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Relocating. What to take?

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ozchick
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Relocating. What to take?

Post by ozchick » Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:53 pm

So the quote for all my stuff to go to Germany is gonna be mid $5000.00 and my work-place will pay only half. I've never been in this situation and am hearing some colleagues say,' forget the furniture, beds, etc. Start again at the other end".
But another friend reckons they were very sorry that they'd left everything behind in England for the sake of 2 thousand dollars or so. They had a bad time here in Sg trying to source the things they wanted and wished that they'd brought it all with them. What does one do?
I've got an older TV that was given to me here. It works a treat but it takes up space in shipment. So I leave it behind and then what price will I have to pay for a new one........it seems a difficult task to weigh the 'take it all' costs against the 'buy it again when you get there' option....
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Post by tulipe » Sat, 03 Apr 2010 9:59 pm

mattress... its hard to start over to find the perfect mattress. that wont give you back ache after sleepless nite

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Post by cbavasi » Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:14 pm

Are you taking a whole container by yourself or are you sharing a container? You can ask the moving company if this is possible. We did this from NY to UK when it was just 2 of us. One TV is not really going to make a difference... in fact, I would ask the shipping company what sort of cubic feet you would be looking at to really save money. It's my understanding that they deal in very specific sizes - so that you can jam as much as you can in a 20ft container... but if you start throwing stuff away you may still be paying for a 20ft container - just with more free space.

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Post by Splatted » Sun, 04 Apr 2010 1:28 am

tulipe wrote:mattress... its hard to start over to find the perfect mattress. that wont give you back ache after sleepless nite
I'm actually thinking the opposite.

Mattresses lose their firmness over the years.
It's one of the first things I would consider replacing.

Unless you have a new-ish bed that you spent a few thousand on... that's another story then.

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Re: Relocating. What to take?

Post by Splatted » Sun, 04 Apr 2010 1:32 am

ozchick wrote:So the quote for all my stuff to go to Germany is gonna be mid $5000.00 and my work-place will pay only half. I've never been in this situation and am hearing some colleagues say,' forget the furniture, beds, etc. Start again at the other end".
What exactly are you shipping?

Once you work out a list of all the items, then ask yourself how much it will cost you to buy the same overseas.

For $5000+, I'm fairly confident you can replace your bed and white goods, possibly even a lounge suite, depending on how up-market you want to shop.
And you'll at least have peace of mind everything is under warranty.

edit: also, logistically - where will you be living while your stuff is in transit by sea? Last time my parents shipped stuff from Australia to Croatia, it took a full 3 months. During that time we had to stay in fully furnished accommodation untill all the stuff arrived. Who will pay for this extra expense? Or will you do the indoor camping thing and get a sleeping bag?

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Post by beppi » Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:17 am

There are three aspects to consider here:
1. All items with sentimental value have to be shipped, as they are irreplaceable (regardless of monetary value)
2. Replacement vs. shipping costs (you can check the website of Ikea Germany for an idea of furniture costs - in general it's a bit higher than in Singapore)
3. Compatibility:
- Although at the same voltage/frequency as Singapore, Germany uses a different plug. Buy adapters or replace them here, as such things are vastly more expensive there. Electrical appliances cost the same there as here.
- Germany is entirely metric. Do not ship anything that isn't, or at least make sure you don't need replacements/spare parts. Singapore-sized (Queen, King, whatever) beds or mattresses are NOT available in Germany (and custom-making either costs more than a metric bed WITH mattress).

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Post by Splatted » Sun, 04 Apr 2010 1:48 pm

beppi wrote: 3. Compatibility:
- Although at the same voltage/frequency as Singapore, Germany uses a different plug. Buy adapters or replace them here, as such things are vastly more expensive there. Electrical appliances cost the same there as here.
- Germany is entirely metric. Do not ship anything that isn't, or at least make sure you don't need replacements/spare parts. Singapore-sized (Queen, King, whatever) beds or mattresses are NOT available in Germany (and custom-making either costs more than a metric bed WITH mattress).
Excellent point.

Anyone knows what the voltage requirement is for Germany, and whether PAL colour TV's work there?

