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Any advice would be massively appreciated! We are in the process of packing up our house in the UK and getting it shipped to Perth. My husband is a diesel mechanic and has been for 15 years- he has a huge collection of tools and his tool box. He’s spent weeks cleaning them all but we are now not sure what to do with insuring them for the shipment. Should each tool be listed individually and should we cost each one or should just a general total for the whole tool box? He stated listing each tool on a spreadsheet today- 8 hours in and he’s only on box 4 out of 11 so if there is an easier way we would love to hear it!!

Hi, What items are prohibited in a container please? Many thanks.

I have inherited a motorcycle that is located in Hampshire, England. It isn't worth anything as it doesn't work. However, many of the parts would be useful to me as I am restoring a similar motorcycle at the moment here in Australia (Sunshine Coast, Queensland). I have contacted a few shippers now and no-one seems to want to help. I am not interested in all the hassle to ship a complete motorcycle as it is not registered in my name (not registered at all actually) so will strip it down when I go back to visit family in June and will either have to get someone like DHL to courier the parts or find someone currently living in the south of England but will be moving to Queensland in the second half of 2020 and may have space in a container. I know that's a long shot but is there anyone here that might be in a position to help? Cheers Bill

Hi All, I was wondering if anyone had experience in Self Pack Containers? Or has anyone purchased a container outright and shipped to the UK? When we get there it would be a benefit to keep the container full and on our driveway as we wont have space to unpack right away? Thanks in advance.

Morning all, We've just received quotes in for a 40ft container shipment of household goods from Melb to UK (southampton). Eye-watering... If you've done the move back to the UK from Melbourne, I'd really appreciate if you could let me know some ballpark figures of what it cost you. Many thanks in advance, R

Hi there after the hardest 5 years of my working life we are looking at going back.Any advice removalist companies and tips etc please let me know. I AM NOT interested in a Aus v Uk debate - been there and done that, im voting with my feet, thanks

I thought I'd share my experience of PSS and our house move in order to help others in a similar place to us. In July 2017 we booked our tickets to Sydney. No jobs, no home and no schools for the kids - but somehow, I'd managed to get my 190 perm resident visa (still didn't believe it until we arrived at the end of Jan!). From that point on I was in planning overdrive. We used movehub.com to get quotes for our container, I needed to downsize a 4-bed house into a 3-bed house and do some major de-cluttering. I'd already listed in an excel spreadsheet what we wanted to take, keep, leave or new tenants, trash, sell, recycle etc. This helped when getting the quote from movehub as you need to enter in what you will be taking for them to quote. The quotes came thick and fast and I decided to see PSS and John Mason. They both organised home visits to assess our house. In the end we went with PSS, no major reason, perhaps the sales guy seemed a bit more genuine and nicer, it wasn't price, as they were very similar. My husband had also been tracking PSS on social media for the last few years and they seemed to have a good rep. We booked a 20ft container at approx. 85% capacity. We paid for them to pack and spray everything (your outdoor items will need major cleaning and disinfecting). The week before they turned up was probably one of the most stressful and emotional of my life. Saying goodbyes, packing up etc. We'd already de-cluttered loads before Christmas, but we still had sooooooo much stuff and many items (baskets, candles, rope-based items) that we couldn't take. I sold so many storage baskets on Facebook I lost track! Anyway, by the time the removal guys turned up we were just about ready, my kids were still in school the day they arrived which was good. They were like machines, one upstairs, one downstairs, packing like crazy in return for tea and biscuits They packed everything on day then, then on day 2 our container turned up - our very own container! We ended up 5% over our original capacity so paid the extra to PSS afterwards. The boxes were packed into the container by lunchtime and off it went - we're hoping to get it mid-end March once its cleared customs. Defo recommend PSS, they are obviously used to people being a bit all over the place and were a calming influence; on me at least! They even spotted a few things we couldn't take, e.g. aerosol cans or some old cough medicine I had, which I'd forgotten about. We took our vacuum, 3 bikes, some garden tools, camping stuff, kids scooters etc - I'd jet washed everything beforehand, then used vinegar and a wire brush to scrub off rust etc from tools/bikes. I put my vacuum parts in the shower / dishwasher. The PSS guy said they were some of the cleanest he'd ever seen (maybe he says that to everyone, but I really went to town on the cleaning!). Some pics attached if useful! I'm thinking of turning our little adventure into a blog, so if anyone is interested in more info on how I've got this far, and our perm 190 visa let me know. It's been a hectic first week - looking at lots of rental places and having job interviews. I'm thinking I'll do my next post on rentals.

