Moving overseas can be daunting. There are so many things to do and shipping your belongings is just one of them. If you do your research, your international move will be that much easier. Read on to learn how to ship belongings overseas.
Decide what your going to ship. You may have a lot of things, but you can't take all of them with you. Go through your belongings and starting selling things or giving them away. If your move will be permanent, you don't want to be paying to store items you left back home.
Decide what you'll need right away. You'll need to take those items on the plane with you, so try to limit them. Call the airline you'll be flying with and find out what their baggage restrictions are. Also find out the cost for extra luggage.
Research shipping options. The cheapest way to send items overseas is by ship. These items will take about 30 days to arrive.
If you are moving furniture overseas you'll need to use an international mover. These companies can be quite expensive. It is probably best to buy new or used furniture when you get to the country. You can also find free furniture on sites like Freecycle or Craig's List free section.
If you're shipping items that can be boxed, consider freight forwarding. Freight forwarding is considerably cheaper than hiring an international moving company. You can pay to have a cargo container shipped or just half a container. You can cut costs by delivering your belongings to the warehouse yourself and picking them up yourself once they arrive in the country. If you want to cut costs even further you can deliver them right to the dock yourself.
Get the required customs forms and read the instructions carefully before filling them out. When you pack your items be sure to make a detailed packing list. You must know exactly what's in each box in case there are any problems in customs.
