Hi Guys!
I've heard it said that it is cheaper to ship loads of household stuff (furniture/white goods etc) to Oz rather to sell everything and start again when you get there. Has anyone got any thoughts/experiences on this please? It would be good to know so that we can decide if we need to start gradually getting rid of stuff or whether its best to keep. :loopy:
Thanks a bunch.

:mr man:

We have been always "making do" for what seems like years of renovating houses so our furniture has certainly seen better days. We have said we plan not to take most of our furniture even though the majority of people on here say that it is worthwhile so long as it's not a box you are sitting on!

I don't think our things would make the move without falling to bits in transit so it isn't worth our while. But I would love to know what people already out in Adelaide think of the furniture out there already and whether or not to buy some new stuff before we leave?

Sasha :)

I dont know about cheaper but we found once all the furniture and stuff we packed into a 40ft container arrived things got much easier .
We did have to do a bit of shopping mainly electrical and with two young daughters and expanding bump that was very stressful and boring .
There does seem to be a huge second hand market going in Australia especially down our road and I dont think there is much you wouldnt find .

You can buy some lovely furniture out here. Whatever style you like. Modern or traditional. I have my eye on a couple of lovely leather sofas right now, but i dare not buy them just yet.
If you have semi decent stuff then i would say bring it, beacuse out here you will often need two sets of living room furniture anyway. the houses are that big you will have a family/ meals area that needs sofas tables etc, on top of the "posh" formal lounge/ dining areas.

Thanks for your replies chaps. Really helpful.
M
xxxx

We're going to take most items, but not big electrical kitchen items (eg fridge, washing machine, dishwasher) as they are so heavy I would have thought it would be cheaper to replace in Oz?

PP do they sell good quality wooden stuff and is it reasonably priced out there?

Sasha :)

You can get whatever quality or price you like Snappy... from dirt cheaper to really expensive antique or designer new stuff.

Once you get your barings in Adelaide you will weed out the best places to go for things, and if you still dont know you can ask one of us!! :D

Up for a shopping spree then PP when I get there :thumbs up:

Sasha :)

ooooh yes..especially if you are paying!!..LOL :P :dancing dog:

We will be leaving everything here - well selling it anyway as we found it would cost more to take with us and we don't have any antique furniture or anything like that.

Was looking forward to replacing everything from IKEA but have found out it apparently not going to open until early 2006 - can;t sit onthe floor for a year - never mind.

Try Freedom furniture when you get here. They have very similar style concepts to Ikea

I stupidly didnt bring my daughters wardrobes because someone said (and I believed )all houses here had inbuilt ones .Biggest mistake have had to buy them new wardrobes and chest of draws when we had decent ones in the uk .
We have bought furniture bits from all over .Bunnings (like uk B&Q) for storage ,kids shop (overpriced but we were desperate for storage) and a great place near us that does made to measure bookcases (for hubbies 22 boxes of books)very cheaply but beautifully made.

The only thing I have missed which we used alot in the Uk is Ikea but Adelaide will hopefully have one of those too soon .

we are going to bring everything apart from the kitchen sink lol
Debs xx

I'm sure someone will have more knowledge than me aboiut this, but I thought container costs were related to size rather than weight?

:thumbs up:


That's right Andy!

You are right Andy I'm taking my dinning table and thats a statebed snooker/pool table very heavy only thing it needed was its own create in the container. We are taking most things but not what needs replacement so we will be buying beds sofas when we get there. We also thought that it would help with the type of accomodation we rented as we can do unfurnished whilst waiting for the rest of our stuff.

You'd be very lucky to find a furnished place anyway Sara, so good idea to buy some stuff when you get here. If you dont want to splash out for new stuff theres heaps of secondhand places to try. We saw a very good quality modern Panasonic video player in Cash Converters today for $120!! i know DVDs are the thing now and we already have one, but we want a video recorder to put video clips we have filmed of Australia onto tapes ot send to family in UK. I dontnormally reccomend Cash Converters as a lot of their second hand stuff is way over priced but you can find the odd bargain.

Thanks PP - will check them out. Much better than sleeping on the floor for a year LOL

Kath

heres a link to their website..i forgot to post it last night

http://www.freedomfurniture.com.au/

Thank you PP

Have had a quick look.

Going out for the day to North YOrkshire but will be having more of look later with paper and pen in hand to make shopping list.

The website has prices as well - doesn't look as cheap as IKEA but will give a good idea of prices of things. Good for people deciding whether to ship or not

LOL....You don't have to carry them yourself...they have a big boat for that!

Come to Lynsteves cash converters, just bought a new TV and stand, so we've got the old ones for sale $120 for both. Panasonic, remote, the stand is a corner pine TV/Video unit.

Steve and Lynsie :)

Look at the end of the day if you bring things out here that you won`t really need, or want you can always have a garage sale, you`ll be really surprised what you can get for things out here, I have one every so often to get rid of things I no longer want. whats one mans trash is another mans treasure, you can make a few hundred dollars easy, things that go well are pre loved toys, tupperware, cardboard boxes which held sets of perfumes etc they buy those for decoparge ( hope you know what I mean I may not have spelt it correctly) and English China, hope this helps

Sheila

Another thing I should have said, we were advised not to bring furniture out with us 14yrs ago as we could get it cheaper here, and boy did we regret it, it costs a lot to start from scratch again, bring what you can then take your time changing it if you want to, I think its good to have familiar things around you.



I REALLY WISH ALL YOU GUYS THAT ARE COMING OUT HERE ALL THE VERY BEST


AUSTRALIA IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE AND TO REAR A FAMILY


:thumbs up:

I didnt realise that...

Is is worth bringing freezer, dishwasher, washing machine though?

Definitely YES! If you have to buy them all again it'll make a big dent in your savings.

THere may be repair probs if the model isn't sold out here, but so far our fridge and dishwasher have been 'bodged' to carry on the good work :rolleyes:

Look guys try and get on to meet and greet, the houses are fully furnished, and it will give you a breathing space to get your bearings, I dont know an awful lot about it but juls and Daz did it, I`ll try and get hold of her and ask her to answer a few questions for you

Sheila

I guess so, our dishwasher is only 2 and we had to get a new washing machine just after Xmas last year, so it's probably worth it, even if they just keep us going for a year or so until we find our feet...

I will def be investigating the meet and greet nearer the time, sounds like a good idea.

Hi all
Our shippers are collecting our stuff in a few weeks and we have just assessed replacement costs of everything for insurance purposes. The total value would make my eyes water if we had to pay out that sort of money in the first few weeks of arriving. :doh:
As others have said, take it all and then replace slowly as you settle and know how much you will be able to afford.
Brian
:thumbs up:

Perhaps we ought to mention that Meet and Greet is not a commitment for the full 3 months - as soon as you find something else, you move on. So go for it!