# Cost of Shipping Goods From U.S. to Sydney Australia



## Lsong (Mar 26, 2008)

I'm being offered $15K AUD to ship all my goods door to door from Atlanta, Ga to Sydney Australia. This will include insurance and my dogs ($6K AUD). Can anyone tell me if shipping goods in a 500 cubic foot container (assuming it's full) will cost under $10K AUD? I'll be moving out of a 3 bedroom house. Thanks the help!


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## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

Hi,

We shipped most of a two-bedroom house for just under $5000 door-to-door (minus approximately $500 that had to be paid to Australian customs/quarantine), so you can probably do better than $10K for a 3-bedroom house. In fact, I would say that it shouldn't cost much more than $5000-$6000 total. 

We moved from North Carolina to Melbourne.

The dog is a different story. She'll end up costing about $5000 on her own (she's a Weimaraner so a fairly large breed) and due to some unforeseen problems at the back end of the process, her arrival has been delayed by months -- initially she was supposed to arrive on 9 May, but she's actually still in the US and if all goes well will be imported next Wednesday. Feel free to PM me if you need more specific advice on this matter.


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

hey,

I jsut asked for a quote from a packer and mover firm, for a 30kg air freight, they quoted me GBP 337.87. They will be picking the stuf form my place at India, New Delhi and Delivering it at Melbourne. I dont even know where and when would we be moving but i am doing my homework by finding out how much it costs. Just so that I am not short of money just when i need it.


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

anj1976 said:


> hey,
> 
> I jsut asked for a quote from a packer and mover firm, for a 30kg air freight, they quoted me GBP 337.87. They will be picking the stuf form my place at India, New Delhi and Delivering it at Melbourne. I dont even know where and when would we be moving but i am doing my homework by finding out how much it costs. Just so that I am not short of money just when i need it.


You're doing the right thing anj....do your research (especially the bits that are going to cost you money). Then you'll be able to work out your finances. It's scarey how it all adds up 

Dolly


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

Dolly said:


> You're doing the right thing anj....do your research (especially the bits that are going to cost you money). Then you'll be able to work out your finances. It's scarey how it all adds up
> 
> Dolly



Right now we have just paid the acs assessment fee and the initial two installments to the consultant but i already see the expenses building up. there is itlts, my passport to be made all over again since it expired long back, for that we are waiting for my husbands passport post which i will apply, then there is our marriage registration, we hv to visit my inlaw's place once before we go, and shekhar(my husband) wants to go to goa once before we leave, then the final visa application cost n the consultant expenses, thn the freight charges and photocopying and maybe running around further after the govt. agencies for any document that we might be missing, some money that we are planning to carry along has to managed too and of-course there are regular day to day expenses which can not be missed.

I keep calculating all day and my husband laughs at me, he thinks i am going mad reading about australia all day and calculating money all day. hehe


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

anj1976 said:


> I keep calculating all day and my husband laughs at me, he thinks i am going mad reading about australia all day and calculating money all day. hehe


Join the club! I'm sure most of us will do or did exactly the same! 

Dolly


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## Lsong (Mar 26, 2008)

Tiffani said:


> Hi,
> 
> We shipped most of a two-bedroom house for just under $5000 door-to-door (minus approximately $500 that had to be paid to Australian customs/quarantine), so you can probably do better than $10K for a 3-bedroom house. In fact, I would say that it shouldn't cost much more than $5000-$6000 total.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the info! I hope everything goes well for your dog. Do you mind me asking you what shipping company you used? Also, do you think 500 cubic feet is reasonable moving out a 3 bedroom house? I have no concept of cubic space. How long before your things arrived? WE ARE STRESSING OUT OVER THIS OFFER! LOL. Thanks again for the info!


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## HereGoes (Jun 8, 2008)

Tiffani said:


> Hi,
> 
> We shipped most of a two-bedroom house for just under $5000 door-to-door (minus approximately $500 that had to be paid to Australian customs/quarantine), so you can probably do better than $10K for a 3-bedroom house. In fact, I would say that it shouldn't cost much more than $5000-$6000 total.
> 
> ...



Wow $5000 for your dogs.. Any idea how much for cats? I have 4 of them


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## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

HereGoes said:


> Wow $5000 for your dogs.. Any idea how much for cats? I have 4 of them


I hate to tell you this, but it'll probably cost a LOT to ship four cats. I know one woman who shipped her cat from the US to Australia and it cost her around $3000. So for four cats it'll probably be $10k-$12k! 

I'm sure that there will be a discount for some aspects of the move since you have more than one animal, but the lion's share of the cost of shipping is the freight itself which is only going to increase with the rising costs of fuel.


