Feb-end of April or so plus Mid Sept to about mid November. 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

46 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

I worked for one of the relocation providers in the Philippines moving expats in and out of the country.  Are you able to mention the company that gave you the $10K quote?  You need to be careful in this space.  Alot of dishonest companies out there and many will not quote everything up front but surprise you on the back end when it arrives in the US.  I can put you in touch with a number of companies, but they will be the large global companies which means their prices will be high but the quality will be better.  The $10K for a 20 ft container seems a little high but shipping rates are a little bit high right now, plus 2022 is a long way off in this space.  No matter what, if you can get by with an LCL you will save some money as long as timing isnt too important.  May take a few weeks longer in order for the container to fill up.  

 

Also, I wouldnt tell the providers your looking at 2022, its too far away actually.  Also, for the survey, you can have a virtual survey done by most of these companies.  You put an app on your phone and then on the date and time you walk around showing what your shipping and they can estimate the volume etc.  What you plan to ship is perfect for this type of survey.  Surveys are free too.  Dont ever pay for one. 

 

Also you need to be clear what your looking for with them and they need to quote that way.  You probably want door to door but some may quote door to port to show a lower cost, but then you need to get it from the port in the US to your door.  Also, insurance is about 3% of the value of goods shipped.  You can do lump sum or itemize it but by far and away lump sum is much much easier.  

 

Great advice!  Thank you!

 

I guess it should be ok to mention the company.  A friend recommended the guy, not the company.  He moved my friend from Virginia to the Philippines, but he was working for another company at the time.  I think my friend said that was a 20 ft container and was 7-8 thousand, in 2013.  That same friend is now moving back in 2021!  He was happy with the service the first time.  The current company is called VonParis.

 

The prices he was quoting included pickup and containerize.  Since it is just small stuff, I don't really need unpacking at destination.  I was planning on having everything boxed up ahead of time, except for a few odd sized items.  That would probably make a virtual survey very easy if it was done after boxing.  We are not planning on moving any furniture.  I have a few fragile items like large vases that I was going to pack up myself.  Is that a good idea or let them pack the fragiles?

 

P.S.  I have done 4 other major moves paid for by my company, so I didn't pay much attention to the cost.

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by seekingthetruth

[flicks1998 1,044]

26 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Great advice!  Thank you!

 

I guess it should be ok to mention the company.  A friend recommended the guy, not the company.  He moved my friend from Virginia to the Philippines, but he was working for another company at the time.  I think my friend said that was a 20 ft container and was 7-8 thousand, in 2013.  That same friend is now moving back in 2021!  He was happy with the service the first time.  The current company is called VonParis.

 

The prices he was quoting included pickup and containerize.  Since it is just small stuff, I don't really need unpacking at destination.  I was planning on having everything boxed up ahead of time, except for a few odd sized items.  That would probably make a virtual survey very easy if it was done after boxing.  We are not planning on moving any furniture.  I have a few fragile items like large vases that I was going to pack up myself.  Is that a good idea or let them pack the fragiles?

 

P.S.  I have done 4 other major moves paid for by my company, so I didn't pay much attention to the cost.

 

Im not sure of VonParis but getting multiple quotes is beneficial.  I can put you in touch with people at Crown, Santa Fe and Asian Tigers.  I know them really well and can put you in touch with the right people who wont screw you over, but their pricing may be a bit higher and it may be too much service given that you dont have a huge shipment.  For the company moves you did in the past, they would have used one of those companies, along with a few others but they are not in the Philippines.

 

One thing you will want to check is on insurance coverage.  If you pack the items yourself, will insurance still cover the items if something were to break.  It sounds strange but there are scientific ways to pack certain items and insurance may only cover items packed by one of the providers.  However you can ask this at time of "survey" or ahead of time if you want.

 

The problem you will have getting a quote now for later is that many companies may still have costs related to COVID into their prices.  Sea shipments went up about 20-30% this past year and air shipments went up 300% due to the lack of flights.  These high costs are an anomaly and should not be factored into the costs for 2022, even maybe mid 2021 and later. 