Me, my hubbie and our 2.5 year old are moving on a 190 visa from Manchester to Brisbane in September. We are hoping to sell / bin / charity shop the majority of our stuff but still have a few items of furniture, pictures, clothes etc that we would like to take. I think half a container would be more than large enough to fit in everything. My question is does anyone know roughly how much this would cost and also do any firms offer space in a container rather than having to have the whole thing or half?. Also we are thinking of just paying 6 months rent up front once we have found a place - does anyone have any experience of this? Is it the norm if you have no Australian credit history, previous address etc? Any advice would be great!

Hey all, Moving back to the UK After a few bad experiences with removal companies..I am now considering buying my own container and having it shipped from Melbourne to the UK. Has anyone ever done this? How much did you save? how complicated was this process? what companies did you use? Any advice on this would be appreciated

Hi All, We are moving from Cheltenham to Sale (Victoria) in April and have had three quotes for shipping. For a 20ft container, prices range from £4,500 to £5,000, plus marine insurance. Is this a typical ball park figure? Many talk about this being the first quote. How do you bring the cost down from such a figure? Bear

I'll give you some background: My family and i moved to Australia, originally Perth WA, in February 2008. After 8 months of not getting work, being unhappy, paying huge rent there, we decided to move to the North West Coast of Tasmania. We have been here for about 4 years now. It's a beautiful state, but there are hardly any jobs and everything is expensive my family don't enjoy their jobs and i cannot find an apprenticeship - being a girl in Automotive makes everything a little more difficult as everyone over here is sexist as hell. We're doing well with money, we have two cars, a boat, a gorgeous house with panoramic ocean and mountain views, yet we find ourselves wanting to move back to the UK. My mum's family is back in the UK and we miss them a fair bit; perhaps that's what is instigating our move. But yea, i don't feel as though i have anything here; no mates, no job, no future here. I keep trying to remind myself of the state of the UK; the traffic, etc. but i still want to go back for good. i've never felt like we fit in here, based on the fact that we're english. We're going to need a 40ft container and we are taking our 4 year old Ragdoll cat, Zach, with us. Has anyone been feeling/have felt similar and moved back? We're just a bit lost and stressing out about the process. Nothing is set into concrete, but it is more likely than not that we'll move back. Any comments or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi guys, I've just got wind of this - it sounds like some bureaucrats somewhere are trying to justify their existence! As of Jan 1, any vehicles with internal combustion engines being shipped in containers are now classified as hazardous goods. This also applies to any car on the water at that stage, so effectively, if your container hasn't already left, it will affect you. You have two options: the first is to make the vehicle non-hazardous, which involves draining the fuel tank and disconnecting the battery (which makes it a pain for moving around). The second is to cop the extra cost of labelling the container and filling out extra forms, which looks like being an extra GBP75 with the companies I regularly use. This only affects vehicles travelling in containers, cars being shipped on RORO aren't affected. The 'sarcasmist' in me wonders how we manage to drive our cars around without them exploding :wink:

The shipper we are considering has advised us that around 60% of consignments have damage done upon the quarantine inspection. I suspect/ hope this is just a sales technique to get me to take the all risks insurance. Can anyone tell me if they had any damage done to their shipment and if so how bad it was. ​Thanks in advance

We're leaving in about 5 weeks and I'm starting shopping for new stuff to take either in our luggage or to put in the container. Up to now I have bought Towels Bedding (gorgeous Laura Ashley stuff) Pillows Beach Towels So was wondering what do you wish you had put in your container/luggage?

Just had PSS pack all our stuff. I was a bit worried as they were the cheapest. Cant recommend them enough though.I told them what was not going and it is all still here! The blokes worked hard and got it all done in 1.5 days.They were contractors but they said 90% of they work is PSS work. Keep em fed with sarnies and bikkies and loads of Tea and you will be sorted. Just one thing: My invoice turned up and a shipping increase charge of £29 and a NES fee (?) was added. I told them that was not what we agreed and wont be paying it. After a bit of argey bargey they took them off. Stick to your guns. JOHN

Hi all, a little advice please... After deliberation we have decided not to take any of our furniture or household goods with us when we move as none of it is irreplaceable and it would be more hassle than it's worth as none of it was particularly expensive and we are not attached to it. So all we want to take is the children's toys and books, our clothes, two laptops, photographs and keepsakes like the children's first birthday cards/baby blankets/first outfit etc. all those sentimental things, a box of old books which I have collected over the years and my Christmas tree decorations as I have acquired them over many years, love them and couldn't leave them! My questions are, can we take the laptops in our cabin baggage to save transporting them? As there is nowhere near enough stuff to require even a proportion of a container, are there any companies that transport small quantities like this (hubby asked whether someone like DHL would do it?) Anyone have any experience of only taking a small amount like this and the names of any companies I should look out for? Thanks in anticipation of your excellent, as always, advice.