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## HereGoes (Jun 8, 2008)

Tiffani said:


> I hate to tell you this, but it'll probably cost a LOT to ship four cats. I know one woman who shipped her cat from the US to Australia and it cost her around $3000. So for four cats it'll probably be $10k-$12k!
> 
> I'm sure that there will be a discount for some aspects of the move since you have more than one animal, but the lion's share of the cost of shipping is the freight itself which is only going to increase with the rising costs of fuel.


well thats really not gd news


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## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

HereGoes said:


> well thats really not gd news


no indeed, but nothing about moving abroad is ever cheap  
it's worth it though!

One other thing to note: depending on where you will be living, different city councils have different rules about the number of pets you can have. For instance, I live about 10 km outside of Melbourne, and I am only allowed to have two pets total. I think this is pretty stock-standard, so for four cats you may have to be willing to live pretty far out of the city (like, in the country -- not the suburbs). So just check the town councils of the areas you're looking at to live, and see what their rules are.


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## HereGoes (Jun 8, 2008)

Tiffani said:


> no indeed, but nothing about moving abroad is ever cheap
> it's worth it though!
> 
> One other thing to note: depending on where you will be living, different city councils have different rules about the number of pets you can have. For instance, I live about 10 km outside of Melbourne, and I am only allowed to have two pets total. I think this is pretty stock-standard, so for four cats you may have to be willing to live pretty far out of the city (like, in the country -- not the suburbs). So just check the town councils of the areas you're looking at to live, and see what their rules are.


noted and thanx tiffani


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## RedRose (May 14, 2008)

we are also arriving to perth in next month from kuwait. I am also confused what to bring. Actually I don't have much things which are 12 months old. So if I buy new items like color printer, LCD TV, LCD Monitor, FRIDGE ETC. how much will be the custom duty?its 100% or pls. let me know.

Can you help to know the price of

20" LCD monitor for computer
42" LCD TV good brand
Washing Machine
Refrigerator
HP Colour printer , scanner, FAX and copier all in one
Mobile Phone

etc..



Regards,

RedRose


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## anj1976 (Apr 24, 2008)

RedRose said:


> we are also arriving to perth in next month from kuwait. I am also confused what to bring. Actually I don't have much things which are 12 months old. So if I buy new items like color printer, LCD TV, LCD Monitor, FRIDGE ETC. how much will be the custom duty?its 100% or pls. let me know.
> 
> Can you help to know the price of
> 
> ...


Hi again,

It would be best if you google the item you wish to buy and the relative cost. for example "cost of LCD in perth, Australia" and you will get plenty of sites to check from. I can not post a link here, else would have helped you with it. Also, you can try ebay, it normally has these things up on the site. It will give you a fair idea.


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## FLOYD (May 26, 2008)

How did some of you decide what items you would not move without and what itmes you would be better off replacing once settled in?
I don't think I would consider bringing electronics(tv, stereo, etc) that would be expensive to move and could be purchased over time once settled.
I have a couple of valuable, custom pieces of furniture I would hate to part with. The again I could possibly be money ahead to forget sentiment, sell these and buy what I need upon arrival.

Pictures, family albums, and this sort of thing are irreplacable but would be the least expensive to move. 

The cost of moving a pet looks to be one of the bigger hurdles, the guy is laying on the floor beside my chair now. It don't think leaving him behind could be an option but I also worry about how he would handle the move, isn't there an isolation period (maybe 30 days)?


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

FLOYD said:


> How did some of you decide what items you would not move without and what itmes you would be better off replacing once settled in?
> I don't think I would consider bringing electronics(tv, stereo, etc) that would be expensive to move and could be purchased over time once settled.
> I have a couple of valuable, custom pieces of furniture I would hate to part with. The again I could possibly be money ahead to forget sentiment, sell these and buy what I need upon arrival.
> 
> ...


Hi Floyd,

To ship all your worldly goods over to Australia, say on a 20 foot container ranges from approximately £3800 to £4500 (and I stress approximately!). To buy a new LCD TV here (at today's exchange rate) would be £965. A fridge/freezer would be £1000 - so your 'replacement' value on 2 items if you bought new over here is nearly £2000. The fee for shipping goods over is a 'job lot'. You're not paying on an individual basis for pieces of furniture etc. And you don't pay any import tax on anything over 12 months old. 

TBH we just brought over everything we could cram into the container and then we're buying new as we go along and throwing out things we no longer need. To us it seemed more cost-effective to do it that way.

Why wouldn't you bring your furniture that has sentimental value? As long as it's not wood that has woodworm or signs of having woodworm..it'll fit in the container with everything else.

Moving our Milly over was around £2500. She was the easiest to organise out of everything that had to be done! She was in quarantine for 30 days and handled it really well. The quarantine stations look after your pet really well so don't worry.

