Moving from Mainland experience and recommendation.

[HonaunauLove]

A lot of people talk about leaving your furniture behind. I can tell you from experience that this island has very cheap, very expensive and used. Very cheap is exactly that, particle board junk from Target and the like.
The very expensive will be from the various furniture stores around the island. While its nice stuff they up charge a serious paradise tax. Expect to pay double or triple if you buy new again from the better stores.
Buying used isn't all its cracked up to be. If you have all the time in the world to wait for stuff to come around that can work out. But most of the stuff I see used(and I look quite frequently) is worn the heck out or ugly, island, hotel style stuff with bamboo inserts and wicker wrapping.
As for shipping things here from Amazon and such don't expect larger items to be sent here.
I ordered two, twin memory foam beds and frames for my kids. They both shipped.
I needed a queen frame but that wouldn't ship here. If you find something wont ship from a online retailer try Ebay.
Ebay hasn't let me down yet for getting things here that others wouldn't send.

[hotzcatz]

I've had a few folks on Ebay tell me that they will only ship to the United States. Sigh! I'm sure it's worse for the folks in the territories.

One of the reasons folks should downsize the amount of things they bring is that frequently they will be moving from a mainland sized house of 4,000 square feet or so. Very few houses in Hawaii are that size, so if you're moving from over a 2,500 square foot house to one in Hawaii, then there may be problems just from the sheer volume of stuff.

Currently, we're in a 3 bedroom 1 bath of 1,044 square feet. Our other houses are a 3 bedroom 2 bath of 1,072 square feet and a 3 bedroom 1 bath of 880 square feet. The 880 square feet one is really old and was built before they did hallways and closets. We're currently looking into building a house and the plans are coming in around 1,800 square feet and that just seems huge. I'm not sure what size the OP's house is and what size of house they will be moving to, but if there's a big difference in size between the two, there may be reasons other than the price of shipping to not bring all their things.

A lot of times folks will also want to redecorate in more of a tropical island look. 'Beach cottage' sort of look, light and airy, since it goes with the climate, etc. That may or may not work with the things they bring over. But, each person is different so there's lots of different answers and hopefully this will be helpful for the OP to find the best way for them.

[whtviper1]

Put me in the camp of take everything - or if you need to replace something get it on the mainland and ship it.

1) No way I want a bunch of strangers coming to my house off of a craigslist ad - the safety concerns alone should give anyone pause.

2) Every major US city is going to have better quality and cheaper prices

3) How creepy is it to buy let's say - a used couch. Ewwww

4) I'm not running around hoping I find something decent at a garage sale or settle for the poor quality on the islands

5) Lastly, the move is tax deductible- assuming you get a job.