Shipping Large fragile valuables from mainland (Hilo, Kailua: sale, house, neighborhood)

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

I agree with this statement - but folks should know shipping to/from the Mainland is very different than a move across town.

When you move across town - the same people who showed up to move you pack it (if you paid for that), move it on the truck, drive it across town, and unload it at your new place.

For a Hawaii move - one company may oversee the process but many entities touch your items. On the mainland, a completely different company and people will pack and move your stuff. Then they take to the docks to be stored until Matson or whatever company gets your stuff on the boat. When the boat arrives, more people touch your stuff to store it. Then a different shipping company takes your stuff and stores it at their place. And then finally, your local movers take the stuff to you.

Lots of opportunities for things to go wrong. And if a Matson person drops your fragile box, don't expect them to raise their hand proactively and say - Oops.

All good points. There are way more moving parts to a Hawaii/mainland or mainland/Hawaii move for sure!

I recall working with at least three different companies for my last move. But the company that actually packaged my crap did a great job.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

So, your furniture that lasted over 200 years lasted 8 years in Hawaii?

Apparently I did a bad job of explaining: The furniture that lasted over 200 years has lasted 8 years in Hawaii and looks exactly the same today as it did the day we unpacked it. I have no reason to expect it won't last another 200 years here if it's properly cared for.

[sk290]

We shipped some heirloom furniture from the mainland and it did fine. You just have to make sure it's packed properly. We went to paddle shops that sold kaiaks and asked for the heavy duty bubble wraps they come in and they were happy for us to take them. Wrapped the crap out of the furniture, mirrors, glass pieces and even fine crystals and they all made it to Hawaii without incident on a 20' container. I would definitely refrain from bringing anything with leather though. I had a leather jacket in the closet that grew mold. Never seen anything like that!

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

If you're concerned about the items making the trip without serious damage, I recommend hiring professional movers to package, ship, and insure the goods. Being military, all of our moves are done for us (unless you're one of the rare ones who wants to do it yourself and seek reimbursement later). I haven't had a problem with the moving companies contracted by the military yet (the packing standards seem pretty legit). I've done two military moves so far.

Things must have changed. My dad was career military; mom said two military moves is equal to total destruction by fire.

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by steiconi

Things must have changed. My dad was career military; mom said two military moves is equal to total destruction by fire.

Sorry your family seems to have bad experiences with their military moves. But, given that the military merely contracts with private parties that non-military agencies/people are also using for their moves, I'm not sure that such a criticism was ever fair. If there is a problem, its with the specific company contracted to do the move. Note, I still argue for this approach (i.e. professional movers) if you're new to moving and aren't sure how to properly pack your larger and more valuable items to decrease the chance of damage. Indeed, at these movers have experience and will ensure your goods. Not to mention that you'll be there when they are packing things and can call something out that doesn't seem right. Now, there's always the chance that something will get damaged in transit, but that's a risk you take with any move, no matter who is organizing it.

[Wevlf]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to give advice. I am still very torn about risking the shipment. Ideal thing would be giving the furniture to my kids but one happily lives in a shoe box in Brooklyn and the other two are already in Hawaii.This might sound crazy but I do plan on shipping my vehicle what if I put them inside. Do you think it would be a safer bet than the shipping container? If I do this nothing else will fit and it will be very tight.These items have never been outside
the north east if that matters as far as how wood reacts.

[NorthofHere]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

Thank you all so much for taking the time to give advice. I am still very torn about risking the shipment. Ideal thing would be giving the furniture to my kids but one happily lives in a shoe box in Brooklyn and the other two are already in Hawaii.This might sound crazy but I do plan on shipping my vehicle what if I put them inside. Do you think it would be a safer bet than the shipping container? If I do this nothing else will fit and it will be very tight.These items have never been outside
the north east if that matters as far as how wood reacts.

Are you planning on staying in Hawaii for the rest of your life or is this a temporary thing? If temporary consider an indoor a/c storage unit where you now live or near where your remaining mainland child lives so they can periodically check on the items. If it is a permanent move to Hawaii I am sure there are movers out there who specialize in antiques who will pack them in a shipping container tight enough that they don't shift and packed with enough padding that dropping the containers won't damage the items.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

Thank you all so much for taking the time to give advice. I am still very torn about risking the shipment. Ideal thing would be giving the furniture to my kids but one happily lives in a shoe box in Brooklyn and the other two are already in Hawaii.This might sound crazy but I do plan on shipping my vehicle what if I put them inside. Do you think it would be a safer bet than the shipping container? If I do this nothing else will fit and it will be very tight.These items have never been outside the north east if that matters as far as how wood reacts.

AFAIK, they won't let you ship anything inside your car. Also, that's not a secure shipping location. I've had car items disappeared from cars that were shipped. One of the more interesting ones was the spare tire. I'd had a brand new spare tire on a rim painted to match the rest of them and when the car arrived it had the same rim but the tire on it was very old and worn down to nothing. Which means somewhere along the line, there had been time to remove the spare, change out the tire and then replace the spare. So they'd not only had access to the vehicle once, but several times as well as access to tire changing equipment.


We've had interesting experiences with shipping and packing people, too. That was shifting a whole lot of little boxes from Oahu to Hawaii island. We ended up counting the boxes as they were put onto the pallet mover and then counting them again when it got to the container that was being filled. That stopped the boxes from disappearing en route, although what with our stuff, if a few boxes disappeared it wouldn't hardly be worth their trouble of opening them.


Folks in transit are kinda considered a somewhat safe feeding ground for thieves since usually by the time the theft is discovered, the people are far away and nobody knows exactly where the item disappeared. Also, newly arrived to the island folks are frequently targeted, too. Not sure why, since they'd still be around when it was discovered that something was missing, one would think.

[Wevlf]

I do plan to stay for the long game. I have read that when people ship their autos they stuff them full of stuff. Is this not true?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

I have read that when people ship their autos they stuff them full of stuff. Is this not true?

If you put your car in its own shipping container, you can fill the car with household items. That is generally not a very cost effective way to ship a car.

Probably 99%+ of people do not use a dedicated shipping container to ship a car. In those instances, you cannot leave anything in the car.