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I'm trying to find the most reasonably priced means of shipping my 1 br from the mid-Atlantic to Hawaii. Reasonably priced means that I would rather avoid loading a container or pallets with Matson, but that I also want to stay at around $3,000. The items I need to bring with me are two power-reclining armchairs (3 large boxes), TV (1 large box) a full size bed, books, LCD screen, printer, and kitchen and clothing items.
I've read this forum quite a bit and will consider some suggestions such as flat-rate USPS shipping boxes, additional airline baggage. UPS charges (large) 18x18x24 boxes holding 60 pounds $237.
Can I ship items in bubble wrap with any of the carriers or would I need supersized cardboard boxes? The bed disassembles to 3 beams (80x7) a head board (60x36x3) and a footboard (50x36x3). Any ideas on the best way to ship that?
Any ideas and suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!
Back to the OP:
Figure out what you can sell there, and how much you can expect to get.
Then figure out how much it would cost to replace those items. [Remember, Hawaii has Costco, Walmart, and other big box stores, and Craigslist and garage sales.]
Do the math, what would the hit be to sell your stuff and rebuy here?
Then compare that dollar amount to the cost of using a mover/shipping your items to Hawaii. Perhaps the two amounts are similar.
Would you be better off to just get rid of your stuff, and rebuy here? It would be less hassle, and you could rebuy just what you needed to fit into your Hawaii lifestyle.
A major problem with many moving companies is the under-estimation of the weight of the items to be moved. At the end of the packing, boom, the estimate turns out lower than the actual weight. Bring out the checkbook.
Hint: if you are getting estimates, make sure you do a true comparison by asking for a specific weight to be included in the estimate. Don't be mislead by having one company tell you, "oh, we can move your 1- bedroom house for $2500", while another company says "We can move your 1 bedroom house for $3000", then choosing what you think is the cheaper without realizing they might not be using the same weight. Find out what weight they are using for their estimates.
I have in hand an invoice for a move I just helped arrange for a friend. Larger 2 bedroom house, moving almost all the furniture, limited garage boxes, full kitchen (no applicances). Total: over 10K pounds. Lesson: the pounds add up quickly!
One of the company's representatives mention $2.67/pd, the other company's rep said that 1 br usually weigh about 2500 pounds. Now, I know the weight of the heaviest of my belongings, but I will gather some of the things (books, kitchen items, and clothing) and weigh them myself.
But now that you mention it, I'm wondering if I can trust them to weigh my items correctly and whether they will allow me to be present. Most of the complaints I'm reading online refer to items that are broken after the move.
And shipping items is easily the best deal for me, because my employer is paying exclusively for moving costs, not buying new furniture.
One of the company's representatives mention $2.67/pd, the other company's rep said that 1 br usually weigh about 2500 pounds.... But now that you mention it, I'm wondering if I can trust them to weigh my items correctly and whether they will allow me to be present.
They don't weigh individual items. They weigh the truck empty, then weigh it once it is loaded. And they do it at a public scale, and get a certified printout.
One thing to consider is an old saying of my father's... "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it." Do you know where you will be living yet? Have you considered that apartments in Hawai'i tend to be smaller than on the mainland? Lots of people never consider this, then arrive in Hawai'i with stuff that doesn't fit in their new home. And for sure I would think twice about moving anything more than your employer will pay for.
If they're paying for shipping then it makes more sense... relocation expenses, right? You (or someone) was asking about bubble wrapping stuff for shipping. I used to work at a parts supply warehouse for agriculture equipment (Gehl Co). We would cover sharp edges and stick a label on the big bulky stuff because the theory was, if the ups man could see what he was handling he'd be more careful than if he was handling a package. Sort of made sense. We followed that rule when we shipped a boat anchor we sold on ebay.
There I learned of the Relo-Cube and U-Pack. It seems like a much more reasonably sized alternative. USPS is easily the least expensive option, but they only allow boxes weighing less than 70 pounds. Also "ShiptoHawaii" is well reviewed, though I'm guessing it's useful for shipping things to Hawaii, but not a relocations services.
I hear that the Relo-Cube and U-Pack are more reasonably priced than PODS. Yelp reviews are a good source of information. I'll update with any news and obviously welcome any opinions on the above from personal experience.
We used UPack last June from the mainland to islands, WE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN HAPPIER!! for us we found it to be the most reasonable and they "were on it"! They delivered the pod right up on our driveway and the driveway was steep with a flat area on top. (I never thought that could happen). We called them and they came and picked it up.. bye bye.. see you in Oahu! We had our own pod, our things were not shuffed in with other people, we had our own lock on it, so there was no thief. When the boat got here, they delivered it to our door . with careful packing on our part, (you have several sizes to choose from), there was NOT one thing broken.. no joke!
Bravo to U Pack!!
Hope this helps!
I moved to Oahu a year and half ago from Richmond and we used the Relo-cube. It was actually really easy to pack up our essentials and everything got here safely. ABF simply delivered the cube to our home in Richmond. After three days they picked it up and sent it here. Since we didn't actually move here for another month and half, they stored it at no additional cost and then delivered it to our home when we arrived. After three days, they took the cube away. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was close to $5000. Again, there may have been cheaper methods, but this seemed the best option for us.
I just moved here and still waiting for my car and belongings to arrive. I moved a small 1 br using doortodoor.com. Relocube was an alternative but their containers were bigger than I needed. Essentially, I figured out how much space your belongings will take and find a container moving company that will bring it to the islands.
Getting movers to do the move involves taking a lot of scamming chances. I read extensively that moving companies will unpack your belongings so that they pack it themselves and charge you for that or they will lowball you with an exceptionally low estimate and on the day that you depend on them double their quoted price, etc. With doortodoor or relocube, no such situations arise as you only pay for a cubed container being transported and shipped to the islands.
The car shipping process is much simpler, Pasha cost $2200, Matson $2800. For me that was an easy choice. Every place that I looked said that furniture on the islands is either bamboo or much more expensive. My employer's relocation allowance paid for the doortodoor price, the pasha price, and my flight so the decision of shipping vs selling was easy, even for my modest belongings.
Shipping is more stressful than buying for sure and you do run the risk of damage to your belongings during the shipping process. We'll see how that plays out for me...
Well congratz on arriving. Big swell in town today and tomorrow, so if you like wave watching, enjoy!
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Sounds like you've got a game plan formulating!
