# Advice for relocation from Singapore to NZ



## Ean

Hi, I will be moving to NZ soon. I have the following questions and would appreciate advice from anyone with similar experiences.

(1) Any recommendation of a reliable and reasonably priced shipping company in Singapore? Also, things to look out for when dealing with the shipping company. FYI, we were recently quoted about SGD10,000 for a 20ft container!

(2) Which items to ship to NZ? Furniture, electronics, whitewares (fridge, washer) etc.. I've had mixed advice from friends who moved there. Some said furniture sold in Singapore is not suitable to be used in NZ due to the difference in humidity. For electronics, some said the prices in NZ is not much different from Singapore now.

(3) If you ship over furniture, is there a requirement for it to be fumigated etc..?

(4) Are we subject to import taxes and GST when we're bringing in the above items, especially new ones?


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## temasek

Ean said:


> Hi, I will be moving to NZ soon. I have the following questions and would appreciate advice from anyone with similar experiences.
> 
> (1) Any recommendation of a reliable and reasonably priced shipping company in Singapore? Also, things to look out for when dealing with the shipping company. FYI, we were recently quoted about SGD10,000 for a 20ft container!
> 
> (2) Which items to ship to NZ? Furniture, electronics, whitewares (fridge, washer) etc.. I've had mixed advice from friends who moved there. Some said furniture sold in Singapore is not suitable to be used in NZ due to the difference in humidity. For electronics, some said the prices in NZ is not much different from Singapore now.
> 
> (3) If you ship over furniture, is there a requirement for it to be fumigated etc..?
> 
> (4) Are we subject to import taxes and GST when we're bringing in the above items, especially new ones?


Hi, we are also planning our move to NZ. Did you find a cheaper shipping company? My sister in law got her stuff moved to Canada for less than 8k so NZ may be lesser considering the distance etc..


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## Ean

temasek said:


> Hi, we are also planning our move to NZ. Did you find a cheaper shipping company? My sister in law got her stuff moved to Canada for less than 8k so NZ may be lesser considering the distance etc..



Hi Temasek,

I've just got some movers to quote, Crown, KC Dat Asia Tigers & Rhema. Crown and KC Dat are the key players here in Singapore and they are also priced about the same. Both have not returned with a full quote but a rough estimate for a 20ft is about $10K confirmed. Rhema returned with a quote of <$8K but it's not detailed enough to be believable.

The pricing works like this. This is what I gathered from some detailed discussion with them. The container and the shipment costs is marked-up by the mover. The base cost is largely out of control of the movers and it is seasonal. This cost does not change regardless of the amount of things you want to move.

What is controllable is the amount of things you are moving. Similar to local movers, they charge depending on the amount of things they have to move i.e. labour + packing materials. Also, the cost is double as their partner in NZ will charge their share as well. For this portion of the cost, they will give you an estimate but will only calculate the final based on what they stack into the container. I believe this is the portion that you can control through negotiation and careful planning of what you need to move. Don't just throw everything in as the costs adds up.

Also, generally the rule of thumb is that move what you already have. If you are planning to buy new stuff, do some research on how much a similar item costs in NZ, and see if the price difference offset the shipping costs, breakage risk and lack of warranty in NZ.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more information or discuss.


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## temasek

Thanks Ean for sharing.

When are you looking to move over and which area will you be settling down? As for us, we will most likely be looking at Dannemora area due to school reason.


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