To ship or buy new

[Guest pixie7]

Is it worth shipping furniture or buy new in Oz? We're unsure- what have you done/doing? Im happy to go over and start again- nothing furniture wise Im attatched to but not sure whether we would save $$$$ by taking everything?

[howard]

If I was you, I'd try to work out how much it would cost to replace everything and go from there. Our belongings are on the way as we speak and our removal cost about GBP4000 from door to door. I couldnt' do without all the personal things (photos etc) and you soon fill a suitcase when you fly over!

 

Hope this helps.

[snifter]

Have a look for some other threads on this subject. The search function should be able to sift out some more answers for you

 

As has been suggested, have a look at what it will cost you to replace like for like once over in Aus. If your furniture is old or not in great condition it might be worth leaving it all and buying new once over in Aus. But if its decent and cost wise would be expensive to buy in Aus then look into shipping.

 

For example, we are shipping some furniture but not all of it. Many Aussie houses have built in wardrobes so there usually isn't a dire need to take them. So we are leaving ours behind. However, our bed, a very good quality one and not cheap, we are bringing as to replace it like for like over in Aus would cost a small fortune and cost wise its well worth us shipping it over. Same for our sofa, its pretty new and buying one like it in Aus would cost way more, so again, shipping makes sense.

 

Things we are leaving behind are things like old bookcase, fridge freezer, old chairs, desk, cheap Ikea stuff and garden table and chairs. Things we are bringing include our bed, sofa, couple of good chairs, dining table. We are also bringing our bikes, kids outside toys and personal belongings.

 

Defo shipping clothes, bedding like duvets, bed linen and towels (and buying more also before we move). Expensive in Aus. And our entire kitchen contents in terms of pots, pans, dinner service, utensils etc. Having to buy everything for a kitchen down to a garlic press and serving spoons is hard work and I'd rather know what I have arriving and not having to replace so many fiddling small items (also can be expensive to replace that sort of stuff). Will leave most of our curtains as most Aussie houses the windows are bigger and our curtains probably won't fit.

 

Also I don't want to have to start over from scratch with everything. I don't mind buying my son a new bed, a few sets of drawers and a couple of bookcases but I don't want to have to look for a bed or a table when the ones we have are great. I plan on shipping a good few weeks before we leave so our stuff has a head start and we don't have to manage so long at the other end.

[likesshopping]

Hi Helen

 

We didnt ship any furniture - we decided to start from fresh again and buy new - 4 years on, I am still happy with that decision. I think most of our furniture wouldnt 'go' in our houses here...(prob too small for sizes of rooms etc).. It was good fun buying everything for our new house, new country, new life.

 

We just brough 20 boxes with photos, books and personal belongings.

 

 

Its horses for courses.

 

 

Sarahx

[mattyegg]

We're looking at the same thing. Looks like we won't be taking any furniture but sending over about 20 boxes with clothes, bedding, young chaps toys and kitchen stuff most of which were wedding presents.

 

They've got an Ikea so buying new couches etc... from there.

[Guest Linds & Greg]

Hey, We are looking into that and debating at the moment too but torn as only bought our first house last year and kitted it out with all brand new furniture. So trying to weigh up what to bring too. Will not be bringing the ikea furniture though

Linds x

[Guest shella_n]

We shipped which cost us about 4.5k in

Including insurance. Since we've been here (1 year) we've replaced our sofas & our plasma broke so replaced that. I wish we hadn't sshipped it all - but it's all the smaller stuff I'm glad we did that would have cost a fortune to replace - towels, stereos, DVDs, kitchen equipment, tons of hubbys tools, Hoover, duvets, etc etc. I guess if I was doing it all again I would send about 20-30 boxes of the smaller stuff and leave the bigger stuff.

 

Second hand stuff is expensive here - not like home - so don't make the mistake of thinking you can replace furniture cheaply off eBay etc.

 

Cheers

 

Michelle

[Guest mlissiman]

We shipped everything with us when we moved 3 years ago. Two reasons for this (1) Our children were 11 and 7 years old at the time we moved and it meant that they had lots of familiar things around them to help them settle in when they got here. Having their toys etc to open up was a big help for them (2) It cost us 4,000 pounds to ship the ENTIRE contents of a house and garage/shed and we kind of figured that we would not really be able to replace everything brand new here for that price.

[Guest ebstar]

Well we have just made the move over the past few weeks and only shipped a few boxes of personal bits,kids toys and a few kitchen things.(about 20 boxes)We put off buying new as we wanted to decorate and then decided to make the move, so made do.I have nearly completed buying everything!I have used Le Cornu,Good Guys and then K mart and ikea for a few smaller items.My total stands at $10,785. Ok i have a few bits stil to get But have shopped really well here.There are lots of sales and buying in bulk make sure to ask for a good discount.I went in with a note pa d and a huge list.it was so funny they were falling over each other to give me a better deal than their work mate to seal it as their sale.We bought some really good solid pieces that should last. To give you an idea i'll try and list the main bulk.Queen bed,dressing table,huge mirror,2 x bedside units,Queen bed,tallboy,Large single bed converts to double with drawers,cabin bed,all with mid range mattresses,duvets,pillows and bedding.sofa bed,small desk.large office desk and chair,8 seater dining table and chairs,large leather sofa and two recliners,two large tv units,42" tv and top box,printer,plus all the basic towels bedding and kitchen equiptment,Large fridge freezer,top loader etc. I don't think i could have any where near beaten that price in the UK.Hope that helps.

[Guest johnosmad]

Hey, I have a spreadsheet made up to furnish a small house for under 5k, if anyone wants to have a nosey. It is all brand new stuff and we pretty much looked at everything we have in our current apartment and priced it up in Adelaide, more aimed at a young couple starting out but don't mind sharing, PM me an email address if anyone wants a look!

[chrisfen46]

this a subject that my wife and i argue about, i could happily go with a few personal possesions, but my o/h doesnt agree, so we taking alot more than i would have , but hey i am just a man what do i know lol..

[coolerking]

Hi,

like a few others on the thread, we shipped only boxes with John Mason. We were going to leave our boys adult size bunk beds but they said break them down and they packed them - that turned out to be good idea. If you have flat pack furniture, some of it maybe worth bringing. We also packed loads of clothes - all our winter clothes and many, many shoes!

 

We didn't want some of 'stuff' so gave it away to friends but I would advise bringing as much as you can.

 

Cooler

[Guest Linds & Greg]

this a subject that my wife and i argue about, i could happily go with a few personal possesions, but my o/h doesnt agree, so we taking alot more than i would have , but hey i am just a man what do i know lol..

 

....this sounds exactly like us...My other half would take a rucksack if he had his way but I am def the girl that wants to pack everything. We will see who wins!!

 

Linds

[chrisfen46]

....this sounds exactly like us...My other half would take a rucksack if he had his way but I am def the girl that wants to pack everything. We will see who wins!!

 

Linds

You know you will win, nicol has allready won, do like to stir her up alittle. but yes she's won i know my place lol