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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?
I'll be honest, I don't think UPS or USPS or carry-on luggage will help much in your situation. It seems unlikely to me you'll be able to move those big items from the mid-Atlantic on your budget.
You can check with the sub-container shippers PODS and ReloCube, but I think something in this equation will need to change... ship less, or pay more.
I have actually been researching similar things this week - as we would love to bring one larger piece of furniture and some household goods if we could, but are just fine getting rid of all the rest. Matson apparently doesn't do partial loads anymore, and you might as well pay for a full 20 foot container from them than doing ReloCube/U-pack (PODS doesn't go to Hawaii) - as it actually costs more to do a tiny ReloCube than it would to load up a 20-foot Matson container.
That said, according to the representative I talked to at Matson, you would still need to pay a couple hundred extra for them to truck the container off of the dock to a parking lot nearby (you would have to call the parking lot place ahead of time and see if that's okay with them), due to some newer homeland security protocols. (Even with these extra charges, for us it was still cheaper to do a 20-ft container with Matson (about 2700 total - plus 126-180 dollars for a uhaul trailer - and we'd have a lot more space to ship whatever we want that we wouldn't have to re-buy in Hawaii) than u-pack/Relocube (about $3700 - convenient, yes, but you spend more and get much less space)
I think the whole homeland security docking rule is a little weird because you can drive your car right onto the dock to have it loaded, but you can't bring a u-haul in and load up a container on the dock. Go figure.
My talk with the representative wasn't completely fruitless, though: He referred me to a company that uses Matson shipping who apparently do partial loads and then drive the container for Matson to ship: Forwarders.com I submitted an inquiry a couple of days ago and haven't heard from them yet, so who knows? The next thing I'm going to try is the other thing he suggested: "Google 'LCL load Hawaii'." LCL stands for "Less than Container Load."
Honestly, if you and I can't figure out the LCL stuff, I can't think of any more options. MAYBE we could figure out something through shiptohawaii.com, but it will quite likely cost an arm and a leg, as shipping two small ikea couches directly from the ikea store to them than to Hawaii costs about $350 on top of the ikea shipping costs to them. I don't know if they would even be open to receiving a drop-off of furniture, and you'd still have to drive your stuff to California - as that's where they're located. :P
Ok. I'm the queen of shipping and I've had a couple of gosh-awful blueberry beers (??!!) so let me advise you. Right now or yesterday, whichever comes first, go on U-ship. It's the best place to ship A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. If there's a will there's a way and there are some very hungry people out there. Granted, I've never used them to ship over the water. In fact they may not do that at all. I've shipped three horses from CO to TX, two horses from TX to MS, one Great Dane from TN to TX. (do you see a pattern here?) I digress. U-ship allows you to log in, enter your trip (IE: one big horse from Dallas to Memphis) and that's it. Before you know it there are several shippers offering to ship your stuff for X-amount. If no one bids on your trip then - look somewhere else. But if anyone in the world takes care of those kinds of shipments, you'll get a bid. It's free. No muss. No fuss. *now where's that bottle opener*
There is a third option and that is static deck cargo. Pasha Hawaii has the ability to handle static deck cargo inside their ships. You will need to obtain an approved shipping container, (metal, wood, cardboard) and it should be palletized (with runners) to lower the handling surcharges. The lowest cost is to buy a used wooden crate or a new DW or TW cardboard container with attached runners. Since there are several options from them picking it up, you delivering it to them, them delivering it to you and you picking it up, it's best to contact them to get a quote based on the size, weight and handling option.
Although we have shipped our products to Hawaii in containers, the bulk is shipped as static deck cargo because it may be the size of a stove or as big as 6 refrigerators. Anything below 100lbs (dishwasher box size) probably is cheapest via UPS. The best bargain is the 40' container, followed by the 20' containers. After those two, the rates may end up as much as the 20' for so much less weight and dimensions.
Thanks to everyone for your help. Here are the dimensions of the larger items. I can do $4000 max.
Armchairs: = 2x (42.5x39x29) = 2x115 lbs. These break into two pieces, but the largest piece is about 40x30x29
TV: (60x35x11) 91 lbs with insurance $597
Bed frame: ~70 pds, 3x side and center beams 80x7x2, headboard 60x36x3, footboard 50x26x3
The mattress is optional it's two boxes 43x19x24, each is approx 69lbs
It seems so bizarre that shipping larger items is so difficult. I'll investigate and let people know. One of the problems with doing a Matson container is picking up the items in Honolulu where I will be carrying items on my own.
You can't buy a bed and 2 armchairs new after you reach Hawaii for $4000?
The money is to meet relocation costs not to buy new stuff.
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