# American Shipping Costs to NZ



## Vmorris22 (Sep 3, 2013)

Hello all, haven't been on in awhile! Now I'm back to researching again. 

I'm seeing a lot of shipping estimates and companies for UK to NZ, but I would like to know from the Americans who have moved or are in the process of moving to NZ, what costs or quotes did you incur? I'm in Oklahoma, so I assume I'll have to pay more for my stuff to get to a container off the coast. But I'm trying to do estimates right now, and I don't really want to go through the process of getting a quote. So any information will be helpful!


Thanks,

Victoria


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

Vmorris22 said:


> Hello all, haven't been on in awhile! Now I'm back to researching again.
> 
> I'm seeing a lot of shipping estimates and companies for UK to NZ, but I would like to know from the Americans who have moved or are in the process of moving to NZ, what costs or quotes did you incur? I'm in Oklahoma, so I assume I'll have to pay more for my stuff to get to a container off the coast. But I'm trying to do estimates right now, and I don't really want to go through the process of getting a quote. So any information will be helpful!
> 
> ...


I contacted about 6 different places, and wound up using a place called Prisma Cargo Solutions. The cost was $10.50 per cubit foot, which was the cheapest I found. The way I managed to keep my costs to a minimum was by packing everything myself (and keeping a running, written inventory of each box for the movers, as this information is provided to customs). I literally taped out the measurements for 250cf in my garage -- rectangular outline on the floor, height indicator on a wall, and as I packed and boxed things up, used this to gauge the cf I was using (I stored all my packed items within these boundaries!) Be aware that your items will wind up being palleted and shrink-wrapped, so this method is inexact in terms of shape -- BUT, the great think about cf is that it remains the same irrespective of the shape it takes on. On the advice of the moving company, I added an additional 10% cf for what they call "dead space" but found this was totally UNnecessary, and essentially cost me $800 for absolutely nothing! It is far better for you to get it written into your contract that IF you go OVER the contracted CF, you'll still only be charged for the contracted amount: $10/$13/$20 -- whatever. That way, if you ARE over, they can ONLY charge you the precise overage amount. I tried to get a refund on my charges (as I was told via email that if I was under the CF, I would be refunded, but, once you're no longer on US shores, it's near impossible to get any traction going). 
Some places pay for *almost* all of the costs once your items hit NZ, but certain costs can't be anticipated as they're based on the total load of the vessel your items come over on. I think I wound up paying an additional $1000/$1500NZD in port fees/maf inspections once everything arrived on NZ shores. 

Other friends of mine were coming from the far north (AK), and their moving quotes were all based on WEIGHT (I'm assuming because of how uncommon a move from AK to NZ is), so they opted (to their now dismay) to not bring their things. I'd suggest that if you run into that issue (getting quotes based on weight), consider paying movers to move and store your stuff in a major port city (my stuff sailed from Long Beach, CA), then get NON weight based quotes from that place -- waaaay cheaper in the long run! Their quote was like $10kUSD for MINIMAL stuff!! 

I found it beneficial to pack my own stuff because the movers would not have used dresser drawers, and miscellaneous nooks and crannies as storage "space," thereby inflating the overall cf price. I used the drawers of dressers and bombay chest, the insides of chests and trunks, plastic storage boxes, etc., as storage, which drastically pared down the CF I was using. Yes, if based on weight, it would have been insane because my drawers were stuffed with books and kitchen items, BUT, not having that as an issue, my cubic footage was nicely confined. 
Also, another advantage to doing your own packing is simply that you can make sure your stuff is packed properly.... not always the case with moving companies, and your stuff IS going on a very long and bumpy ride across a vast ocean.

Once you decide on your international move company, they'll wind up contracting with a local or regional moving company to pick your stuff up. That moving company will inventory and sticker/tag all your items, with a description of the contents of each: books, houseware, clothes, etc., and this will be provided to port customs in each country. They will wind up doing the palleting and shrink-wrapping of your pallets (and getting that stuff to the port!), and providing the final measured CF to both the port and the primary international moving company. I personally think if you're there to see and speak with the movers, and are super-cool with them, they'll wind up doing a dandy job for you, in terms of making sure things are palletized in such a manner that CF is as reduced as possible -- they don't get paid extra for what they're doing, only the primary mover does!!! 
Once all that is done, the numbered/itemized boxes will allow authorities to review what's in each box, and poke through specific ones if they want, although they can also do random searches, reviews as well. 

Anyway, best of luck on your research -- it's both fun and exciting, AND exasperating, imo.


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## Vmorris22 (Sep 3, 2013)

This response was exactly what I was looking for. It is so in depth and detailed quite well! I felt like I was walking through the process with you as it was being done, so thank you very much, Kimbella! I wrote everything you said down. This gives me a good idea of how much we need to set aside in just shipping and motivation to get rid of some useless things to make room for some items we can get here before we move instead of paying an arm and leg in NZ. 

So once we arrive in NZ, is there another local shipping company that will bring our items from the port to our home? Is that included in the cost, or is that totally separate?


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

Vmorris22 said:


> This response was exactly what I was looking for. It is so in depth and detailed quite well! I felt like I was walking through the process with you as it was being done, so thank you very much, Kimbella! I wrote everything you said down. This gives me a good idea of how much we need to set aside in just shipping and motivation to get rid of some useless things to make room for some items we can get here before we move instead of paying an arm and leg in NZ.
> 
> So once we arrive in NZ, is there another local shipping company that will bring our items from the port to our home? Is that included in the cost, or is that totally separate?


Glad to be able to help! You'll find that once here, you will *really* be invested in helping and/or making contact with other NZ based Americans ... you can't know how much you will miss the country and culture until you've moved away from it...

And, yes, there will be a local, NZ side mover that will be coordinating customs and MAF stuff on the ground. My guess is that there are probably only a few, since the country is so small, and I don't think the bulk of immigrants bring their stuff (the majority are coming from poorer countries, seeking more opportunity -- and often a leg into Australia -- so they travel light). I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it's just one company, tbh. Anywho, they'll contact you once the vessel is offshore to provide you with specifics on what port tax/fees you owe, and after customs checks your stuff, you'll get another bill to cover that, then they'll arrange for your items to be delivered. ALL vessels anchor in Auckland Port, so know matter where you move to, that will be the point of entry for your stuff. I think my stuff came to the S Island by train, then was gathered for delivery by a local company (there will likely be lots of sub-contractors handling your stuff) -- it might also have come by a smaller ship to Lyttelton Port here, but in any case, once the port fees and MAF fees were paid, nothing extra was charged, as delivery was bundled into the price that was negotiated in the US. The whole process is incredibly nerve wracking, but, once you arrive and have been here for a year, you'll be glad you brought stuff because things truly are made on the cheap here, or cheap stuff is imported, than onsold at laughable prices. Seriously, you will find yourself LONGING for Walmart quality wares, I kid you not. Plan well while you can.


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