Shipping Personal Items From Germany

[jundp 191]

My fiance is looking for inexpensive but reliable shipping options to send his stuff from Germany to Seattle.

Air freight containers or partial containers, or other shipping methods....

Does anyone have experience with this? Lufthansa or SAS or KLM maybe, doesn't have to be from Germany but from Europe.

[DakotaK1 1]

Does she know anybody that is in the US military in Germany?

If so she could mail it through their APO/FPO for really cheap.

I know alot of people that did that.

[Mrs.J06 4]

I shipped my stuff airfreight via DHL. I had two wooden crates, each one about 1.5 x 2 x 1 meters, and paid a total of about 1.200 EUR, excluding duties (I would have to look them up if you needed to know more details). Make sure to mark everything as used goods and mention the visa number in the paperwork, moving household goods is much less duties than new stuff.

DHL is really helpful with the paperwork and they can give you a quote in advance, too. I did this through work (our headquarters are in Germany and I work for the US subsidiary now) so the rate is probably cheaper than what you'd get without the corporate rate. My colleague, who moved back to Germany a year ago after having been here on a transfere(e) visa for some years shipped everything ocean freight and it was much cheaper, too about 4 weeks door to door, though.

PM me if you need more details!

Carla

[StillThePrettiest 3]

air freight is a pretty expensive option though... in my opinion only worth it if you really need your stuff immediately (or if you're ultra-rich, but in that case you can put it in your private jet )

I'm not sure what's best from Germany - you may want to start a thread in the German sub-forum, if you haven't already - but I'm booking with Allied Pickfords, from the UK to the US, and they were (most surprisingly) the cheapest of all the major companies, for the same service

I'm only partway through the process right now, so I can't say whether I recommend them yet - they've been pretty good so far, though it's been hard to get through to the people I need to speak to when I ring - but getting quotes from a few major ones (I did eight) is a good way to start, in my experience

all the best with it!

[metta 0]

air freight is a pretty expensive option though... in my opinion only worth it if you really need your stuff immediately (or if you're ultra-rich, but in that case you can put it in your private jet )

I'm not sure what's best from Germany - you may want to start a thread in the German sub-forum, if you haven't already - but I'm booking with Allied Pickfords, from the UK to the US, and they were (most surprisingly) the cheapest of all the major companies, for the same service

I'm only partway through the process right now, so I can't say whether I recommend them yet - they've been pretty good so far, though it's been hard to get through to the people I need to speak to when I ring - but getting quotes from a few major ones (I did eight) is a good way to start, in my experience

all the best with it!

When my wife moved here, she brought books and other personal stuff. No furniture. So she mailed them in boxes via D.Post way before she took the flight to USA.

[jundp 191]

air freight is a pretty expensive option though... in my opinion only worth it if you really need your stuff immediately (or if you're ultra-rich, but in that case you can put it in your private jet )

I'm not sure what's best from Germany - you may want to start a thread in the German sub-forum, if you haven't already - but I'm booking with Allied Pickfords, from the UK to the US, and they were (most surprisingly) the cheapest of all the major companies, for the same service

I'm only partway through the process right now, so I can't say whether I recommend them yet - they've been pretty good so far, though it's been hard to get through to the people I need to speak to when I ring - but getting quotes from a few major ones (I did eight) is a good way to start, in my experience

all the best with it!

When my wife moved here, she brought books and other personal stuff. No furniture. So she mailed them in boxes via D.Post way before she took the flight to USA.

This was option number one for us.

Thanks to all who replied.

I don't think we want to spend 1200 euros to ship. We were trying to check into getting a crate on KLM or Lufthansa, but wanted to see if anyone here had experience with that first.

He mostly has books, but he also has musical equipment that he doesn't really want to leave behind. Though, if it was going to be ridiculously expensive to ship, we'd just buy new items here. We already brought his accordion, which he's had since he was a kid, so that was really the only item that couldn't be replaced. He has 6 family members coming for our wedding so I suppose we could hit them up to each bring a box or suitcase full of his stuff

Edited April 16, 2008 by jundp

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I'm shipping quite a lot of stuff - furniture and books and household gear - and now I've got the final quote it's WAY WAY WAY cheaper to ship it than to buy it all new... most shipping companies will do even a small consignment, so it's really worth looking into even if you don't have loads to send; much nicer, in my opinion anyway, to start your new life with some familiar things around you

[jundp 191]

I'm shipping quite a lot of stuff - furniture and books and household gear - and now I've got the final quote it's WAY WAY WAY cheaper to ship it than to buy it all new... most shipping companies will do even a small consignment, so it's really worth looking into even if you don't have loads to send; much nicer, in my opinion anyway, to start your new life with some familiar things around you

I agree. But he's one of those crazy pragmatic Germans and he said "If I have to pay more to ship it than it will cost to replace it, then shipping is out."

He has his accordion, his dijeridoo, and his photos here already....I suppose the rest he could leave with his family and get later if need be I am super sentimental so if I was moving there, I'd want all of it to go with me.

WAIT...maybe he just wants an excuse to buy new guitars and a drum set .... ooooh. The plot thickens.

[StillThePrettiest 3]

I agree. But he's one of those crazy pragmatic Germans and he said "If I have to pay more to ship it than it will cost to replace it, then shipping is out."

...but as I said above, according to even my most conservative estimations, it's a lot cheaper to ship it than replace it

of course, that depends on what the items are, and how much you end up paying, but that's been my experience