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Post by ozchick » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 9:13 am

Doing the 'camping-in thing'. Hope to borrow a mattress from a friend. That's no issue. And I have both the landlord's furniture and my own so I'll mange ok. The reason I still have my own is that I couldn't sell it for love or money! And that's the other point. I get the impression that if I don't take my stuff with me and sell it instead, I'll get peanuts for it anyway. It's funny...the bed I want to take cost me only $500 cos I got it from a friend 2nd-hand. So I should be happy to leave it behind. Same with the TV. But then at destination, finding the same good value 2nd-hand isn't likely to happen. So then the new item will be big bucks for sure.
And the 20 foot container that's been mentioned. Yeah they told me I could do that and it'll cost me $13,000 approx but no way do I have enough to put in that container. So I'm waiting on a 3rd quote and I'm gonna spell out exactly what I want to take and ask for an exact price. So far I'm not getting a very clear picture of the costs. I think they have trouble guaging the space, numberof boxes etc too. It's as clear as mud at the moment but I'm leaning on the side of taking my things with me. Apparently in the German apartment, whitegoods aren't likely to be there so I'm not keen at the thought of buying fridge, washing machine AND all the other stuff. Mm...when I've completed this exercise I'll add it to this post. It's all a learning experience.
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Post by beppi » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:03 am

Look at the details of the "container for S$13k" quote: It's very likely to include hefty costs of packing and unpacking, lots of other fees and only a small portion (S$2.5-3k) for the actual container shipment.
The pure shipment fees are similar for all forwarders, but you can considerably squeeze the other costs. Look for other moving companies or you might use a pure freight forwarder and pack things into/out of the container yourself!

Unfortunately, shipping LCL ("Less than Container Load") is most likely to cost you more (it may be cheaper only if you fill below 30% of a container) and cause more hazzle. The companies doing this are called "Consolidators".

Many apartments in Germany come with "Einbaukueche" (fully equipped kitchen), so white goods are not necessary to ship.

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Post by aster » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:24 am

How much bulky stuff do you have after you count out the furniture? I mean if you could take like 4 big pieces of luggage each at 32kgs, would you fit? :)

Or are we talking about heaps of household stuff? Keep in mind that you might end up returning here, so maybe just put the heavy stuff in storage and see how it goes over there?

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Post by raden888 » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 11:59 am

The decision to bring your furniture and other non clothing belongings with you would probably the duration of your stay in Germany. How long will you be there? What are you going to do after Germany? My Advise would be is to start anew or rent a fully furnished apartment.

My 2 cents, declutter your life. Over the last couple of years, I have learned to declutter my life and its the best thing I have done to date. It is so good to be free from all the things we chain ourselves to.


Check out www.baur.de Click on wohnen haushalt, see if there is anything you like there before shipping your stuff over.

Ever thought of donating your stuff to an orphanage, women's shelter etc?

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Post by ozchick » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:01 pm

Yes Beppi I also wanted to do some packing, unpacking myself but they won't let me cos they reckon my insurance wouldn't cover. It's all silly.
And Aster I'd be well over the 3x32 kg for personal stuff only. All my books and resources for work are going to take up a few big boxes alone.
And Raden, I'm still considering the option of starting again too. And yeah I may as well give my spare sofas away for all they're worth. But one thing I'm gonna 'chain' myself to though is my bed! I just love that bed. It's as hard as rock and it's great! Yeah yeah I can hear it now- "Just get another hard mattress. It'll be fine". Nah not this little black duck. It's like my mobile phone, my guitar, my car and my tennis racquet. Don't want to try any others. Love the ones I've got! Gonna check out that link now.
And thanks!
'Are you trying to tempt me because I come from the land of plenty?'

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Post by raden888 » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:32 pm

I suppose you can't teach old dingos new tricks :P

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Post by Splatted » Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:46 pm

beppi wrote: Singapore-sized (Queen, King, whatever) beds or mattresses are NOT available in Germany (and custom-making either costs more than a metric bed WITH mattress).
Really? What do they use? Is it like what we had when we stayed in Croatia - 2x single beds next to each other as the "double" bed?

One thing I noticed about our Queen-sized bed in Singapore... it's a fraction smaller than Queensized beds in Australia. The reason I know are that all our fitted sheets (bought in Singapore) are very hard easy to put on the mattress when in Singapore, but is a two-man job getting them on to Aussie beds.

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Post by ozchick » Tue, 06 Apr 2010 9:51 pm

raden888 wrote:I suppose you can't teach old dingos new tricks :P
Oi! I resemble that remark! :wink:
'Are you trying to tempt me because I come from the land of plenty?'

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