# Worth it to ship your items to NZ?



## simply me (Sep 17, 2013)

We are really debating the shipping of some of our items. Especially household. 

We will bring our sons PS4 in his carry on on the plane. 
We would like to bring our 50inch tv, coffee machines, some clothing that won't for in plane luggage, tids and bits. 

After looking through electronic stores a new tv would cost us around 1000$. So not sure if it's worth it and if well gave high customs. 

Anyone shipped to NZ? Any experiences?

Thanks


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

simply me said:


> We are really debating the shipping of some of our items. Especially household.
> 
> We will bring our sons PS4 in his carry on on the plane.
> We would like to bring our 50inch tv, coffee machines, some clothing that won't for in plane luggage, tids and bits.
> ...


I wouldn't suggest bringing any large electronics, no. First, because you can generally get pretty good deals here if you shop around, second, I think that broadcast signals are different here (PAL B), so you'd probably have to find and use a signal converter in order for your US TV to pick up NZ broadcast signals; lastly, the wall-plugs and voltage is totally different here, and setting up a permanent converter is likely an unnecessary hassle, especially if you are also going to have to run a signal converter as well. You can get a 55inch, off brand HD TV here at sale-time, for less than $1000NZD (We bought one for the spare room about 8 months ago for around $500NZD on a Warehouse online-only special deal). 
Same with the coffee maker, unless it's a super nice one worth hundreds of dollars, I wouldn't think it would be worth it. 
Now, the PS4, if he has a lot of games, probably IS worth bringing. I brought my Wii, plus about 40 games, and a few hundred dollars worth of various accessories. I purchased (2) 1000 watt step up/down transformers from Amazon for $48 and use one in the media room to run the Wii, and Wii charging station, and use the other for kitchen appliances I brought (Kitchen-aide mixer, Cuisinart food processor and blender, etc). With my small appliances, I just haul the transformer out when I use them, versus having a coffee maker permanently attached to one. They aren't small, just be aware of that. 
I shipped around 250sqf of household items, and would do it over and over and over again. It was SO worth it, for me. However, my move was permanent, so if your is temporary, OR you aren't sure yet if it's permanent, I would suggest *not* shipping until you are certain.
I had my items in storage in California for my first year here, which worked out really well for me. After a year, I returned for a visit, and coordinated shipping my stuff (and my pets), as well as adding things I knew would be useful to the shipment load.
I brought all of my linens, clothes, kitchen items, pots/pans, fancy plates, bakeware, etc; I brought all of my furniture except my suede couch, which on reflection, I WOULD ship, if I had a do-over, and I did not bring my dining room table. 
I also did not bring my mattress, which I should have, and would happily pay if MAF required cleaning. GOOD mattresses are *super* expensive over here, I paid close to $1000 for a mid-grade mattress, which is what I paid for a great Sleep Therapy mattress in California.
I brought over 2 bed frames, one solid cherry-wood, sleigh bed, book cases, solid wood bombay chest, a mountain bike, bar stools, two solid wood dressers, bins full of down blankets, sheets, pillows, towels; boxes of books, bundles of framed artwork, etc. 

No one can decide except you on whether it's worth it, but, my final costs amounted to less than $5000 to ship it all ($10.50 per sqf, plus misc port and MAF inspection fees) -- door to door from California to Christchurch -- which is far less than what it would have cost to replace those same items here (with inferior quality, no less). 
Also, although the process was nerve wracking, not a single item was broken or damaged in the move.

Hope the info helps.


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## abbott09 (Apr 23, 2015)

Kimbella, what moving or shipping company did you use? Did they package the larger items for you? We are in Texas, but if it is a national company or something I could use for comparison that would be amazing! My husband insists we sell everything and only ship clothes and pictgures and momentos and such but I disagree... we have $5000 in our couch and love seat alone and starting fresh on a budget it sounds like things are not as comparable there as to what we currently own.