Has anyone packed your own container? How much work was involved? We have a friend with a freight company and he can get us a 40ft container to Brisbane for £2500 obviously we will have to arrange transportation the other end and insurance too just wondered what kind of paperwork etc will be involved?

Chaps General consensus is that it is about 7-10 days before they release it although it does depend, I know, on other circumstances. when I shipped items before it was about 7 days, but Kent Moving, over here, advised that with our ship docking in Melbourne on the 17 Feb, we would not see our stuff until 7 or 8 March. That seems a very long time, so can anyone advise the length of time they have waited, recently, for their container to be released and thus delivered? Thanks Sip

just had my quote from a local family company in lowestoft suffolk (BROADLAND REMOVALS) and it is for a sole use 20ft container, came in at £3950 which includes tax, insurance, door to door removals (lowestoft to perth) and everything export wrapped. this also included boxes and they do the inventory. Ive been monitoring all the big boys quotes from other people and i cant see how they are really any better getting them in as they will travel long distances just to quote. I am moving contents from a 4 bed house and i think going locally just might be my way forward

Nothing much has happened since my last post. Back in Sept the UK removal company advised me that the door to door time for my 20ft container would be 8 weeks, it docked on time, but its now 10.5 weeks and it's only just been checked by customs, and there's been no suggestion of a delivery to me. I have deduced that, because the import co-ordinator who was handling my case left the company last month, (they are advertising the vacancy) the remaining staff are now overworked, making mistakes, (today I was sent somebody else's customs bill) everything gets behind... The UK removers are ignoring my emails asking for updates. What I have learnt from this is that I should not have paid the full shipping fee up front, and if there's a next time I will use a larger company who may have more influence over the overseas agent. And, certainly, ignore claims of caring,' we'll do it all efficiently and take the stress out of your move' as proclaimed on the glossy websites of the UK company I booked through; the company they sub-contracted to and the Oz import agents! Personal recommendations are the only thing to heed.

Hi all!! Looking at heading out in January and been offered some space in a container going to Brisbane.. only problem is Im gonna be located in Sydney!! Now first thoughts were get the gear there and then hire a van and go do road trip to collect... however 1 way costs for transit sized van in the 2/3 quotes Ive had so far are around $1500! bit more than i was expecting!! So should I save my dough and just get a part container to Sydney? anyone any experience of this? Also with the shipping been reading about the temperature differences, thinking of sending a fair few books... any advice on this? would be gutted if they arrive mouldy!! Cheers for any advice.. Michael

Can anyone help? We are shipping a container load of stuff to Brisbane at the end of October. We are just starting to pack now - we have got a really good deal through a friend for £1900 - he works in shipping. I have no idea about cleaning the stuff before it goes in the container - what are the rules here? And can you take any food stuff (ie. I love a particular chilli sauce in the UK and just wondered if I could take some with me) or not at all? We mostly wondered about cleaning outdoor stuff like chairs, and tools etc. Can anyone help? Ta in advance!

:confused: OK - we were told that a 4 bed house needs a 40ft container - now we are not taking beds, wardrobes, fridges etc, sofa, in fact the only furniture we are taking is a table and 8 chairs, one dresser, 3 wooden tables and lots of boxes about the old tea chest size and they say we need a 40ft container still - WE JUST DONT GET IT. How do they pack them - do they not go up to the roof with boxes, do they only put one row of boxes on the floor and leave the rest empty????? They then want us to put our mini on a trailer and a 2nd mini in another 40ft container - so from crown - we need two 40ft containers which when you put actucally measure things we could get it in one 40ft container. At this rate we will not be able to go as it will cost too much - :cry: Are we missing something???

Hey all, Im shipping my car and a few other small belongings (clothes, TV, playstation etc) to Brisbane in Jan/Feb and wondered which would be cheapest? Now I cant go roll on roll off because I cant put anything in the car so that narrows it down to either a 20ft container to myself which I will never fill. Or half a 40ft one. Not sure which is cheaper? If someone is in the same boat (excuse the pun) it may be worth sharing to get the cost down.. Luke

Can anyone let me know what you can actually take in a container, might sound daft but if we have space left can you ship paint and a few cases of beer:biggrin: