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shipping vs buying furniture

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    45

    shipping vs buying furniture

    Hi everyone,

    My husband and I will be moving from NY to Hong Kong. We have just received our relocation package and are being allowed to ship 13,000 pounds of furniture. We rent our current apartment fully furnished so at this time we do not have any furniture to ship.

    My question is whether, from experience, it would be better to purchase our furniture in the US and ship it to HK or whether we can plan to spend about the same in HK if we buy it there.

    Thanks in advance!


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong
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    23,205

    Buy it in Hong Kong. Until you have seen the apartment you will live in there's no way you can tell what will fit.

    6 tons of furniture is a lot, by the way - are you sure you understood that correctly? It would be a pretty rare (and expensive) HK apartment that could fit that much in. And most shipping is done by volume, not weight (normally a 20 foot container).

    Last edited by PDLM; 13-04-2011 at 10:48 AM.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    45

    Thank you for your reply.

    I'm not really sure. I was told a 40 foot container and was given that weight limit. We will certainly not have that much furniture. I am just wondering whether I could get better quality at a lower price here. If the prices are high in HK I would rather purchase at least some furniture here and ship it over.


  4. #4

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    Jun 2005
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    Hong Kong
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    Oh, OK. The fundamental problem is that unless your budget for rent is enormous (over, say, US$12,000 per month) then you will probably find yourself in a significantly smaller space than you might expect and risk junking furniture that simply won't fit.

    If I were you I would negotiate with the company to get the cost of shipping paid as a relocation allowance which you can spend on furniture when you get here.

    bdw and chingleutsch like this.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    45

    Ok, thanks.

    We currently live in 500 square feet (NYC is also high rent for small spaces) so I do have a pretty good idea of how little furniture we'll be able to fit. That being said, we do have relocation allowance so perhaps I will wait until we get there.

    Thanks again!


  6. #6

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    Tuen Mun
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    I think PDLM's point is that if your shipping allowance is separate from the rest of your relocation package then you should negotiate to have the shipping money paid to you directly.

    Another thing to realise is that in Hong Kong standard practice is to give the gross floor area of apartments, not the useable area (gross including your "share" of everything from lift wells to swimming pools), which means that 500' in the agent's window can translate to less than 300' useable space.


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    4,043

    Buy in HK. This is the most common thing. There are enough problems in relocating without having the trouble of waiting for goods to arrive. If the furniture is new and of top quality you won't have the supplier in HK coming by to fix any issues with it like you would in the city you buy it in.

    If you don't buy from too many sources here in HK it is fast and efficient to get things to you here. HK has that way over North America.

    You will find that shipping to you will be on time and will surprise you when they say they will come at 10 to 12 and call at 9:30 apologizing for an early arrival.

    Depending on your budget if you are spending more than some expats often do at IKEA then you might be visiting a number of places to outfit your flat here but HK delivery is fast and when they say they will come.

    Not sure I know of any 500 sq. ft places that are down to 300 usuable. I know my former rented flat in a new building seemed smaller than my 463 sq ft 2 BR now - the new one was 504 sq. ft but I think it included the balcony.


  8. #8

    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Hong Kong
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    I have a similar question - my baggage allowance is HKD 17,000. I dont plan to carry any furniture- would that be enough to buy few things to get started there? I would be living alone.

    I also have relocation allowance but am planning to get the baggage allowance added to that.