# Removals - what to bring or purchase on arrival



## RMcC (Dec 31, 2013)

As part of our planning to move to Cyprus next Oct we have booked a removals company (Peter Morton) to come and give us an estimate in May next year.
One of the areas we are struggling with at present is, what to bring with us or would it be more cost effective(cheaper) to buy on arrival.
I have storage arranged back in the UK for those items we don't wish to get shot of or sell before we move so no real problem about leaving some of the bigger items back here which we will not include in our furnished property for rent back here in Scotland.
We will be looking to rent a fully furnished villa on our arrival and wondered if there is a guide to what is normally supplied with the rental or does this vary greatly from landlord to landlord?
Has anyone made a similar move where they are leaving their UK property fully furnished for tenants and shipped a part load to Cyprus - are there any items you could have purchased cheaper than the cost of shipping, I am thinking items like TV, we have a 42inch flat screen, would it be better to purchase in Cyprus or ship our one out in the container?
Any advice on this wold be gratefully received.

Roy


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

I can't match your circumstances exactly but would suggest the following:

Furniture. Before bringing any items you want consider the construction carefully particularly older wooden pieces with regard to the climate and extremes of heat.

Electrical. By and large electrical goods are more expensive here so they are worth bringing.

Soft furnishing. If you bring your bed bring bed linen as well as sizes here are different. Sylvi thinks that in general it's cheaper to bring towels etc.

Clothes. These are more expensive here so worth bringing. Don't forget winter clothing and make the mistake of thinking you won't need warm clothes.

Car. Debatable dependent on individual circumstances. Second hand is more expensive here but shipping costs are high so can offset this. Don't bring an unsuitable car. While the motorways are great there are some terrible road surfaces down in Paphos. Also remember many delightful parts of Cyprus are only accessible off road on dirt tracks so ground clearance is important and 4x4 useful but not essential in my opinion. Low slung, 2 seater, open-top sports cars are the wrong type of vehicle - again personal opinion.

Headaches! If you use paracetomol or iboprufen bring it. Those cheap boxes available in UK supermarkets aren't available here and they cost much, much more at the pharmacies.

Tools. Worth bringing as they tend to be a bit pricey here. There are lots of power tool "bargains" with cheap, poor makes but the better brands cost a lot.

Other than that it just doesn't matter. You will regret not bringing some things and regret bringing others. It's more important to get on with enjoying life here than stress out over saving some euros.

That's my thoughts at the moment.

Pete


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## RMcC (Dec 31, 2013)

PeteandSylv said:


> I can't match your circumstances exactly but would suggest the following:
> 
> Furniture. Before bringing any items you want consider the construction carefully particularly older wooden pieces with regard to the climate and extremes of heat.
> 
> ...


Pete

Many thanks, all very useful information. We don't intend bringing any big items of furniture with us and hope they will be made available as part of the fully furnished agreement. I am not intending on bring a car but will purchase one one arrival, I know what you mean about the roads having had a holiday on the island for the last 4-5 years and doing a lot of driving while there.

My good lady has already been stocking up on the bed linen etc and we have already discussed the clothing required for the cold months over the winter period. I have started to build up a supply of paracetomol or iboprufen to bring with us.

I really like your comment" You will regret not bringing some things and regret bringing others" - puts everything in perspective and absolutely no need to get stressed as it is not as if its a life or death decision

Looks like our TV will be coming with us!!!

Regards

Roy


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

My rule tends to be: 

If the value of the item + the cost of shipping it works out lower than what it would cost to replace the item here, then bring it.

If value + shipping is higher than it would cost to replace, sell it and buy it here. 

The various items on their own may end up being most expensive here, yes, but once you factor in the cost of shipping those items, it often ends up being massivly cheaper to sell and repurchase.

This obviously doesn't factor in sentimental value, but its a practical approach. 

When I moved to Cyprus, I brought a car load (plus roof box) of boxes, flat packed furniture and other valuables and then got a quote on what it would have costed to send the rest. They wanted several thousand euros so I sold the remaining items for around 1000 euros and re-purchsed here for about 1300 euros total. Worked out cheaper in the long run.

Fully furnished villas / apartments do tend to vary here, but usually come with everything you need.


