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We are being transferred for work ( not military) from FL to Hawaii. Any recommendations for movers, containers , shipping, storage? Right now Matson seems to be the best that we have been in contact with. We have sold a lot and a few more items to go. We are slowly becoming minimalists but we still have the basics for a small one bedroom home to move. Plus motorcycles. Our cars will go on the matson ship in Cali.
Any suggestions and recommendations would be very very welcome. Thank you!
There are lots of folks who come and go here in Hawaii. There are always moving sales going on. My advice would be to sell/leave everything except the vehicles. You will pay more in shipping than you will getting furnishings here. I think its roughly $7-8K for a 40' shipping container from the west coast to Hawaii. You might try https://www.shiptohawaii.com/ for any other largish items you can't live without.
We used a auto coastal company to help get our cars across the country (instead of driving it). I don't think our car/motorcycle are acclimated and we don't want to spend money replacing tires for that drive.
As far as moving clothing invest in space bags and try to vaccum seal those items and shove them in your check in or carry on bags. We thought UPS would be a good idea since we are going to Maui to visit my family before going to mainland and boy it was pricey! Flat rate USPS is also a good choice to ship small items. Flat rate $17 for a large box and as long as it's under 75lbs they'll ship it, even if it bulging out.
OP, everyone's experiences vary. There have been some discussions on this forum and you'll find that most people will recommend selling everything and buying in Hawaii, especially since there are always yard sales going on. People have talked about using PODS, USPS, and just bringing extra suitcases of things on the plane.
We chose to bring our stuff and had a Matson container. It was expensive, but it's up to you to decide what things you want to bring and how much time and effort you want to put into buying stuff once you settle in Hawaii. For our isolated part of the Big Island, it doesn't make much sense to drive hours all over to try to find furniture. If you are going to Oahu, then it will be a different story because you'll have many more options.
I've done 2 moves to Hawaii and I can't imagine not bringing all the furniture - if you have tolerance for sitting on a used couch (no thank you for me - it just seems creepy to me) or bed - or whatever, then go for it I guess. If you are working age, all the moving expenses are also tax deductible.
Even on Oahu - the quality is furniture isn't anywhere near the quality you'll typically find on the mainland - and mainland prices are going to be lower.
Replacing all your silverware, plates, kitchen stuff, bedding, towels, etc, etc - is going to cost you far more to replace than just move it.
We moved a 20' container full of stuff over. Most of the stuff we moved over we have subsequently got rid of or regretted bringing it. Oddly enough the most useful thing we moved over was the container itself because we wound up buying it from the barge company and it has been invaluable for AG storage.
I wished we could have brought our vehicles. But getting a car from Alaska to Hawaii at the time cost over twice as much as bringing one from the mainland. If we had more time I would have driven one of our vehicles from Alaska to Seattle and shipped it from there.
Other than the vehicle part if I could do it all over again I would have chosen to sell or get rid of everything that couldn't be brought over on the plane or mailed. The airline let us check moving boxes as checked baggage, they made us sign a form acknowledging it was not "standard" luggage and they weren't responsible for damage, but it showed up unharmed.
If you know anybody who works for an airline or has retired from one, they usually can FedEx things over at a 90%+ discount as part of their flight benefits. You can move a small household worth of moving boxes for only a few hundred dollars.
Bring, ship all your good household goods like blankets, Sheet, dishes. Its more expensive than on the Mainland, unless it's old or needs replaced. Go with Matson for shipping.
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