Moving Overseas? How To Save Money By Packing Yourself

You landed that dream job in a foreign country but as fate would have it you have very limited funds ,indeed, you just have enough to pay for freight and some minor incidentals .

Hmmm ”what options do I have” you ask yourself  ".AHA! why don’t i pack my items myself"

Well not so fast, packing and protecting your items for an international move is not for the faint of heart . There is a lot more effort involved in preparing your stuff for that trip overseas than if you were moving within the country.

Bear in mind that shipping your items abroad involves multiple handlers so your precious wedding gifts and that  antique family heirloom that you just have to carry has to undergo:

Customs inspections

Rough seas

Uncaring warehouse handlers

Well, You get the picture.

Packing your belongings for the long trip means your furniture and appiances has to be completely wrapped and padded so as to survive the long trip.

Suitable media are furniture pads (if you have them or can afford to buy them) they are very similar to comforters and can be pricey , typically you can get a dozen for  approximately US60 per dozen  depending on the grade, that is, the further the distance the thicker they should be so in this case medium grade should suffice.

However they have the advantage that the company clearing your shipment, if it’s a moving company like Orandy , would very likely buy them back from you so you would get back all or some of your money.

Essentially you take the pads and wrap each item tightly, it would be great if you have someone to help and also have stretch film to place around the wrapped item to hold the furniture pad in place

As professional packers we would use suitable packing materials such as bubble wrap to prepare your items followed by placing them in crates for even more protection .

However since you are trying to save cost then you can use any of the following , provided you do it properly.

One way to properly prepare your artwork for the long trip is to use two pieces of firm cardboard

You then cut the cardboard just slightly bigger than the painting and place one piece at the rear and the other at the front of the  painting using tape to hold the two pieces of cardboard in place.

You can surround that with bubble if you so choose .additionally you can surround that now with corrugated paper so as to create a strong well padded package

Rremember to stand them on end and not flat. 

If you really must carry your fine china then you must recognize that the key to avaoid damage is to pack them well

One option is to use clothing, towels and so on to pad these items rather than purchase bubble wrap or wrapping paper

Well ther is nothing wrong with that and you ahev the added benefit of not having to box them up

Speaking of boxes it would have been great if you still had the boxes your fragiles came in, but if you don’t its no big deal

When packing dishes and other fragile items into a container such as a box you should first start by lining the sides and bottom of the box with padding materials whetehr it is your towels, crushed newspaper or bubble

You then wrap each piece singly with wrapping paper then place them on end into the box

Try to achieve a tight fit so nothing moves around unnecessarily

Alternately you could use paper plates or foam plates between each plate or saucer,then wrap them all upin one bundle then place them in a box shanding on their end of course. Do this until the box is full .

The box cant be too large however.

If you are dealing with stemmed glasses then these must be placed upside down after being wrapped ,never on their sides

If there is space at the top of the box then add crushed paper, towels or linen etc to fill the additional space and provide a buffer.

Do not attempt to fill space in a plate box with glassware or cups or any other fragiles for that matter because the weight of the plates can cause the more delicate items like stem glasses to break.

It would be great to have a large box to now place the smaller boxes containing your fragiles into.

Be sure to create a detailed packing list and of course number and label each piece

Thats it ! you are all set you have saved yourself approximately 25 to 40% on the total cost to ship your items , now if only you owned a ship to carry the shipment you could save another 40% . but you are not that not that lucky are you?