Looking for Shipping advice/help to move personal belongings to the US

[Californiabound27 0]

Hello,

I am sure this has been posted many times before but I am unable to find something that fits my situation so please forgive me for posting this again (hopefully in the right spot).

I am moving to California from Vancouver, BC Canada next month and I am looking for a way to ship my personal belongings. I have managed to condense everything that needs to be shipped into 5 boxes, but I am having issues finding a way to ship them that seems to be at a reasonable cost.

The entire contents is basically mementos and memories, some books, a couple of glass tea sets/espresso sets, decorative knick knacks etc. There is really nothing of any actual value, just sentimental stuff. Basically everything is worthless yet priceless.There is no point in using a major moving company for 5 boxes, but I am having trouble going through UPS as they want everything to have an assigned value or date of purchase. A lot of stuff I did not even purchase myself as they were gifts collected over the years.

For the duty free forms I know we have to have an itemized list, how specific does it have to be? And again, how do you assign a value to things that are really just memories or personal collections that have no monetary value?

Any suggestions or tips on how to ship these items would be greatly appreciated, I am finding this much more stressful than I anticipated!

As a side note, would it just be worth it to send down piece by piece over the next month and not claim them as personal belongings? Is there any risk or is it against any rules?

Thanks in advance

[UK_Fan 192]

you could rent a u-haul and drive down with allayer stuff.

[Californiabound27 0]

you could rent a u-haul and drive down with allayer stuff.

Thanks for the suggestion UK_Fan, I meant to mention in the original post that driving it down was not an option

[J&S2013 1]

I suggest you delivery boxes cross border by yourself since Vancouver is not far from the boarder, then mail to California through U.S.postal service.

[ricnally 258]

Shipsmart is for small moves that don't include funiture. That's what I used from Vancouver to California. And you just have to be as specific as you were in your post: box 1: knick knacks, box 2: personal items, etc, and then just give a value to the whole box.

Edited April 21, 2015 by ricnally

[tdotca 41]

Hi, I went from Toronto to California using UPack to ship about 30 boxes and my relocube was half empty! I would strongly recommend this company . I was worried about my stuff ( getting here in 1 piece, getting here period, US customs seeing that I have so many boxes of 'clothes' ;--) )but my worries were for naught. All personnel were personable and very helpful from start to finish. Granted , Upack would be too much for your 5 boxes .

I just listed 10 boxes ( shirts/pants/ purses/etc); 2 boxes personal items( albums; stuffed animals; framed art, etc) . Yes I agree you can't put a value on memories or such but I just gave a number like 50$ or such.

Good luck

[ricnally 258]

Upack is not for 5 boxes. Would cost a fortune.

[Lemonslice 4,553]

Extra luggage might work - it is not cheap, but it might be cheaper than other options - also look into cargo services for your airline / from your airport. https://www.cargoportalservices.com/

Also, https://shipgooder.com/to compare shipping cost - Fedex and UPS ground services can be surprisingly cheap (one large box might be cheaper than 5 smaller ones though).

[Ms Hogan 295]

I don't have any advice on this but i just want to share that every time I see this thread's title I think it says SHOPPING advice...