searching for International moving firms
Question:
My wife and I have applied for PR and hope to be moving from Dublin, Ireland to Vancouver, B.C. in the Fall. Does anyone here have any recommendations for moving companies, companies to avoid, dos and don'ts of moving house contents and so forth? The first company we contacted gave a rough estimate of between CAD$10,000 and CAD$16,000 to move the contents of an average 3-bed house, which sounds like more than the whole contents of the house are worth!
Answer:
_For best freight rate, it is best to contact your local freight forwarders to get a
quote. The ocean freight business is crazy. Each forwarder will have a different
price even the shipment is on the same ship. This is depending on the forwarder's
"buyig power". If the forwarder can buy more space, the rate is cheaper. The
forwarder can "consolidate" various small shipment into a container and therefore
offer the customer cheaper rate.
Moving companies may not be able to offer you better rate than frreight
forwarders. This is because international moving companies also buy shipping space
from freight forwarders or so called "consolidators".
_¡ê5K to move stuff to BC?it's more expensive than I thought! I
have a leaflet at home from the Association of International Movers (or
something similar), as I'm planning to move to BC in July. Drop me a line
(to richard.t...@rkdltd.demon.co.uk), and I'll send you their phone number.
Perhaps I'd better call my local mover to see what they guesstimate.
_We paid United Van Lines US$4200 (roughly CAD$5800) to move our
household goods from Washington, DC to Calgary and we got an
off-season price. Adding in the cost of overseas shipping and
assuming no seasonal discounts, what you've been quoted isn't
necessarily out of line.
BTW, we were very satisfied with the job that United did, so if you
have a chance to use them for all or part of your move, I'd highly
recommend doing so.
_It all depends on how much (volume of goods) you are moving to Canada. If you
are moving everything including furniture etc, the most economical way is to
ship everything in a 20 ft container. Contact you local ocean freight
forwarders and inquiry about the rate. Yes, a freight forwarder (not a mover)
as you are shipping commercial goods.
Here is what happens after you have selected the freight forwarder. They will
arrange to have a container towed to your front door, you load up the container,
seal the container. Tthe freight forwarder will pick up the container, ship it
to Canda. While the container is in transit you fly to Canada and land. When
the container arrives at Vancovuer, you have to clear Customs, the local
handling agent will arrange to have the container towed to your front/back door,
you unload it.
My guess on the total cost:
Ireland land portion: US $500
Sea freight to Vancouver: US$2,000
Vancouver land portion: US $500
_I was quoted what I imagine would be a comparable rate to move the contents of
a 1 bedroom flat. However to ship my personal possessions - books, clothes,
papers, a few pictures and various nick-nacks worked out at around 200 ukp for
10 tea chests. So I am going to sell the bed desks 3 piece suite etc and
start again with something nice and new in Canada
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