# Moving from USA to Australia - Things to buy/take b4 leaving



## therookie (Nov 10, 2010)

What things would be cheaper to buy over here and bring with us? Maybe extra pairs of jeans as I have heard they are more expensive down there... What about laptops etc? Maybe get a good one over here and bring it down? Just curious if there were some standout items or things to consider. Thanks!


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## amaslam (Sep 25, 2008)

Nearly everything is cheaper in the US, but computers and electronics are significantly cheaper in the US. Also don't buy a DVD/Blu-ray player there unless you intend to buy only region A discs (AU is region B).


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## Busyte (May 19, 2009)

Hi,

Can you be especific? Are you moving alone, with partner or are you taking kids with you too?

cheers,
Busyte


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## therookie (Nov 10, 2010)

Recently married, no kids. Just turned 30, shes 26...


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## Busyte (May 19, 2009)

Hi,

If you had kids, I'd say ship the whole house, our kids were very unsettled and when we unpacked our container they were settled and happy within one week. Having most of their stuff did make a difference.
We sent all of the kids furniture, some of their toys and all of our house stuff and appliances that were cheaper to take rather than buy new ones.
No regrets there.
LOVED seeing all my stuff again and all electrical/electronical stuff is a lot more expensive in Australia.

If it's just the 2 of you...
I'd say it really depends on the quality of your stuff or if you already bought all that expensive electronic stuff and have good quality furniture and things you feel you want to keep.

We have some friends (both British - went to Perth) who sold absolutely everything, and sent to Australia only a box of photos and important stuff and just went with a bagpack each.
They said most of their stuff was IKEA, easily replaced and too expensive to ship.
They took as much money as they could gather.

We have other friends (British/Australian - went to Sidney), who had expensive furniture and who literally went shopping, took everything out of their original packaging to look used and shipped the whole house.
They said it would have been a fortune to buy the whole content from scratch in Australia.lane:

Both couples are happy with their decisions.

I feel in the mist of all the culture shock and adjustment seeing my good old plates and pans helped me a lot to feel less lost and confused.
But we are in our late 30's, early 40's and this is just us.:ranger:

Good luck in deciding!


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## Sam James (Oct 13, 2010)

Also depends if you think you are staying just a few years, or never coming back.


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## Strega (Nov 12, 2010)

Also depends on whether there is a company paying for the move or not. If you have to pay, then once you factor in the cost of moving, it's likely most things would be cheaper to buy in Australia. (Although with the current exchange rate, maybe not!)

If you do ship electronics then don't forget to buy the converters or adaptors.


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## therookie (Nov 10, 2010)

We are looking at staying 3-5 years, we are getting some money to move (either to ship stuff or buy when we get down there).

@BusyTee - thanks for your input. Especially the part about the stuff making the house feel more like home with your familiar stuff.


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## therookie (Nov 10, 2010)

@BusyTe - what appliances did you ship?


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## Busyte (May 19, 2009)

Hi,

We took our clothes dryer (yes to Brisbane, some days it's so humid no way anything would dry outside), fridge, freezer , dishwasher ,( not the clothes washer because it needed to travel clean and dry and hubby couldn't get it dry in time for the movers), TV, nintendo Wii, nintendo DSi, blueray reader, speakers, all our music stuff, computer, laptops (in fact we took our laptops with us on the plane), my sewing machine, thermomix, actifry, stick blender, we took virtually all of our house.

It is possible to rent those things for a short term in Australia but the prices of buying them new are just ridiculous over there, in fact we had some friends who simply bought dishwasher and everything else brand new, removed all original packaging and all new stickers, etc, and just put them in the kitchen in time for the movers. They saved a fortune.

We didn't because we already had so much stuff we felt we should take it rather than sell it second hand for a ridiculous price in the UK and then buy new for 3 times more money we would spend in the UK. Also our shipping company said we weren't supposed to take anything less than a year old (I think that is considered an import).

We payed £4.000 something last April for a 20 feet container, we only got the piano (yes we even took a piano) insured because we would have payed a lot more with insurance and we knew they were quite careful.
They only broke a tiny coffee saucer, so no regrets there either.
We used "Robinsons".

It was fantastic to have all our home content sudendly with us. After all was tidy, it really felt a lot more like home and the kids settled finally.

Good luck.


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## therookie (Nov 10, 2010)

Now you are making me wonder if we should take our washer/dryer (clothes) except ours are on the wrong voltage...


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## tesse (Feb 16, 2010)

Hi Busyte,

When your movers shipped your piano, did they airtight wrapped it and placed it in a crate? 

I've received two quotes from two movers - Southern Winds says crating is not necessary, while Rainier said they will crate it for an extra charge. My gut says that we should crate it for security? Just wondering what your experience with shipping the piano was. Also were there any issues with the piano after it arrived?

We're moving soon and I can't seem to decide if we should ship our piano with us or not.

Thanks!


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## xmaseve24 (Sep 27, 2011)

Hi...my family has just recd our PR & will be leaving for Australia in a couple of months time...and my husband and I were planning to buy some new appliances before we leave coz the ones we have are old...So, this is news to me...we aren't supposed to take anything less than a year old ?? really ?? Ok...so, like one of the senior expats have mentioned in the forum...the better decision would be to buy the stuff...take it out of the packing and make it look like used stuff huh ?? Just out of curiousity...do the customs in australia charge us high if its new ?


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