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## simply me (Sep 17, 2013)

Kimbella said:


> I wouldn't suggest bringing any large electronics, no. First, because you can generally get pretty good deals here if you shop around, second, I think that broadcast signals are different here (PAL B), so you'd probably have to find and use a signal converter in order for your US TV to pick up NZ broadcast signals; lastly, the wall-plugs and voltage is totally different here, and setting up a permanent converter is likely an unnecessary hassle, especially if you are also going to have to run a signal converter as well. You can get a 55inch, off brand HD TV here at sale-time, for less than $1000NZD (We bought one for the spare room about 8 months ago for around $500NZD on a Warehouse online-only special deal). Same with the coffee maker, unless it's a super nice one worth hundreds of dollars, I wouldn't think it would be worth it. Now, the PS4, if he has a lot of games, probably IS worth bringing. I brought my Wii, plus about 40 games, and a few hundred dollars worth of various accessories. I purchased (2) 1000 watt step up/down transformers from Amazon for $48 and use one in the media room to run the Wii, and Wii charging station, and use the other for kitchen appliances I brought (Kitchen-aide mixer, Cuisinart food processor and blender, etc). With my small appliances, I just haul the transformer out when I use them, versus having a coffee maker permanently attached to one. They aren't small, just be aware of that. I shipped around 250sqf of household items, and would do it over and over and over again. It was SO worth it, for me. However, my move was permanent, so if your is temporary, OR you aren't sure yet if it's permanent, I would suggest *not* shipping until you are certain. I had my items in storage in California for my first year here, which worked out really well for me. After a year, I returned for a visit, and coordinated shipping my stuff (and my pets), as well as adding things I knew would be useful to the shipment load. I brought all of my linens, clothes, kitchen items, pots/pans, fancy plates, bakeware, etc; I brought all of my furniture except my suede couch, which on reflection, I WOULD ship, if I had a do-over, and I did not bring my dining room table. I also did not bring my mattress, which I should have, and would happily pay if MAF required cleaning. GOOD mattresses are *super* expensive over here, I paid close to $1000 for a mid-grade mattress, which is what I paid for a great Sleep Therapy mattress in California. I brought over 2 bed frames, one solid cherry-wood, sleigh bed, book cases, solid wood bombay chest, a mountain bike, bar stools, two solid wood dressers, bins full of down blankets, sheets, pillows, towels; boxes of books, bundles of framed artwork, etc. No one can decide except you on whether it's worth it, but, my final costs amounted to less than $5000 to ship it all ($10.50 per sqf, plus misc port and MAF inspection fees) -- door to door from California to Christchurch -- which is far less than what it would have cost to replace those same items here (with inferior quality, no less). Also, although the process was nerve wracking, not a single item was broken or damaged in the move. Hope the info helps.



As always Kimbella... Thank you for you useful and sincere input. .


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

abbott09 said:


> Kimbella, what moving or shipping company did you use? Did they package the larger items for you? We are in Texas, but if it is a national company or something I could use for comparison that would be amazing! My husband insists we sell everything and only ship clothes and pictgures and momentos and such but I disagree... we have $5000 in our couch and love seat alone and starting fresh on a budget it sounds like things are not as comparable there as to what we currently own.


 I used a company called Prisma Cargo Solutions, and although it worked out in the end, it was not without a fair amount of stress; however, I doubt that is unique to just this company. It is a national company, as are most international movers. They are based out of NY, but contract with movers in your local area. Once you have decided on contract terms, depending on how you decide to move forward, you'll either have movers come and pack for you, or you'll pack on your own (see below). Once your items are packed, the movers transport them to the port they'll be departing from, where they get placed on a pallet and shrink wrapped--this is where your final square footage measurement comes from, and ultimately what your fees have paid for. Your items sometimes sit in wait for the ship that will take your items, then it will be in transit for about a month. The container ship then docks off the coast here, communication is made with Auckland port; you're contacted and advised of any port fees due, and once the ship is cleared, your items are retrieved from customs (once its been cleared) by the local company your US shipper has contacted (I think there is only one or two in NZ), where it goes to sit and await MAF approval for release. If MAF requests cleaning or fumigating, more charges may be added (none were added to mine). Once MAF is done, the NZ company will email you to arrange delivery to your house.
Here is how it worked in my case. Firstly, unlike standard companies, Prisma does not come out to give you an estimate on your stuff; in a sense it is DIY to a degree. You choose the amount you want to ship, and they give you an cost estimate based on that. I downsized from a 3bed/2bath house to 250sqf, contracted at $10.50 per sqf. 
Although this price included packing everything, I elected to do it myself in order to ensure the square footage was maintained.
I used every inch of space to pack stuff into: dresser drawers, chest drawers, wicker baskets, foot stool wells. Me packing ensured that space that would otherwise have not been used space--was used, and thus my overall sqf remained less than 250. Once all the furniture space was used, then things went into plastic bins and boxes. 
I taped out the measurements for 250sqf in my garage: tape on the floor to show front to back depth, floor tape to show width, and finally, tape on the wall to show height. This is how I managed to stay organized. As things were packed and boxed, I stacked it all within this. I downsized my house in 30 days, each night and weekend working on going through every nook and cranny. And, I was just one person doing this.
When I returned to the US a year later, I repacked everything as noted above, adding things that I knew were needed after having lived here for a year. My packing for the international shipment took about 2 weeks, but that was done mostly in bits and pieces. So, I'd say, if your head is in the right space, it's not an insurmountable project at all. If a middle aged woman can do it on her own, I'm sure a couple can manage it twice as fast!
Anyway, additional important details. As I said, Prisma would have had the packers pack my stuff as well, but I just preferred packing my own stuff. What you do need to do, if you go this route, is to keep an inventory of what stuff is in what box. For instance, Box #1: linens, towels, bathrobes, Box 2: misc kitchen items, Box 3: clothes Box 4: pots/pans. It doesn't need to be ultra specific, but it should be generally descriptive. This information is for customs, as they need to know what is being shipped, and it also provides them with info in case they want to inspect a box or two. 