Dolly


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

FLOYD said:


> How did some of you decide what items you would not move without and what itmes you would be better off replacing once settled in?
> I don't think I would consider bringing electronics(tv, stereo, etc) that would be expensive to move and could be purchased over time once settled.
> I have a couple of valuable, custom pieces of furniture I would hate to part with. The again I could possibly be money ahead to forget sentiment, sell these and buy what I need upon arrival.
> 
> ...


Hi Floyd, 

Partly our choice was governed by age of items and as Dolly mentioned sentimental value. We paid around £6000 for a 40ft container. 

Sentimental value was the Mustang, some pieces of furniture and of course personal items such as photo albums. 

We didn't bother bring the sofa since it was ancient and some of the other furniture that had seen better days. We did bring the stereo (because it's a good one) and the tv because it was new. On most electrical items from the UK all you need to do in Oz is change the plug and it will work (the tv may need a set top box as well). 

As Dolly said we are replacing things are we go along. We didn't bring a microwave since my parents needed one and it was donated to them. We have lived 10 months without one since we only replaced it last week  Really we have only just started buying non-essential items for the house. 

Regards,
Karen


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## FLOYD (May 26, 2008)

Thanks Kaz and Dolly.
The reason I wondered about shipping the furniture is because I am single and exactly four pieces have value. If I don't move furniture and appliances, I would be down to moving very little. Once I start planning, I'll price replacement vs shipping.
I had never thought about a vehicle. moving vs sending. No sentimental value but paid for and very reliable. 
Now I am thinking about how much would fit in a 20ft container.
I thought many electronics and appliances form the US may not work there.? 
I've seen a couple of posts from US people and it looks like $5000 is about what to expect for a dog.


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

FLOYD said:


> I had never thought about a vehicle. moving vs sending. No sentimental value but paid for and very reliable.


I wouldn't bother moving a car. This had sentimental value and if we had known how much extra we would need to pay out to get it on the road we probably wouldn't have bothered. If cars are new then and classed as luxury then you get hit with luxury car tax. See Used Cars - New Cars - Search New & Used Cars For Sale - carsales.com.au for car prices over here.


FLOYD said:


> Now I am thinking about how much would fit in a 20ft container.
> I thought many electronics and appliances form the US may not work there.?


We moved from the UK where the current is about the same but you may have problems with appliances from the US if it's different. 

Regards,
Karen


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## Tiffani (Dec 4, 2007)

I didn't bring any of my electronics except for my laptop, and we just use an adaptor because the laptops already have a universal adaptor attached for current issues. The rest of the electronics we bought here. It's not as cheap as it is in the US, but the salaries are higher so it evens out.

As far as furniture is concerned, if you're attached to something or you are being given a shipping allowance (as we were), by all means bring it along. Keep in mind that the cost of shipping often works out to be more than the cost of buying the same or a similar product new. If you don't have sentimental value attached to your stuff and nobody's going to reimburse you the cost of shipping, you may be better off buying furniture here. Several furniture companies have deals now where you can essentially furnish and entire house as a package deal for a few grand! It's a bargain really.


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## jorge gomez (Jun 25, 2008)

*Regarding shipping to AUSTRALIA*

Can you please respond with the company info that you used to move to AU?

thank you vey much!







Tiffani said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can you please respond with the company info that you used to move to AU?
> 
> ...


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## Lsong (Mar 26, 2008)

I recieved several quotes and finally settled on LTV...I'll let you know how it goes.


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## DanaY (Jan 25, 2009)

*Shipping company?*

HI Tiffany, Do you remember the name of the shipping company you used? Any detailed information you have would be really helpful. Thanks, Dana



Tiffani said:


> Hi,
> 
> We shipped most of a two-bedroom house for just under $5000 door-to-door (minus approximately $500 that had to be paid to Australian customs/quarantine), so you can probably do better than $10K for a 3-bedroom house. In fact, I would say that it shouldn't cost much more than $5000-$6000 total.
> 
> ...


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## Laurengr (Jul 8, 2009)

*moving company*



DanaY said:


> HI Tiffany, Do you remember the name of the shipping company you used? Any detailed information you have would be really helpful. Thanks, Dana


Have you moved yet? If so, which moving company did YOU use? If not, have you chosen one yet? Did "Tiffany" ever get back to you with the name of the company she used?

thanks!


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## therookie (Nov 10, 2010)

Tiffani said:


> Hi,
> 
> We shipped most of a two-bedroom house for just under $5000 door-to-door (minus approximately $500 that had to be paid to Australian customs/quarantine), so you can probably do better than $10K for a 3-bedroom house. In fact, I would say that it shouldn't cost much more than $5000-$6000 total.
> 
> We moved from North Carolina to Melbourne.


Sounds like you got a good deal! Who did you use?


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