Shipping Your Stuff

Picking a removals company, packing your house and removing it to another country is perhaps the single biggest thing you will do, and most stressful!

Below are some handy hints and tips along with an idea of cost (now don't quote me on the cost issue, I can tell you what we paid in 2004/5 to get from Warrington in the UK to Perth but the best thing as always, is to get a few quotes and then go with what you think is best. Any costs mentioned here are just a guideline and any opinions are just my own, feel free to disagree or completely ignore them).

Handy Hints and Tips

If you're packing yourself rather than using the packing services of the removals firm, buy plenty of bubble wrap and packing tape. There's nothing worse than running out when you're on a roll!

Buy a thick black marker to put your surname and the name of the room where the box needs to go and a thick red marker to mark any boxes that are "fragile".

Take down all your curtains, blinds and light fittings that you want to take with you, you'd be suprised at how many people forget.

Remember to bring everything down from the loft and check the shed. Removals firms often refuse to go into attics unless they are fully boarded, well lit and there's a safe access point so that rules out most people's lofts!

Chests of drawers can usually be moved full (I put things like pillows and duvets inside my chests of drawers and packed the clothes into boxes).

Removals companies have special wardrobe cartons that you can hang clothes in or you can pack them into long flat boxes, check with the company before you start to take all your clothes off hangars.

You need to disconnect all your appliances as the removals company won't do it for you. Unplug everything and disconnect washing machines and dishwashers from the mains and drain them. If you have the original boxes for stereos, TV's etc use them instead of a removals box.

Make sure that your driveway is clear for the van to get in and out easily or if you have parking on the road, speak to your neighbours the night before to make sure they've left enough room.

Give away all your house plants, white goods that you're not bringing with you, food stuffs, cleaning materials, wicker furniture, paint etc to grateful relatives or charity shops (for more info on what you can and can't take, click on the links).

Keep all your important documents separate so they can't get packed by mistake.

And finally but most important, get a supply of tea, coffee and sugar in for the blokes, they may go on strike if they don't get their brew!

Who did we use?

We used a firm called "Roy Trevor" who are based in Warrington in the UK (they cover the entire North West area) and we found them to be very good. They were informative as to what we could and couldn't take, flexible, efficient and more importantly they turned up when they said they would! For more information on Roy Trevor phone 01925 630441 or email (thisperthlife does not get any financial benefit from recommending this firm, we just happened to use them and found them to be good).

We (and I use "we" in the royal sense here, I really mean "I". My husband did have a good excuse though, he was in Perth at time of our house move!!!) did all the packing ourselves with Roy Trevor providing the boxes (they do have a packing service but I'm not sure how much that would have been) and they packed those plus all the furniture (which is taken apart first and then reassembled by the local company here, ie legs off chairs and tables etc) over one and a half consecutive days.

Other people who I've met have recommended PSS. I have to say that most people that I know have not used Pickfords, the main reason seems to be that they are around £1000 dearer than everyone else. I can't comment on that as they didn't turn up for an appointment to give me a quote so I have no idea what they would have charged us.

OK what did we pay?

We had a 20 foot container to ourselves. We could have shared a 20ft with another family but you have to wait until both families are ready before it can sail and if the other family puts items in that Customs doesn’t like then the whole lot is impounded until it’s cleared.

As having the container for your own use only costs approx £150 more than sharing, we decided that it was worth the extra.

We paid GBP£3456 in total which was made up of the following;

GBP£20 per week for storing our belongings in the UK before they were shipped
GBP£10 one off charge for insurance whilst our belongings were in storage
GBP £2606 Deep Sea Export Charge
GBP£680 Marine Insurance to cover the container whilst it's on the ship (this is an optional charge but if the ship sinks, you lose everything, likewise if the seas are rough you may end up with items broken)

On the container's arrival at Fremantle we paid AU$300 for a Quarantine Inspection Fee to Chess Moving who were the company in Perth who handled the Perth end of the removal. They pay this to Australian Customs and Quarantine locally so you can't pay it in advance in the UK.

As the ship & container arrived after we’d rented our house we didn’t have to pay for storage at this end, but if we had, it would have been AU$36.75 plus 10% GST per week for storage plus AU$196 plus 10% GST for a warehouse handling one off fee.

Comments

[Pooya]

Dear Claire,

My name is Pooya, 31 years old. I’m one of your fans and every day, I check your fantastic weblog and read the all the articles carefully with pleasure. It’s full of marvelous information, which I’m looking for.

I’m a chemical engineer and I live in Iran. I’m in the middle of migration process to Australia. I was wondering where to choose for live in there, then I found your site and now I choose Perth for settlement.
I lived in UK, Basingstoke for about 2 years so I am a little bit familiar with British culture. I think that I would not have any problem to getting used to the city and people.
I talked to my immigration agent yesterday and she told me I’ll get my visa for December. I have to wait until then and dream about it.
Anyhow, again thank you for your lovely site and useful information. I hope to see you soon there.

Sincerely yours
Pooya

[Claire Sutton]

Hi Pooya,

It was a pleasure to read your comments and thanks for the compliments. I'm very pleased that you like the site and are getting some useful information from it.

Good luck with the visa!

Regards, Claire

[Pooya]

Thank you for your reply to my previous post on “Shipping Your Stuff”, I need your advise on accommodation. I check every links of your site, but for accommodation; there are many choices and I really got confused about which hotel to choose or where to rent a house. I want some advise Pleasssse!

