Although my husband and I aren't planning on moving to the US until June, I thought I'd put this question out there to gather information ahead of time: anyone know the best way to move a small amount of things to the US? We thought about renting a container, but we don't have enough to fill a container. We'll most likely just have some books, clothes, pots and pans, one arm chair, another wicker chair, CDs, and a few framed pictures. I'm especially curious whether any of you have used any moving companies here in Germany, and if so, if you know which one's cheapest. We want to make sure we allot enough money to pay for all our moving costs.

Thanks,
Mary

I would like to that myself. My mother lives in Germany and I want to ship some things
here in the future with a container, wonder how much it will cost.

Hi Mary,

I am moving to the US too and my friend found quirx international. They ship small amounts too. here is the link http://www.quirx.net/Seefracht/Umzug_Beila...htm#Nordamerika . I started a Preisanfrage on sunday, but still waiting for an answer.

Kood luck Karin

Karin,
Thanks! It's helpful to have the name of a moving company from a real person instead of from an internet search. Good luck with your move! When're you planning to go to the US, and where will you be heading?

Best wishes,
Mary

Hi Mary,

oh je took me a long time to find this thread again. Sorry for answering so late.

Finally got an answer from quirx, it costs about 1300 Euro to ship 30 boxes (each 20 kg weight) from Wuppertal to Austin, Texas. I think it is not that expensive - just for me right now.

We are still in the K1-process, hopefully I will be in May moving to Austin.

Nice greetings Karin

Hi Karin,
Thanks for your message. We did end up checking out quirx and got a quote from them. We're in Essen and would be moving from Essen to Vermont (ultimately) by way of New Hampshire. So the port where our things will be sent would be Boston. Quirx was the cheapest one we've found so far. For 7 cubic meters, about 500 kilos, it would cost about 1300 Euros to get to the States. But then we noticed that there's a customs fee on top of that (200 or so dollars) and then 800 dollars to have it delivered to my parents' house in NH (where we'll be for a month before we move to Vermont). Still, I think it is the cheapest company we've found. Too bad that it's so expensive though. Altogether it will be about 2000 Euros (and we're not even bringing very many things!).

When are you planning to move? Are you in Wuppertal right now?

Let me know how it works out and if you decide to go ahead with quirx. I'd love to know how it works out for you.

Best wishes,
Mary

Hi Mary,

I am living in Wuppertal right now and Otto is in Austin waiting for me. It sounds like you and your husband are living together in Essen, right? That´s great so you don´t miss each other.

We got our NOA2 last friday. I am still waiting for package 3 and the interview at Frankfurt embassy. Since I am not sure how long it takes to get the visa - I will book my flight directly after the interview - hopefully that will be May.

I decided not to take quirx. I know it is not very expensive, but I can´t spend 1300 Euro on shipping. I send once in a while a package via DHL. The prices are okay - 32 Euro for up to 5 kg, 42 up to 10 kg and 62 up to 20 kg. I won´t take any of my furniture with me, but that´s fine since I want to get rid of them anyway.

Will you take Quirx? When are you leaving for USA?

Best wishes
Karin

Karin,
That's good to know about DHL. It's unbelievable to me how expensive Deutschepost can be, but so it goes. We are living together in Essen right now. We tried to plan in that way so that we could file DCF here, to try to speed things up a bit. I've only been here since August. And we'll be leaving at the end of June, if all goes well in Frankfurt at my husband's interview on April 2nd.

How long has it been since you first filed? I'll have to check your timeline and see if I can find out. Just for your information, right now, Iberia Airlines has really cheap tickets to the States, at least to Boston. My in-laws and a lot of our friends here are coming to the States in the summer for a second wedding reception we're having there, and they paid 372 Euros, taxes included, by booking with Iberia. You're limited to certain dates, but you might want to check it out. Even if you're not coming back, it might be worth buying the roundtrip ticket since it's most likely cheaper than a one way ticket.

Best of luck with everything. Let us know when you get Packet 3! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Best wishes,
Mary

This might work for you too - http://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/
We were trying to find some cheap way to ship books and dvds etc from Ireland to Germany.
So considering that and DHL and UPS etc.