Shipping ?

[helwardman 1]

I used PSS (as advertised on this site) to ship 4 large boxes (a total of about 130kg) to Louisiana. They charged me £600 and said they would be sent by plane and would take 7-14 days to arrive door to door.

In the end they arrived safely in exactly 14 days. Absolutely no problems whatsover.

[bakofoil 27]

When I was initially looking into this process a friend of mine who did the reverse operation (moved from US to the UK) advised me to buy a cheap suitcase and pack it with things I really couldn't bare to part with and take it with me to the US when I was visiting.

What has been hardest for me is parting with a book collection I had built up for years, including a lot of modern first editions. Ultimately, I think, unless you afford it you have to be pretty brutal about possessions. I recently relocated from my home in Kent to my Mum's in Yorkshire so I can save money for moving over to the US. That move alone, spurred me into action to get rid of anything that I wasn't desperate to keep just so I could move in my car and I made a good few hundred quid at car boots/ebay etc. More than enough to buy a plane ticket and an extra suitcase

I understand there are larger items of sentimental value that can't be handled this way and it's more difficult if you are moving a whole family. But I have a good idea for cd's. I used to have around 400 cd's in my collection and even whittling them down to essentials would have left me with over 100 to ship. So, I bought an 80 GB ipod and loaded all the essentials on there. For more serious music collectors there are 160GB ipods available now.

Just a few ideas

[Seve 0]

Greetings all,

I'm also in the same position of sending out personal items to the US and I'm still unsure on the process of sending and receiving the items sent. I've seen a fair few posts advertising haulage companies and the prices they offer seem rather attractive but I'm a little concerned how and when I should send the items to avoid exuberant custom charges on entering the US. I've recently had my K1 visa approved and delivered this week and I'm now getting ready to send a couple of boxes with PC components and a few dozen books to the US. Will I need to be in the US to receive the items I send? Do I get someone else in the family to send them to me once I've arrived? Could I send the items addressed to my fiancée? If someone could shine a light on this process I'd be very grateful.

Also has anyone used UPS to send items to the US? I was quoted £209 for 2 large boxes via air to be delivered in 4 days door to door, yay or nay?

Graham

[weedebz 0]

here's a question.....how to ship my guitar without paying fortune? not bothered how long it takes as long as it arrives in 1 piece.

[MargotDarko 0]

here's a question.....how to ship my guitar without paying fortune? not bothered how long it takes as long as it arrives in 1 piece.

First thing is to try is calling the airline you're using and ask if they would even consider it excess baggage, and if so, how much it would cost for you to check it. That's probably the safest and maybe even the cheapest way to do it.

[Silas 0]

here's a question.....how to ship my guitar without paying fortune? not bothered how long it takes as long as it arrives in 1 piece.

When I flew back from the states this September the guy sat next to me brought his guitar onto the play (thankfully, he didn't start playing it) and put it into the overhead locker. This was flying with BA.

[helwardman 1]

here's a question.....how to ship my guitar without paying fortune? not bothered how long it takes as long as it arrives in 1 piece.

I sold my guitar cos I didnt fancy trying to ship it over.

Soon I will have a shiny new one

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Bruce brought one with us on the flight but in the hold with special instructions to handle with care. It came out just fine on the other side. Another one we shipped over with the rest of our stuff -- you can buy special guitar boxes for shipping, but we used a bicycle shipping box stuffed with bubble wrap. The guitar strings were loosened and we stuffed in bubble wrap in the case itself. It also arrived just fine!

But if you can carry it over as excess baggage (or even as one of your checked items, as we did) I'd recommend it -- if only for your nerves.