For me as a new comer to Perth, can you suggest a hotel to settle for the first days of entrance with an acceptable quality and rate, until I find a house to rent? In addition, if I want to get a house not far from the city center and near official places, which sector or street should I choose? Can you give me estimation about a fee of a renting a little suite with one room and private bathroom there?
Many thanks again for your help.

Pooya

[Claire Sutton]

Hi Pooya,

There is a huge range of accommodation in and around Perth, all offering various facilities and prices.

We stayed at Observation Rise in Scarborough when we first arrived in a furnished two bedroomed apartment which cost us $600 per week. Needless to say, we tried to find a house to rent pretty quick!

What you need to do is think where you would like to be; near the city, near a beach, within walking distance of a railway station etc and take it from there.

There are a number of websites with accommodation for rent and I'd recommend looking at the following websites;
http://www.accommodationperth.info/
http://www.takeabreak.com.au/Perth/accomodation.htm
http://www.apartmentswest.com.au/
http://www.leasingelite.com.au/
http://www.check-in.com.au/Australia/Hotels-In-Perth.htm
http://www.stayz.com.au/accommodation/wa/perth/perth-central

In addition there are some companies that specialise in short term furnished houses for newly arrived residents;

http://www.pomsinperth.com/
http://www.getsettledinperth.co.uk/
http://britishexpats.com/resources/housing/australia/index.html

[Chris Johnson]

Just check our prices,if you looking for quality removals.The prices including VAT and full insurance- http://www.thecheaperremovals.co.uk

[George]

Fantastic prices,if you looking for quality removals.The prices including VAT and full insurance for your goods in transit up to 20 000. Also public liability for 10 000 000. http://www.handymoves.co.uk is a professional company.

[Gordana]

Hi Claire,
My name si Gordana, I'm 37 and I live in Italy. Soon (I hope) we will move to Perth (still waiting for visa to be granted). I'm so excited about it.
I found your weblog surfing through the web searching people who had lived my same experince.

I have my Mum in Mandurah, she has moved there 4 years ago with my step father. Fantastic place.
We have visited them during the last Xmas. We found that Perth is so friendly and clean and has the most beautifull sky we have ever seen.
My 10 yers old son didn't won't to leave, praying us to move there. He loved it that much.

So, my husband and i did some interviews and we both were offered excelent jobs. In this moment we are only waiting for Visa to be granted so that we can make the notice pubblic (there's no point upsetting people before).

Thank you for all handy informations that you offer so generously through you weblog.

Sincerely yours

[Shirley Creighton]

Hi Claire,lots of great info here,thanks.Could you give me any information regarding shipping wooden garden furniture,garden ornaments including pond equipment.

many thanks
shirley

[Claire Sutton]

Hi Shirley,

You can certainly ship all your furniture, ornaments and your pond equipment except that you have to make sure that they are completely clean and free of any soil, organisms etc. The best way to do that is to power wash them (take them to a petrol station if you need to!) and get a toothbrush into any small cracks etc to get the muck out.

Good luck as it's a very time consuming job and many people don't bother!

Regards, Claire

[B.Nair]

Dear Claire,
I am an Indian, currently working in Egypt and moving into Perth with my family (wife and a 3 year old daughter)as my company is opening an office in Perth. We are pretty excited of moving into Perth but at the same time anxious about the life what is going to be there as both me and my wife had never been to Perth before. The main reason being our daughter's education (as this is her first year to school)and would request your support in guiding us to the best schools for my daughter. At the initial stage we would like to stay some where close to the CBD (as our office is going to be there) and would request your kind help in knowing the best suburbs near to CBD.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
With best regards,
B Nair

[Ben Sullivan]

Hi Claire,

Shamrock Removal Services can assist with your removal requirements if you still need it. Please go to http://www.shamrockremovalservices.co.uk or email us at info@shamrockremovalservices.co.uk.

[Diarmuid Duffy]

Hi Claire,

Myself and my wife Lorraine are moving to Perth in the new year. We are thinking of shipping both of our cars. Any advice would be great have found you site to be very informative. Thank you

[alison]

Thankyou for an awsome website, im looking at moving to perth in early April 2009, i am considering shipping my car over and flying myself. I just dont know where to start looking for information on this. My original plan was to drive over, but being a single girl im begining to rethink this, please let me know what you think.

[Greg]

Removals UK can help with your removal requirements if you still need it.

http://www.removalsuk.com/

[Vivienne Nicol]

Hello, I wonder if any of you guys can help me & my husband. We moved from Scotland (with all our furniture & dog) to the Middle East & now we've recently found out we are being relocated to Perth Australia, & I hear there are very strick rules & regulations about getting wooden goods into Oz. Can anyone give me any advice on the rules or let me know what they're experience of this has been. The thought of losing 99% of our furniture to customs at this precise moment would feel like losing a memeber of the family. Can anyone help? We plan on moving over early May this year from Dubai. Thank you x

[scarlet]

Bishop's Move provide free international house moving surveys where one of their consultants will visit you at home to answer your questions about moving to Australia, help you start planning and prepare a free, no-obligation quote.

There is also a Moving to Australia guide (http://residential.bishopsmove.com/moving-to-australia-guide/index.htm) which you may find useful.