Moving to USA, Shipping quotes

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
I want to move a small amount of furniture (beloved desk and arm chair, 2 bikes, dining table, 'whatnot' glass-front cabinet, 3-drawer dresser, drop leaf occasional table, king bed disassembled and 2 twin mattresses, crib/baby bed, 4 reclining deck chairs, antique kitchen stepping stool and seat) and 20 55x38x32 cm boxes from a little village in Switzerland to North Carolina. Today I received three small-move quotes and a cubic foot calculator, so I thought I would share (blargh, just saw Excel files aren't allowed as attachments - PM me your address and I will send it along). The cubic foot calculator, while a rough estimate, is very handy as many companies request this metric. These are quotes for our items to be shipped by sea with items from other families in a 20-ft cargo container.

Quotes, all Door-to-Door and inclusive of customs & handling charges and include unpacking and waste disposal, all communications in English:

1. Pearson/UTS (quite nice, called to verify info):

200 cu. ft - 3368 chf, expert packing - 221 chf;

400 cu. ft - 5156 chf, expert packing - 443 chf

2. UPakWeShip (VERY responsive and thorough by e-mail):

400 cu. ft - 5594 chf, includes expert packing

3. Swiss Moving company (very responsive and thorough by e-mail):

200 cu. ft - 4430 chf, includes expert packing

Then I ran the numbers on what it would cost for us to get rid of the furniture in Switzerland and replace in the USA, and ship the boxes through Swiss post (164 chf/box for up to 100x60x60, 30 kg). That came out to 6500 USD = 5764 chf.

So, we have decided to go with a moving service as some of our furniture is still in good condition and this saves us the hassle of having to dispose of furniture here and buy new furniture back in the USA (e.g., rent a moving van here and there, assemble, dispose of packaging), AND of packing up our goods here as all three companies provide that service.

I hope this helps someone else as much as information on the EF has helped me.

2
Thank you Holly210!

Your post is timely. I'm trying to decide how best to ship back a few odds/ends that I don't wish to discard.

Good luck with the move and your next adventure.

Brad

3
I got a fourth reasonable quote that didn't seem like a scam from Reloswiss. In their words, for 5 cubic meters (approx. 176 cubic feet):

"CHF 3.485,00 flat

This includes the professional packing of your goods in your house (fragile, furniture etc.) incl. all cartons and other materials (on collection’s day only), Swiss export formalities, transport to Rotterdam, port handling and ocean freight, normal customs clearance, delivery to your new residence in Durham, unloading, placing of items into designated rooms, unpacking of furniture, simple reassembly and same day removal of used material.

Excluded are any duties and taxes, storage, physical customs exam or x-ray, long hand carry or shuttle due to difficult access at origin or destination, higher than 2end floor without lift, heavy items like piano, safe etc.

Fully comprehensive insurance cover is available for a premium of 2,2% of the declared valuation. Deductible is CHF 500,00."

4
Thanks Holly,

This is just the kind of information I'm looking for as well--we are departing for the US in June.

All the best with your move,

5
We moved a 20ft container from there to here and it was just over 9,000 USD from the east coast to zurich via rotterdam.

This fee covered 3,000 kg of goods, all papers, handling and other dues.

6
Holly: I'm contemplating a similar move except mine would be boxes only (about the same size and number as yours). Do you know if the moving companies are willing to handle such a small move? Did you happen to see if they will perform a house-to-terminal or even a terminal-to-terminal move where I'd deal with first and last mile transit on my own?

7
Hi Ttamasle- which company did you use? thanks!

8
Are you coming or going?

My memory is failing me...i cant recall the exact name and in reality...we hired some random company not even located in our region that networked a deal with one of the larger van companies who further negotiated on the local level anyway. So...in a sense...who you think you hired is just providing letterhead it seems. In the end, I think it may be easiest just to call one of the larger companies: Mayflower, United Van, and others. All of the quotes were about the same in the end. And the only real savings is making a plan that does not require you to need storage for your goods while in transit.

I'm not sure that helped at all...but the whole process is simple if the company says they will manage your paper work for you.

9
Thank you Holly, this is just what I was looking for! Very helpful!

My husband and I will move to Indiana in late July/early August. We have a bit of furniture and quite many boxes that we want to take. I will contact the companies you mentioned.

Mary

10
Thanks for posting this - very helpful. We're looking for ways to move from Zurich to the East coast of the US and this highlighted some options!

