Ship everything, or store and buy new?

[Katkat]

We are off to Sydney on a 457 visa, so we know we will be coming back in 2-3 years time. We are very undecided as to what to do with all our stuff. Is it better to ship it all out (and be without everything for 8-9 weeks either way) or put it in storage for the time we are away, and buy cheap basic furniture when we get to Oz? I guess we could try to sell this before we return. Has anyone done this? Which option is most cost effective? Have had quotes for shipping (about £4500 to get to Sydney. I expect this will be more expensive in a couple of years when we come home), but haven't had quotes yet for storing everything as I was against the idea at first (I like my stuff!).

If we do decide to ship, what does everyone do while waiting for everything to arrive?!

 

Thanks!

[godfather]

I'd put it into storage. I'm sure it would cost you less than paying for shipping both ways. You could quite possibly rent most of the furniture etc that you would need or rent furnished accomodation whilst you are over here.

[Guest Manxie]

Hi - We're off to Sydney on 457 soon too. Initially we were going to be free souls and just bring a box of photos and books.... then we thought "ooh - it would be nice to bring that chair that too", and then boyfriend said " yes - and it would be nice to bring that table too".... now we're actually shipping almost everything out !! I guess it means though that it opens up unfurnished rentals to us too.

 

Good luck !!

 

Karen:biggrin:

[Guest stmatt]

hi

 

I've done it both ways.

 

On my first trip out here, we put our stuff in storage and bought stuff out here. BUT I spent the whole year wishing I had something else, and I was reluctant to buy lots of little bits as it would be more hassle to get rid of, especially when it gets towards the end of your time.

 

This time round our intention has been to stay for a few years so we have shipped everything across with us. It just feels so much nicer to have our things with us. Half of it is still boxed up in the garage but I know where it is and I can just go and get it out if I need it. I know that when we leave, I have to ship everything home again so I am happy to go out and buy new things.

 

hth

[Guest gary12]

I would ship, don't underestimate how things add up, $50 here $20 there. Likewise it feels like Christmas when your stuff arrives and you have all those familiar much loved things around you to make your new place feel like home.

 

We shipped our stuff early and had 4 weeks in a furnished holiday rental so we only had to make do for about 3 weeks. We just made do with minimal bedding, towels etc. The op shops here are fab they sell all sorts, I was an op shop snob before I arrived and would not step within 20 paces of one but am now converted, my best buy is a Laura Ashley bed cover that is selling at $165 I bought for $10, hot wash and good as new!

 

regards

Michelle

[Guest gratom]

Whats an op-shop??---a charity shop I presume or is it like the pound shop?:wacko:

[Dawny]

Hi there,

when we first came here, we had to buy all the essentials, i.e kitchen stuff from plates to mugs kettle etc basically starting from scratch, including washing machine, fridge freezer, bed linen also, Most rentals only come with a cooker, and are completely unfurnished, however some rentals are part furnished, so you wont really know whats included till you look at the property, Most items you can pick up fairly cheap, In most cases cheaper than what you can ship them out for!

Hope this helps.

[Guest]

Ship it, it will cost you a lot lot more to replace - it isn't just furniture it's everything. Your plans may change and you may stay or head off somewhere else. Having your own stuff goes a long way towards Australia feeling like home.

 

We paid £100 a month storage for the contents of a two bed house about 6 years ago if that helps

[Guest]

Whats an op-shop??---a charity shop I presume or is it like the pound shop?:wacko:

 

It's the Aussie equivilant of a charity shop, some sell only donated items, others new gift type items too. Some actually sell brand new household items and food stuff on a 'not for profit' basis but I believe you have to have a Centrelink card to buy.

 

Op is short for opportunity! Surprised it's not opo!

[Guest Eralc]

We came out under very similar circumstances (on a 2 year 457 visa), and had to make the same decision. In the end, we shipped about half of our stuff, and stored the rest. All I can say is I wish we had shipped more - every 5 minutes I think about something else I could just use, and remember it's in a warehouse in the UK! We didn't ship everything as we thought we would be living somewhere tiny, but have ended up in a much bigger house than expected, so we have had to spend a small fortune buying more furniture. We also let out our house in the UK, and so had no white goods with us - it was a bit of a shock to the system to discover that the rentals here don't come with any white goods at all. We also found that there were hardly any furnished rentals available.

 

It might be worth looking on Australian sites like Fantastic Furniture and the Australian Ikea (which are both about the cheapest we found), and pricing up how much it would cost to buy all the furniture you would need, and then add on the cost of TV/fridge/washer, and all the other random stuff that you need (kitchen equipment, garden stuff etc) - we were stunned how much we ended up needing to spend, despite picking up some of our white goods second hand.

 

We found that being without stuff wasn't a big problem - we stayed with the in-laws for 3 weeks before we moved out here, and then had a furnished short-term rental when we arrived in Sydney. Our stuff arrived 2 days after we signed for our proper rental (it took us 6 weeks from arriving to find one and move in), so you might find that the wait isn't as much of a big deal as you might expect. And it was like Christmas the day it arrived!

 

Good luck with the move