Your husband needs to think smart, and rethink his plan on repurchasing upon arrival over here--IF you already own nice things, that are good quality and have value.
Not everyone purchases semi-expensive, high quality stuff, which is totally fine. If you've been less materialistic than me in terms of standard of goods, than getting rid of what you have and rebuying is probably no big deal. But, I was 40 when I moved, and owned nice things, some that aren't even available here, and others that it would have cost double or more to replace. 
Does your husband realize that prices in NZ are at a minimum 25% higher than the US (and probably much more than TX pricing!)
Sticker shock is a real thing here for Americans. It's really important that you and your husband understand that generally speaking, quality of goods here is overall lower. Not in all things, of course, but in general, the average consumer goods purchased are lower quality than what consumers in the US expect and are used to. Yes, you can purchase luxury items, but they are very expensive, by both US and NZ standards.
I wouldn't sell your stuff until you've done a cost comparison on replacement purchase by looking at prices at NZ websites, and TradeMe. 
Once your stuff is gone, it's gone.
If you know your move is permanent, without a doubt I will stress over and over and over, that shipping good quality items from the US is very good value. If you have not lived in NZ before, you wouldn't necessarily know that much of the imported items we get are very inferior in quality to what we get in the US. I don't consider it a reflection on NZ, just poor product choice, and I'm sure the manufacturers are happy to have a small nation take up their lower quality stuff. 
There are many nuances to this that are important, if you are of an age where you have accumulated nice things that you've already splashed out for in the US. The amount of choice in NZ, in terms of style, and quality is extremely low compared to the US, especially in terms of furniture, imo. For me, because I didn't bring my couch or dining room table, I needed to replace it. Our home, like many kiwi homes, is older, built in the 1920's/1930's, yet most of the furniture sold here is a modernist style: square, angular, low profile, etc. It looks weird (to my eyes) in character homes that have high ceilings, antique polished wood walls, stained glass windows, etc. So, I sought out something that would fit the home style, and the couch and a double person chair was $3200nzd--basically the base price of all the stuff I had shipped from the US.
So, if you own even one piece of furniture that is high quality and worth passing on as a heritage item, you might as well find a decently priced shipper and pare down your belongings to just the valuables and ship it (if you intend to stay).
I would, anyway.
Cheers!


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

simply me said:


> We are really debating the shipping of some of our items. Especially household.
> 
> We will bring our sons PS4 in his carry on on the plane.
> We would like to bring our 50inch tv, coffee machines, some clothing that won't for in plane luggage, tids and bits.
> ...


One last (hopefully) helpful link.

This is the company I used to initiate contact with a large sample of international movers. After I entered my moving information, they gave me back the names of 7 international shipping companies. The input info was passed on to those companies (by the intl website), who then each email contacted me separately. From there on in it was just whittling it down to who I wanted to use, and negotiating contract terms.

https://intlmovers.com/


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## abbott09 (Apr 23, 2015)

Thank you! Thank you! We are a young family, but have worked hard to have nice things and not owe on them. Knowing more on options, quality, and cost is very helpful and I cannot wait to share with my husband (maybe because party of me wants to say "I told you so!")  and I will definately be using this helpful link!


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