Yes!! It's another shipping thread

[Jeraly 3]

Pickfords have come back to me with a quote of £458 (not including the £175 insurance because it is on a minimum 100 cuft) based on 36cuft and I was told that if it was slightly over that they would throw in a couple extra boxes free - I just e-mailed John Mason to see if they could match it...

[coatsy 0]

I called a local small place in Clapham and they told me airfreight was going to be much cheaper for what I was shipping

about £1.88 p KG to Seattle and £1.98 to Boise

I filled an entire shipping drum (55 gal) with about 500 DVD/video games, and it weighs in at 70KG

the other one has lots of AV gear / screens and the extra DVD/video games lol, not weighed it yet

Allfreight wanted to charge me £2.00 p/kg for the BRONZE service which takes 21 days, my local are saying 3 days

awesomesauce!

[SMB x2 0]

Just in the middle of trying to sort out some shipping stuff, one thing I'm not clear on is when I'm good to order. I'm still waiting for the visa after the interview last week (assuming the medical results are clear). Do I need to have my visa in hand to order shipping? Or if not, will they need to see it at some point?

Yours hopelessly confused!

Stu

[DairyFarmer 1]

Just in the middle of trying to sort out some shipping stuff, one thing I'm not clear on is when I'm good to order. I'm still waiting for the visa after the interview last week (assuming the medical results are clear). Do I need to have my visa in hand to order shipping? Or if not, will they need to see it at some point?

Yours hopelessly confused!

Stu

All my stuff is in the US already before we have recieved the visa. All that was required was the USC (John) be the one signing the customs forms accepting the shipment and responsibility for it.

[SMB x2 0]

Hmm, interesting. For the purposes of tax exemption on the items you move, I thought I'd read you had to show you're emigrating and that the goods couldn't arrive before you.

Have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Stu

[DairyFarmer 1]

Hmm, interesting. For the purposes of tax exemption on the items you move, I thought I'd read you had to show you're emigrating and that the goods couldn't arrive before you.

Have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Stu

I'm not sure what you mean. By tax exemption, do you mean customs tax exempted? I filled out all the forms and meticulously listed the items, ages of items and relative values and then sent the inventory to John. B/c John (he is the USC) filled in the customs forms accepting responsibility for the items being shipped everything was okay.

We chose this method as we were only beginning the process when I left Australia and I wasn't emigrating then. I will eventually emigrate from here in the UK.

It cleared customs fine. Me signing off sending it and John signing off accepting it.

Edited July 15, 2008 by DairyFarmer

[SMB x2 0]

I just rang Seven Seas Worldwide to clarify. If you are emigrating, you need to arrive in the US before your goods do. If you don't, your goods aren't tax exempt and potentially seen as a commercial transaction.

Just ordered my boxes from them, as they seem to offer the cheapest service (sadly Allfreight don't do a ship service where I'm moving to, only air). He said to get it all packed up and then ring a few days before I leave.

Stu

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

you got the right info from Seven Seas, but you might have gotten a different answer if you told them that you could send it all with your fiance, a US Citizen's name and his address, as DairyFarmer has done.

But is it a slightly moot point? If you are sending the stuff on a ship a few days before you leave, you will be in the country when they are going through customs on the other side. No?

[SMB x2 0]

Pretty much, I'll get there a while before my stuff will. I didn't realise I could send it all to Shan ahead of time, I'm surprised that's not exploited for sending commercial goods to avoid import tax. I thought I read somewhere I had to arrive in the US before my stuff did, although wasn't sure if I had to prove I was emigrating by showing my visa.

Apparently, Seven Seas will take a copy of my passport and query whether i've left the country or something.

Stu

[DairyFarmer 1]

Pretty much, I'll get there a while before my stuff will. I didn't realise I could send it all to Shan ahead of time, I'm surprised that's not exploited for sending commercial goods to avoid import tax. I thought I read somewhere I had to arrive in the US before my stuff did, although wasn't sure if I had to prove I was emigrating by showing my visa.

Apparently, Seven Seas will take a copy of my passport and query whether i've left the country or something.

Stu

We weren't trying to avoid import tax though. Hence the exceptionally detailed inventory.

[SMB x2 0]

Sorry, I wasn't implying you were.

I think we may be talking cross purposes here. All I want to do is do it the correct/recommended way to avoid US Customs charging me import duty on my computer, which would probably amount to quite a bit. I'm part of a community which ships a lot of videogame related stuff internationally, and I often hear of people stung for import duty. That's why I want to make sure.

If Seven Seas are to be believed, I'm doing it the right way, so that's one less thing to stress about.

Stu

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

We are still waiting on our things to arrive in the US. They were shipped about 4 weeks ago...so hopefully we will receive a phone call shortly saying they are on the way.

[Jeraly 3]

For Allied Pickfords, they are providing the packing materials and packing and shipping it all for me - it still hasn't been sent as it wasn't sorted by the time I left and things have been understandibly hectic here!

They required all their usual forms and things and on top of that they wanted a copy of the photo page of my passport and a copy of my visa. I am sure that there were other ways to do things but as it takes three months or so to ship (sometimes less) I figured I was going to be here before it all arrived anyway They also want a copy of my SS card when I get it too

[Laura+Tom 2]

I just want to ship a few items like books, cds, dvds, picture frames and clothes. Is it worth going with a removals company with such a small amount?

[Jeraly 3]

It would depend on the volume and if the shipping company has a minimum charge. I think someone mentioned All Freight earlier who send things across via plane and charge by weight - if you don't have much then that might be a better deal?