Indecisive Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 After months of debating, looks as though we are going to go back to the UK - after 11 years. What I'm wondering is whether to ship all our household stuff over to the UK or just sell it here and buy new in UK. We don't have huge amounts of stuff, but a couple of decent mattresses, new couch, baby cot, TV and computer equipment, and of course kitchen equipment. Actually now I write that down it's probably more than I thought! I think the cost of shipping would be worth it as to buy all up new again in the UK would get really expensive but just wondered what most people on here tend to do. Also, has anyone taken their car over to the UK? I have a Subaru, worth about AUD12k. Could probably sell it here and buy something much better for the same value over there but has anyone considered taken a car over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We had a clear out and got rid of some things. But the bulk came back with us, would cost a fraction of replacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyAbby Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We'll be selling everything and starting over when we get to the UK but we love vintage and thrift shopping so it won't cost us the same as it would buying new. the shipping costs were too extreme for my liking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Having just done it, I wish we'd brought more of our stuff. It's not just the cost, it's the sheer hassle of having to trek around the stores and choose new furniture when there's so much else going on! It does sound like a lot, but just Google and see how much it will cost you to replace the mattresses and couch, and you'll find you've almost covered the cost of moving! Of course, you do have to think about logistics - if you send stuff, how will you manage without it when you arrive (or manage without it now if you ship stuff off early). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Having just done it, I wish we'd brought more of our stuff. It's not just the cost, it's the sheer hassle of having to trek around the stores and choose new furniture when there's so much else going on! It does sound like a lot, but just Google and see how much it will cost you to replace the mattresses and couch, and you'll find you've almost covered the cost of moving! Of course, you do have to think about logistics - if you send stuff, how will you manage without it when you arrive (or manage without it now if you ship stuff off early). Absolutely. My container cost $8,000 so say £4,000. Would not even get close to fitting a house out with that, there can be good reasons to sell and replace (e.g. things are old and need replacing anyway or a different style is required) but to do it because of "extreme shipping costs" doesn't make financial sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyAbby Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I think this is a subject that is completely unique to your own circumstances. whats right for one person is not right for the next. personally it makes more financial sense to sell up and start over. We could certainly re furnish a home for under £4000 so to us yes the "extreme shipping costs" are more than a valid reason to not take anything with us. we are not emotionally attached to any of our belongings and we're also not very materialistic people. If you are however then paying to ship it all over and figuring out the logistics of it is probably what's best for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Think about the many hours and days you will spend looking for everything and then the hassle of arranging and waiting for deliveries. Most houses are furnished over time, not overnight. Have a good clear out but keep what you can, we've done it more than once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 You will need to take the bed frames as well as mattresses though. Not sure they will fit on UK bases. Not bad the other way round but Aus sizes are just a bit bigger than UK ones. You can easily google it. i would take stuff. The car is another matter, there are additional import and compliance charges to consider and you should get a better price in Oz for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I think this is a subject that is completely unique to your own circumstances.whats right for one person is not right for the next. personally it makes more financial sense to sell up and start over. We could certainly re furnish a home for under £4000 so to us yes the "extreme shipping costs" are more than a valid reason to not take anything with us. we are not emotionally attached to any of our belongings and we're also not very materialistic people. If you are however then paying to ship it all over and figuring out the logistics of it is probably what's best for you. I am not emotionally attached to my bed, the spare bed, the dining table and chairs, the TV cabinet, a chest of drawers, three book cases, bedside tables etc. Nor am I emotionally attached to my crockery or cutlery, my hand blender, the mixer, the rice maker, a set of pans, a wok, a mixing bowl, baking trays or my roasting tin. I doubt many people are emotionally attached to such things. The only piece of furniture I am emotionally attached to is a tiny footstool my grandad made. I don't think it is materialistic to own these everyday things either. Yes there can be good reasons to replace everything, but no, I cannot see how refurnishing a whole house can possible be cheaper than shipping. Just do the maths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzyAbby Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 We've done the maths...for us it's cheaper. Like I said its unique to your personal circumstances.And you're right it is not materialistic to own everyday items, that comes when you require the high end version of such things which we don't hence why it won't cost us a lot to set up home from scratch.I'm not against shipping your belongings if it's what you and your family want to do. The OP asked what others have done. I answered. We will be selling and starting over because in our situation, for us, shipping doesn't make any financial sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosiehome Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 For what it's worth I've decided to take about 10m3 and it will cost about $3500. This means I won't have to buy a lot of more expensive items like sofa, dining set, mattresses that would cost more than that to replace. I didn't want to ditch fairly good quality stuff I'd bought over the years to have to buy much cheaper replacements over there. Also I've got stuff I'm sentimental about and couldn't leave behind. I guess in my particular case I felt it was worth the cost of shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissOz Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 We are looking at bringing the car back, makes sense and we have grown fond of it over here! Just figuring out whether to use a specialist car shipper or ship it with household goods.// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Tom Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 You will need to take the bed frames as well as mattresses though. Not sure they will fit on UK bases. Not bad the other way round but Aus sizes are just a bit bigger than UK ones. You can easily google it. i would take stuff. The car is another matter, there are additional import and compliance charges to consider and you should get a better price in Oz for it. Are you sure Aussie mattresses are a different size to UK i.e 2ft6in Single, 4ft6in Double, 5ft Kingsize and 6ft Super Kingsize? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Are you sure Aussie mattresses are a different size to UK i.e 2ft6in Single, 4ft6in Double, 5ft Kingsize and 6ft Super Kingsize? Australian mattresses are about 20cm longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skippy79 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 regarding your car, have a look on UK sites for the same car and see what he price is, so if you say your car is $12K, have a look if yo can get the same car for around £6K, if so then sell it there and buy a replacement, in the future an imported car will also sell for less when you want to upgrade.. As for the rest, maybe a move cube for smaller and personal stuff would do the trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonrbh Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 As far as taking a car back, you might want to check on any import duties/taxes. It might also have to go through a test to make sure it meets UK vehicle standards. I brought my Triumph Tiger motorcycle out here to Brisbane as it had loads of extra stuff fitted and would have cost another 50% to get the equivalent in Oz. I had to get import permit documents from the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure before it was shipped, then have an engineer check it met Australian Design Rules before it could have a roadworthy and then get my rego from Queensland Transport! It's the same for cars too. It might be the same/similar to take a vehicle to the UK. The big factor though was I only did it because I could change my LCD display from mph to km/h and odometer too by pressing buttons. Don't forget you'll most probably require an mph display back in Blighty. Not all cars have have both readings on their speedo, my 2014 Subaru Forester only has km/h on the dial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I am not emotionally attached to my bed, the spare bed, the dining table and chairs, the TV cabinet, a chest of drawers, three book cases, bedside tables etc. Nor am I emotionally attached to my crockery or cutlery, my hand blender, the mixer, the rice maker, a set of pans, a wok, a mixing bowl, baking trays or my roasting tin. I doubt many people are emotionally attached to such things. The only piece of furniture I am emotionally attached to is a tiny footstool my grandad made. I don't think it is materialistic to own these everyday things either. Yes there can be good reasons to replace everything, but no, I cannot see how refurnishing a whole house can possible be cheaper than shipping. Just do the maths. We did the maths and mostly on that basis decided what to take and not take - shipping is charged by cubic feet so each piece of furniture/box etc. was given a 'shipping cost' and it's then easy to see whats worth taken and what is not. We also factored in whether it would fit in the house we were moving to - it broke my heart to sell our bedroom furniture, very unique and originally bought on Byers Road but it simply wasn't going to fit our much smaller house, same as the four sofa's, just no point bringing them all back, ditto fridge freezer. In the end though some things made the cut because my OH said I has to stop thinking like an accountant and realise it wasn't just the cost but the time to go out and buy new stuff as Marisa said. We decided in the end on a 20ft container (we'd moved out with a 40ft!) and the packers did a fabulous job of fitting far more than we had been quoted for at no extra cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacaranda Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I think I'd do an online shop (UK)and jot down some prices comparisons myself.I guess you'd have to think about your future house in the UK.Will your current furniture fit if you ship it?I think I recall re the beds that duvet sizes are different in Oz to the UK,so if that's true?Maybe the bed size's are different.Have a browse through these website and see what you think? http://www.debenhams.com/sale/home http://www.dreams.co.uk/?utm_sourceBing&utm_mediumCPC&utm_campaignBing%20Trademark&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Trademark%20-%20Dreams%20HVK&utm_term=dreamz%20beds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marenmatt1 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Major Tom, I've been going off the below link. I have a queen & it is pretty much the UK equivalent of a King. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Yes, we bought a king size and our Australian queen size sheets fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravy258 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 You'd have to have the car converted to read mph, which means another dash instrument cluster from the wreckers here in the UK. I personally wouldn't bother as it would take its own container so would be costly. You should also check out its UK insurance group as most suburus are up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 regarding your car, have a look on UK sites for the same car and see what he price is, so if you say your car is $12K, have a look if yo can get the same car for around £6K, if so then sell it there and buy a replacement, in the future an imported car will also sell for less when you want to upgrade.. As for the rest, maybe a move cube for smaller and personal stuff would do the trick £6k plus shipping costs and import costs and conversion costs...it is very unlikely to be worth it. My OH has a pretty special car in Perth - his 'classic' dream car but it still was not worth it, although rarely available in the UK he was in fact able to get a better model at a cheaper price than what we sold it for (significantly less than it's value due to the urgency for a sale) plus all the other costs (& that was with a friend who's a mechanic to do the work required) You can ship your car in the container with other goods though so it may be worth it if your car & everything else fit in a 20ft container. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sween Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 We did the maths and mostly on that basis decided what to take and not take - shipping is charged by cubic feet so each piece of furniture/box etc. was given a 'shipping cost' and it's then easy to see whats worth taken and what is not. We also factored in whether it would fit in the house we were moving to - it broke my heart to sell our bedroom furniture, very unique and originally bought on Byers Road but it simply wasn't going to fit our much smaller house, same as the four sofa's, just no point bringing them all back, ditto fridge freezer. In the end though some things made the cut because my OH said I has to stop thinking like an accountant and realise it wasn't just the cost but the time to go out and buy new stuff as Marisa said. We decided in the end on a 20ft container (we'd moved out with a 40ft!) and the packers did a fabulous job of fitting far more than we had been quoted for at no extra cost. I stayed near byres rd and bought loads of furniture from around there was lucky enough to bring it all with me [emoji106] I do miss good furniture shops like there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 You'd have to have the car converted to read mph, which means another dash instrument cluster from the wreckers here in the UK. I personally wouldn't bother as it would take its own container so would be costly. You should also check out its UK insurance group as most suburus are up there. Depending on the speedo you can buy stickers that go over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 We bought literally everything back with us, we did all our own packing and customs clearance this end and saved a fortune. There is no way we could have replaced the stuff for the money. I wouldn't bother with the car as you will get much more here for the £6k it is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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