11
Just adding another Thank you! We are leaving next month and this has been very helpful.

Good luck everyone with your moves.

12
We are moving back to California next week (from Zurich).

Here's the quote we got from moving company (one of the larger global one). Hope this proves useful so someone to help compare/estimate costs.

Seafreight - 40 ft container

Includes:

 Professional packing of household goods including packing material

 Dismantling of furniture where necessary and full export packing

 Inventory list for all household goods and personal effects

 Loading of container directly at residence

 Parking permit arranged

At destination:

 Take-over of the shipment by our partner office in USA

 Import customs clearance

 Delivery to final residence in Los Angeles (normal access, max. 2nd floor), unloading, unpacking, setting up of the furniture dismantled by us and return of the empty debris / container on the day of delivery

Cost: 13,000 CHF.

13
Thanks for this post!

Comes at a perfect time, I am moving back to California in 2 weeks and need to sell or ship everything!

Totally procrastinated... so your post came from heaven!

14
We are also moving to California in 2 weeks and got a quote for a large container for 13,000 from Welti-furrer! Glad to see its inline ... also trying to now sell everything and get things sorted.

Good Luck

15
I just got shipping quotes for 15 cbm (around 500 cft) from Lausanne to Indiana, USA.

Reloswiss: 5980 CHF (400 CHF/cbm, consolidating container)

Swiss Moving Company: 9400 CHF (627 CHF/cbm, 20ft container)

UPakWeShip: 9925 USD (590 CHF/cbm, 20ft container)

Schneider Moving Excellence: 7715 CHF (514 CHF/cbm, 20ft container)

Swiss Moving Service: 8280 CHF (552 CHF/cbm, consolidating container)

Packimpex: 11760 CHF (for 18 cbm, 653 CHF/cbm, 20ft container)

As you see, prices vary really a lot.

I had offers from German and Belgian movers as well, but the prices were similar to the inexpensive Swiss movers. I prefer to have a Swiss mover, then.

One thing that some of the companies said was they avoid shipping via Germany or UK ports, since they have often troubles with losing stuff or sth. Rotterdam or Antwerp are apparently their favorite ports for fast turnover.

I got quotes as well for only boxes (total volume about 8 cbm, no furniture), but those were comparatively more expensive in CHF/cbm. E.g. Reloswiss would charge 4785 CHF for 8-10 cbm, which is 532 CHF/cbm instead of the 400 CHF/cbm when 15 cbm are shipped. So in this case I'd rather take a few more items to the US and avoid the stress of having to sell all my stuff here in CH.

16
Can someone provide more details on shipping boxes by Swiss Post?

Specifically - where can you buy big boxes (for 30kg of stuff)? And can you simply bring the boxes to a Post shop or are there only designated locations for large items?

Separately, the OP mentioned shipping 2 bikes. Is there usually an additional cost for shipping bulky items? And where were you able to get a box/boxes to fit them?

I am also moving back to the US at the end of the month, with my minimal belongings, and any help from you guys would be great. Thanks!

17
I would assume that with these kind of costs entailed in shipping, the employer is paying for this whole move back to the US or to CH for expat families ?

18
Here is some additional information if it helps anyone. I will be moving soon with Packimpex from Basel to New York. The rate is $10k for one 20ft container, full service move. My 2 bedroom apartment will fill most of the container.

19
Zelig,

I am moving back to US in September and started shipping boxes via the post office.

I got some boxes for free at Migros but I also bought professional moving boxes. You can also buy boxes at jumbo max.

I loaded my boxes, they end up being quite heavy to carry to the post office but it worked. So far I paid between 100chf to 130 chf. They take them, no problem.

The only pain is to carry them to your car and then from the car to the post office.

Hope this helps.

20
Thanks everyone for the information!

I am currently planning a move at the end of September from Zurich to Seattle. I have been debating whether to just send packages via Swiss post and sell the rest of my things. I only have maximum 10 boxes plus a road bike that I will ship. (I got my bike box from a friend who recently bought one - but I know that bike shops will have extras and you could ask them for one or ask them to hold one for you!)

I contacted Allied VanLines (US based company) that put me in touch with TeamRelocations here in Switzerland. They quoted me for 15 boxes (2 cubic meters) at 3250CHF with 5-6 weeks door-to-door transport time. I called to confirm this price (which seems super high) and they said that 2 cubic meters was the smallest spot you could buy even if you had less stuff.

Any suggestions? Does this seem high to anyone else?