 

Your LCL quote is actually not too bad, but you need to drill down what the cost is covering.  You need an apples to apples comparison across your quotes and most companies do not quote the same.  Always get a break down into the tiniest details if you can.  It will avoid surprises later on.   For example, if you ship certain types of wood products and the boat is going to a port in California, depending on the wood type it may need to be treated at the port before they release it to go to your final destination.  That cost may not be in your quote as its an unknown until customs evaluates the items.  Things like this you just need to be careful off. 

 

I can always have someone reach out to you from one of those companies.  As mentioned for the last 10 years I was moving expats in and out of the Philippines before I decided to come back to the US.  There are some other companies in the Philippines as well but I just dont know enough about them to comment.  Knowing what I know about the industry, you should get 2-3 quotes and then analyze the quotes closely and ask as many questions as you can too them.  The ones who take the time to explain everything to you and are open to the overall cost is the one I would choose. 

Edited November 27, 2020 by flicks1998

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

Im not sure of VonParis but getting multiple quotes is beneficial.  I can put you in touch with people at Crown, Santa Fe and Asian Tigers.  I know them really well and can put you in touch with the right people who wont screw you over, but their pricing may be a bit higher and it may be too much service given that you dont have a huge shipment.  For the company moves you did in the past, they would have used one of those companies, along with a few others but they are not in the Philippines.

 

One thing you will want to check is on insurance coverage.  If you pack the items yourself, will insurance still cover the items if something were to break.  It sounds strange but there are scientific ways to pack certain items and insurance may only cover items packed by one of the providers.  However you can ask this at time of "survey" or ahead of time if you want.

 

The problem you will have getting a quote now for later is that many companies may still have costs related to COVID into their prices.  Sea shipments went up about 20-30% this past year and air shipments went up 300% due to the lack of flights.  These high costs are an anomaly and should not be factored into the costs for 2022, even maybe mid 2021 and later. 

 

Your LCL quote is actually not too bad, but you need to drill down what the cost is covering.  You need an apples to apples comparison across your quotes and most companies do not quote the same.  Always get a break down into the tiniest details if you can.  It will avoid surprises later on.   

 

I can always have someone reach out to you from one of those companies.  As mentioned for the last 10 years I was moving expats in and out of the Philippines before I decided to come back to the US.  There are some other companies in the Philippines as well but I just dont know enough about them to comment.  Knowing what I know about the industry, you should get 2-3 quotes and then analyze the quotes closely and ask as many questions as you can too them.  The ones who take the time to explain everything to you and are open to the overall cost is the one I would choose. 

Again, thank you!

 

I definitely will be getting more quotes, and based on your advice, I will wait until later in the year.  When the time comes, I may reach out to you.

 

When I asked the guy about the move, I just said I was looking for a very high level ballpark estimate, which he gave.

[flicks1998 1,044]

4 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Again, thank you!

 

I definitely will be getting more quotes, and based on your advice, I will wait until later in the year.  When the time comes, I may reach out to you.

 

When I asked the guy about the move, I just said I was looking for a very high level ballpark estimate, which he gave.

Sure, you could even have one of the three I mentioned do a survey just to give you an honest ball park figure on what it could cost and then if you find a better value, use whichever company offers that.  Just let me know  if you want me to reach out to them and I can get someone to call you.

 

For the prices your quoted, you could probably try to negotiate a discount of 10% or so.  There is a TON of competition for this type of business and because of COVID, they are even more desperate now.

 

 

[Allovertheworld 355]

What is a "Survey"?

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 hours ago, Allovertheworld said:

What is a "Survey"?

On typical moves the old fashioned way, a guy comes in and talks to you about what is going, what is staying, fragile items, etc.  Then they can estimate what size truck or container they need, and what packing materials they need to bring on move day, and total cost.  For instance, if you own an original Van Gogh, on move day they will bring all the materials they need to safely crate it.  I own three original Van Goghs, so this is important.  I got a great deal on them at the wet market, and the guy threw in a Rolex too!