Moving Furniture Overseas: Best and Cheapest Options

Furniture Moving Overseas

Moving a home from one place to another, even within the country, is an unsettling time and just imagine moving to a foreign location.  Moving furniture overseas will require careful planning and in the internet age it is not as difficult as one imagines.  The fastest option is to send it by air, though will be prohibitively expensive.  The cheaper option is to send it by sea.  Though it takes longer, it will prove to be a cost effective option.  Unlike moving within the country, moving furniture overseas has other red tape involved, such as Customs etc.  The import/export rules vary from country to country and therefore we should know all the facts involved before moving furniture overseas.   With a bit of careful planning, moving furniture overseas, can be done in an orderly manner free from worries.

Moving furniture overseas by air is a costly option, but in some cases it may prove to be cheaper, especially if the furniture can be dismantled and compactly crated.  If your company is paying the freight charges, then go ahead and use this option as your furniture will almost arrive simultaneously with you at the destination. The most economical option is the sea freight route.  Most probably your furniture will not fill a container and it is called a ‘less than container load’ or LCL.  This means your furniture will be sharing container space with other goods.  The furniture has to be packed, crated and securely banded.  The more compact the crating, lesser will be the cost.  The packing and crating should be secure as the crates will be handled many times at different places and inscriptions such as ‘fragile’ or ‘this side up’ have little value.  The labor in the port may not be illiterate.

Best Furniture Moving Rates Overseas

The best solution is to go for an end to end option.  This means that the freight forwarder will take care of all aspects of moving furniture overseas.  They will come to your home, securely pack and crate the furniture, load and transport it to the nearest seaport and ensure that it is loaded onto the ship.  At the other end, they or their agents, will take care of unloading and customs clearance and arrange for it to be transported to your new residence.  They will also open the crates and unpack it at the destination.  All the paper work needed as well as insurance will be taken care of by the freight forwarder.  Some of the freight forwarder’s offer flexible plans for moving furniture overseas.  You can choose to engage them only for a part of their services and you can take care of the rest.  This is a double edged weapon, cheaper but more hassles.  You can get competitive moving rates from the market by using the internet or the yellow pages.  Discuss all aspects of moving furniture overseas with the freight forwarder before coming to an informed decision which is best suited to your needs.

There are many options available, but moving furniture overseas is not a ‘do it yourself job’.  It is best to get professional help.  Once you have decided on your best option, relax and let the freight forwarder worry about the ‘nitty-gritty’.  All you have to do is receive it at the destination.