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## debs21 (Mar 13, 2013)

Chances are a furnished property will include tv/s, if not this might be worth negotiating with the landlord/agency. Have a look at the many rental sites for properties in your preferred area to get an idea of what is supplied. We were fortunate to take on a previous holiday let which had duvets/sheets/towels pretty much everything right down to the last teaspoon. We have in time added our own choice of accessories and replaced anything broken etc. Def worth comparing sites and properties.


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## RMcC (Dec 31, 2013)

debs21 said:


> Chances are a furnished property will include tv/s, if not this might be worth negotiating with the landlord/agency. Have a look at the many rental sites for properties in your preferred area to get an idea of what is supplied. We were fortunate to take on a previous holiday let which had duvets/sheets/towels pretty much everything right down to the last teaspoon. We have in time added our own choice of accessories and replaced anything broken etc. Def worth comparing sites and properties.


Zach / Debs

Many thanks for your helpful comments, they are helping us greatly to get a better picture on the best way forward with this. We may be almost a year away from our move but my good lady wife already has very comprehensive lists of what we need to take with us.

Lots more questions to follow on lots of other subjects before we make the move.

Roy


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## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

We have done similar this week. We sold our house, though, and the new owners, being first time buyers, bought a lot of the furniture. The rest we sold/gave away depending on the value of it.

The removal company came last week and we have shipped the large and small TVs, kitchen electrical equipment (mixers, slow cooker, and some new ceramic saucepans/frypans, etc), some crockery and cooking utensils (probably not necessary), bedding and towels, clothing (although a lot came with us in five suitcases between us but winter things are being shipped), we also stocked up on Ibuprofen and co-codamol, and we sold our car before leaving UK. Keith has shipped a drill, but it's not something he really wants to have to use!

The apartment that we will be moving into shortly is fully furnished with basic items, but there will be no crockery and cutlery, bedding and towels, but they are going to lend us some till ours arrive. We will have to get some further items, but it does have lots of built-in cupboards for storage which will help a lot. We shipped 70 boxes in the end, even after getting rid of most of our worldly goods!!


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## RMcC (Dec 31, 2013)

DH59 said:


> We have done similar this week. We sold our house, though, and the new owners, being first time buyers, bought a lot of the furniture. The rest we sold/gave away depending on the value of it. The removal company came last week and we have shipped the large and small TVs, kitchen electrical equipment (mixers, slow cooker, and some new ceramic saucepans/frypans, etc), some crockery and cooking utensils (probably not necessary), bedding and towels, clothing (although a lot came with us in five suitcases between us but winter things are being shipped), we also stocked up on Ibuprofen and co-codamol, and we sold our car before leaving UK. Keith has shipped a drill, but it's not something he really wants to have to use! The apartment that we will be moving into shortly is fully furnished with basic items, but there will be no crockery and cutlery, bedding and towels, but they are going to lend us some till ours arrive. We will have to get some further items, but it does have lots of built-in cupboards for storage which will help a lot. We shipped 70 boxes in the end, even after getting rid of most of our worldly goods!!


Your move sounds like ours apart from us retaining the house back in Scotland, most of the items you mention are already on our list and it is very interesting to hear you still managed to fill and ship 70 boxes! If you don't mind could you please message me with details of the removals you used, how much in cubic mtrs were your 70 boxes( and box sizes), and if you don't mind a rough cost of the removals.

I hope your move has gone well and you are getting settled in Cyprus , looking outside my window at very heavy rain and strong winds I just wish it was us moving into our new home out there,

Thanks for your post - really helpful


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## DH59 (Feb 23, 2010)

Will post the details here, as I have no interest in the company in question, and it may also help someone else.

We used John Mason, based in Liverpool, the original quote (someone came to our house a few weeks before to estimate) was for 90 boxes at approx 270 cu ft, so I am guessing that our 70 boxes were not too far from that estimate, as the quoted price remained the same, which £1770 + VAT.

They were very efficient, two men taking four and a half hours to empty cupboards and drawers and pack the boxes, which were varying sizes - not sure of the sizes, but they were not too large - and load them onto the van (which was a smallish one). A lot of the boxes would contain cushions and pillows and duvets, which would of course take up a lot of room. We were advised not to compress these items into vacuum bags due to changes in temperature causing condensation and possible mould forming. We tried two pillows so we'll see how they arrive.


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