Shipping stuff overseas

Im moving out to Oz at the beginning of March so I need to send some of my stuff out there with me. Is it just a case of finding the cheapest courier, or are there better ways of doing it? If anyone could give me some recommendations that would be pretty helpful.

The trouble with shipping stuff is that it can take about a month to get there. When Bryce was in the UK, he shipped his bike in a cardboard box and rammed it full of clothes and stuff as the weight limit was really high. Quote was quite cheap if I recall, there are a few auction sites that compete for the lowest bid to ship your goods

So any recommendations J?
I'm happy to wait for a month or two for it to arrive.

I'm thinking I'll send the bike separately or even take one with me as luggage.

Looking for cheap options of shipping everything else down under.

if your doing a full emigration is worth looking into freight shipping? i just tried to do a quote out of curiosity but you needed to give full details at the end and i couldn't be arsed!

i know my old man uses freight containers as he has to ship tools from place to place around the world and its so so so much cheaper to have 2 full sets and rotate than it is to fly them!

I've shipped my record collection from the US to the UK and back before and I have always used freight containers. You basically pay to share space on a shipping container (unless you have enough stuff to fill up a whole one). It takes a couple of months depending packing the container, when the ship leaves and customs clearance. I havent had a bad experience yet. Insuring your stuff is really important, if the ship sinks or something, your screwed without it.

or indeed if this happens

i believe you can pay a little more to be at the bottom of the pile...might be worth the extra pennies if its your beloved!

wicksie, you can post 20kg to Australia in a tea chest sized box for GBP80. Or if you want to share a shipping container then pm me, but won't be for a little while yet as I'm not as organised as you

MBE also offers nice student rates on shipping overseas....worth a check!

I ended up putting my bike on the plane with me and shipping the rest of my stuff with 1st Contact. They were cheap enough but they cocked things up massively on the Aus end and I ended up having to clear everything through customs myself.
When do you actually arrive Wicksie?

subscribed threads read fail. Sorry guys, totally missed this.

There are two of us and I guess shipping as we're touring for 2 months, and can wait 1 more when we're there (I seem to remember it takes 3?)
Fred, we should chat if you're ready to ship stuff at the end of August?! (really not organsised at all)

Will check out MBE and 1st Contact then (sure they can't mess it up again!)

I'll be taking my polo bike on the plane with me but sending my Bob Jackson separately. I think not through the same shipping company though. Have 2 (so far :) ) bikes to ship.

20kgs for £80 sounds great, sounds like you're organised F?

I know someone who paid for shipping based on size rather than weight which I might like to look in to.

Should arrive in Melbourne end of October J. :) How's it going over there?

Looks like it will be almost a full year delay with this. It's time to start looking at this again.

Might have 3 bikes to ship now, so any suggestions on who to use?

I'm shipping stuff back to Aus at the moment and Seven Seas had a buy 1 get 1 free deal for tea chests at £70. My search found they were also cheapest for shipping bikes for £94. Thought about just shipping the frame but I reckon it's still at least £60 so I've decided to regrettably sell my fixie or at least the frame and wheelset which can't fit in a tea chest. Plus I didn't want to risk getting stung with a surprise quarantine fee and I look forward to building up another bike over there.

Good tip.
You know there will be an import fee at the other end regardless?
PSS seem to be the most popular by all accounts but I think that's if you're sending a lot of stuff because the prices are accumulative, i.e the more you send the cheaper. Bike cartons are £150 & £75 for the next and you get the third free.
I gather there are all sorts of extra costs before the import fee at the other end.

The thing that surprised me was that Singapore Air that I'm flying with would charge $50US/kg for the first 6kg for a bike as checkin baggage from the Euro to Singa leg, then another fee for the Singa to Aus leg. It could be free if you can keep it within your total 20kg checkin baggage limit for economy class. Some airlines differ for sports equip. I'm going to miss the access to cheap Dolan frames. Maybe there might be some good value Aus track frames? I digress..

Emirates have 30kg allowance.. makes a difference if you've got to carry lots of stuff back. They've been cheaper than Singapore most times I've flown back too. Probably too late if you've booked already though.

So my life's possessions are en route to the land down under.
I used PSS on recommendation but their insurance is 5% and items packed ourselves aren't covered for damage.
Anyone use any 3rd party insurance?
I'm sweating about my bikes arriving in 1 piece.