Shipping furniture from US to HK?

[bumpkin]

New kid on the block, please be gentle...

We'll only be in HK for 2-4 years and would like to read some advice on what to do with our furniture (one bed, one small dresser, a set of dinning table, coffee table, etc). If we don't ship them, we'll have to put them into storage, which will be paid from our pocket. If we do, the company will take care part of the moving cost.

I guess my questions are--
how much does it cost to ship them from California to HK?
how much does it cost to buy them in HK? as we still need buy more for our expanding family...
how did you deal with your furniture?

any reply will be greatly appreciated...

[jimbo]

I can answer a few of the questions though.

The apartments in HK are a lot smaller than you're probably used to thus things like your dining table and bed may well be too big.

Find a place first and then check the measurements of the rooms to ensure that they will fit.

Oh and also it gets pretty humid here so if you do end up shipping the furniture over make sure the wood is properly treated as you'll be moving from dry heat to humidity which could ruin your furniture.

Furniture is cheap here you could either go for brand new Ikea furniture or get some bargains from an expat removal sale.

Rather than put your furniture into storage in California can't you rent your place out furnished and then get some income from there whilst you're over in HK?

[KnowItAll]

>> one bed, one small dresser, a set of dinning table, coffee table,
>> etc

One word .. Craigslist. NOT worth storing or transporting those items unless they have some sentimental value.

[PerryCo]

I am new to this forum, so what is - Craigslist?

[KnowItAll]

craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums

Very US centric free classifieds ....

[bumpkin]

Thanks a lot, jimbo and knowitall, your answers are very helpful.

where can I find expat removal sale? did you mean the posts on this web site?

[Sleuth]

We brought some furniture with us, but we did measure the place first to make sure it would fit. Plus a lot of places we looked at had built-in furniture (don't ask me why as I see no reason for that permanence).
Seems it would be cheaper to ship it and use it than to store it and buy new.

[jimbo]

Thanks a lot, jimbo and knowitall, your answers are very helpful.

where can I find expat removal sale? did you mean the posts on this web site?

Yup indeed take a look at the classified section here as theres usually something for sale all the time.

[goleoboy]

or just buy new ones in shenzhen when you get here or make a quick trip to indonesia for even nicer wooden pieces!! - we moved our stuff from new york to HK - paid up the ass for shipping. Then we went to a furniture show here in HK and saw even nicer stuff available for CHEAP (it was the last day)! also, it's very likely that unless you have antique pieces that you'll find the bulk of your stuff here (if not HK / then china) - since much of the stuff they sell in the states are made in china anyways... We thought we had brought over unique pieces like large wooden coffeetables and couches that we bought at pottery barn.... only to learn they're made in china and saw very similar pieces at the furniture show here!

[wesleytobey]

Bumpkin,

I just moved from California and shipped an apartment's worth of furniture/stuff to HK. It cost about USD6,000 all in.

If your company isn't going to cover the full cost, might be better to just buy new (unless your current furniture is expensive or has sentimental value).

Local storage should be about USD300/mth for the same amount of stuff. So probably not worth storing. Just sell on craigslist or donate to Goodwill/Amvets.

Good luck.