Shipping belongings to the US

[noblues 1]

Search isn't working for me on this topic and the most recent thread I found on this for Canadians is from 2007, so if there is something more current, please direct me!

I'm in Toronto and am looking at costs to ship my personal effects to the west coast.

Not planning to bring any furniture, just a few costly-to-replace kitchen items and my clothes and books. I'd love to hear what others have done/plan to do, so that I can budget for this realistically.

Specifically, I'd love to know how you went about getting quotes, since so many of those are based on weight/volume and I honestly don't know how to calculate how many square feet my stuff takes up!

I looked at the upack website and the quote there was $2250USD or so for their smallest option and I am mostly wondering if anyone moving a similar distance found a significantly cheaper option.

Thanks all & happy Canada day!

[Shauna&Wael 211]

It would be much cheaper to just pay for an extra bag at the airport and use another suitcase to fill with these items. IMHO.

[noblues 1]

It would be much cheaper to just pay for an extra bag at the airport and use another suitcase to fill with these items. IMHO.

I definitely have more than a suitcase's worth of stuff.

When I moved to my current place I used a cube van & I would probably bring about 1/3-1/2 of those items with me.

[Shauna&Wael 211]

I definitely have more than a suitcase's worth of stuff.

When I moved to my current place I used a cube van & I would probably bring about 1/3-1/2 of those items with me.

Have you considered a freight service from DHL? Since they're international it's worth a shot.

[life-journey 7]

Search isn't working for me on this topic and the most recent thread I found on this for Canadians is from 2007, so if there is something more current, please direct me!

I'm in Toronto and am looking at costs to ship my personal effects to the west coast.

Not planning to bring any furniture, just a few costly-to-replace kitchen items and my clothes and books. I'd love to hear what others have done/plan to do, so that I can budget for this realistically.

If it is just a few kitchen items, clothes and books then I don't suggest that you ship it.

Specifically, I'd love to know how you went about getting quotes, since so many of those are based on weight/volume and I honestly don't know how to calculate how many square feet my stuff takes up!

email or call them if you've only used the calculating tools that some websites provide, an agent can give you a better estimate. If you can list the items esp the big ones that will take some space, estimate the number of boxes your clothes, books, miscellaneous you will ship (some items are taxable depending on when you purchased it)

I looked at the upack website and the quote there was $2250USD or so for their smallest option and I am mostly wondering if anyone moving a similar distance found a significantly cheaper option.

well you are moving from toronto to west coast so expect to pay that much. email u-pack they respond quickly.

Thanks all & happy Canada day!

Happy Canada day!

[noblues 1]

Have you considered a freight service from DHL? Since they're international it's worth a shot.

Just at the research stage now so I will consider absolutely anything! Hoping that folks who have done this before me can say "We moved x amount of stuff with y company for z dollars" because that would be supremely helpful.

[Andy&Vanda 8]

We currently have two 16 foot PODs in our drive way.. So far we are very pleased dealing with PODs! We recently called US Customs with some questions about requirements for pets, our cars, and fumigating mattresses, and when we told them we were using PODs, they said it was great choice, and they rarely have problems dealing with them.

Small consolation since we still don't have our visas. PODs will store the container until we get our visas and cross into the US. They only do goods to follow, but all the paperwork, Power of Attorney, etc., is all sent to us to fill out and return.

You get the PODs for one month. Cost for us to ship two 16 footers from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, Florida is about $6K. Since we don't have our visas, we may need to pay another months rent; about $500, so the flexibility is key for us.

You can get a quick quote on line pods.com

Good luck!

[noblues 1]

If it helps anyone else - I called PODs and their quote for a fall move is currently $4500 from TO.

They were very friendly on the phone but the person I spoke to got very pushy when I declined to give my cc to hold a reservation. I am sure that was scripted but it was really offputting.

[chiggins82 87]

I used U Pak and loved them. I did terminal to terminal shipping which lowered my cost to about $1400 USD for Edmonton to Minneapolis. Check your quote that you for terminal to terminal instead of door to door.

ANother option I have seen is people just using Canada Post, UPS, DHL etc. I am not sure how you would get a good quote from them though, but say if you knew the approx weight, size, and number of boxes they may be able to estimate.

U haul does pods as well, but I found all the Pod companies similar in pricing...

[TwoChickies 105]

We planned to bring a lot more than we actually did, because it was so expensive. Upak and things like that don't even service NB, so we ended up getting rid of everything nonessential and shipping 6 boxes through UPS. One was about 50 pounds, the other 5 were around 20. I think in total it was about 500$.

[Twyla and Chris 0]

I think I have about the same amount of stuff as you are saying way less than a 1000lbs. The two moving companies I contacted have a minimum weight to cross the border of 2500lbs. From Regina SK to Houston TX the door to door quote without packing was $3800. There is also some coordination required as your stuff can't cross the border until you do with your visa.

So I think our plan now is for us to Uhaul my stuff down to North Dakota and cross the border and drop it off with a shipping company there and then fly the rest of the way. I'm not sure if this will work and I don't have any numbers yet but it HAS to be cheaper than nearly 4 grand.

I have a question for those that mentioned sending it via postal or regular freight. How is it linked to your being allowed to move to the US? By that I mean as someone who is immigrating to the US we are allowed to bring our belongings but if I were just to ship all my stuff without it wouldn't I be charged duty or refused at the border? Sorry I'm a little fuzzy on how this works.

[TwoChickies 105]

I think I have about the same amount of stuff as you are saying way less than a 1000lbs. The two moving companies I contacted have a minimum weight to cross the border of 2500lbs. From Regina SK to Houston TX the door to door quote without packing was $3800. There is also some coordination required as your stuff can't cross the border until you do with your visa.

So I think our plan now is for us to Uhaul my stuff down to North Dakota and cross the border and drop it off with a shipping company there and then fly the rest of the way. I'm not sure if this will work and I don't have any numbers yet but it HAS to be cheaper than nearly 4 grand.

I have a question for those that mentioned sending it via postal or regular freight. How is it linked to your being allowed to move to the US? By that I mean as someone who is immigrating to the US we are allowed to bring our belongings but if I were just to ship all my stuff without it wouldn't I be charged duty or refused at the border? Sorry I'm a little fuzzy on how this works.

At the urging of the UPS employee (and not seeing another way around it) we declared all the items as "used gifts." The first 4 boxes cleared customs no problem, but the last 2 got held up. UPS called us and sent over the form to fill out and needed a copy of the visa. Emailed that back, asking if we should've done the forms beforehand or something different and she said no people always do it that way and once customs has the forms they release it.

Looking back I'm wondering if once we got the visa we could've sent them off the right way? We needed the boxes gone before that though. No duty paid since everything was old and used.

[jhondhrey 4]

At the urging of the UPS employee (and not seeing another way around it) we declared all the items as "used gifts." The first 4 boxes cleared customs no problem, but the last 2 got held up. UPS called us and sent over the form to fill out and needed a copy of the visa. Emailed that back, asking if we should've done the forms beforehand or something different and she said no people always do it that way and once customs has the forms they release it.

Looking back I'm wondering if once we got the visa we could've sent them off the right way? We needed the boxes gone before that though. No duty paid since everything was old and used.

Did you send the boxes before you got your visa on hand? Does UPS do that?

I'm sending some of my personal stuff, mainly winter clothes and books. It's probably about 40 lbs.