How does a backpack turn into a houseful of stuff in only four years?
Would anyone have some advice as to the best way to ship lots of heavy stuff to the states and MAKE SURE it gets there, hopefully without spending an arm and a leg?
Local post office by ship and make sure you pack everything up tightly and use lots of shipping tape. Make sure the box is sturdy and corrugated.
Post offices sell very sturdy corrugated boxes
Thanks for the advice. I dont entirely trust the local post, based on an experience shipping boxes of books here from the states which never arrived. Any other options?
I sent several large boxes from here to the UK, they all arrived safely. It costs next to nothing to get them insured for peace of mind.
As for your experience with the books, did you personally send them ? Or did someone else send them ? Did they, for example, write the address in joined up writing ? I used to have the same experience. The post here can be very easily confused by an English address, but if you write it the way they can understand, it almost always works.
Besides, all you want to local post office to do is get it to the right country.
Write the adress big and clear in permanent marker directly on the boxes (or use a sheet of paper and tape over it). Don’t rely on the form that the Taiwan post office provides. It’ll most likely be in tatters by the time it arrives.
I sent about six boxes last year by boat with no problems. Cothes, books, cd’s, rice cooker, etc. since then have also mailed a few things back and forth.
HOw did you ship - i mean which moving company did you use to ship your stuff to the UK ? I contacted several compsnies to ship our stuff to Malaysia - and every company quoted me a min of NT$40,000.
Have you considered renting cargo containers? When my mom and dad moved the entire family to Thailand, we rented like 1/2 of a container or something. Not exactly sure how much the cost is… etc. But just an option you might want to look into.
I called one of the shipping companies listed in the China Post (I know; I don’t read it any longer either) They can ship a 20 foot container to Seattle for about $1500.00 U.S. If that is too much space you can split a container with others. THis seems like a good option to ship furnishings and the like that one accumulates here and either must ship or sell at an absurd lose. The same is true for shipping from the States. I understand that it is about the same rate but the port of enty is Koushuing - not Taipei. I was able to find an English translation of customs and duty charges on the web but I dont have it now. Shipping a car was about 100% of fmv or what you paid for it whichever was greater. In the event of a discrepancy, they decide. Opted out of that quickly. A 450 SL sitting in a U.S. garage is a sad thought. What a head turner here. Anyway, I am in the process of having some odds and ends shipped here. I’ll post my experience when and if it happens.
There was/is a guy on Tealit who works for an international moving company in Taiwan. If anyone wants to check prices with him, PM me your email address and I’ll forward it to him.
I’d just post his address, but I don’t know that he wants it given out. I’ll ask (and will forward him this thread).
I received a reply from the int’l moving guy; sounds like this is the busy season for him! He gave me his address at work to post here:
“You can put my work e-mail on there, if you like:
sean.mccormack@asiantigers-taiwan.com
If we aren’t quite what they’re looking for, I’m always happy to point them in the right direction.”
If you need a dog or three, he also rescues strays. So give him a holler for your moving or canine needs. 
Thanks for the mention, but I no longer work for Asian Tigers K.C. Dat. Despite winning several large contracts for them, totally modernising their sales department, and doing about a million hours of free overtime, they fired me at Chinese New Year over a pay dispute and I’m now having to sue them for the severance pay they owe me.
If anyone is considering using a professional moving company, there are a few things you should know so as not to pay more than you need to. Post here with your email address or PM me for some handy tips.
I also worked for Crown Worldwide for a while, and I was VERY impressed by their operations. Very professional, very friendly service. You do get what you pay for in this industry … mostly.
Cheers!
Stray Dog
I’ll be leaving pretty soon - need to send a few boxes home to Seattle. I can do it at the post office no problem. However, I am also to send a bedstand for a friend (also to seattle) that is larger than the post office will accept. It’s about 40X40X90 cm.
Any ideas for cheap shipping to Seattle for something like this? I’ll likely have to wrap/box it so it could be a little bigger even. I’m also thinking that if I do this I might as well send everything I have at once (probably about three boxes and the bedstand.
I’ve searched the forums and most of what I’ve come up with is shipping to Australia or Canada, or shipping things in a container (like for a whole house)… which is useless for my needs.
Thanks!
Vim
I’m trying to ship something kind of big back to the States also and not finding the right boxes at the Post Office. I wish there were Mailbox stores around that can do it for me!
In 2000 I sent several boxes of personal stuff to the states and they were beat to hell. They were packaged extremely well but the people who handled them still managed to break a couple things. I also shipped a TV back. For the TV I hired a shipping company that said they would package the TV with the appropriate material and ship it by air and insure it. Well the TV arrived at its destination in about 50 pieces! They wrapped it in newspaper and then put it in a box.(assholes!) I gave up on the insurance claim after about 6 months of frustration. The shipping company was a popular one in Taipei but I do not remember the name.
I would recomend some like UPS (they only ship by air) for the bed part. It will be expensive, but it will be less of a hassle if something goes wrong.
Hope that helps
Hi all,
I want send some stuff to Germany. A couple of boxes (4 to 6) maybe each 12 to 20 kg.
I am also looking for the same kind of service to China.
Does anybody know who does that, and how much I am looking at.
Does the post do it?
Thank you very much for your advice.
Helmut
Go to the post office. Rates are in the English phone book which I don’t have on me at the moment.
Yes, for up to 20kg send them by Express Mail Service from the post office.
I send 5kg Satellite receivers to Australia and they arrive in 3 days. So I know it’s pretty fast.
Hi Guys,
thanks for the info.
Found the website for the rates:
post.gov.tw/post/internet/u_ … f_7_31.htm
Has alll the rates, except - China.
Does anybody have an idea about China?
thks.
I think the post office may be what you want, their boxes are very well made and you can send up to 20KG at a reasonable price (even cheaper if you use surface mail), and insurance is only a few hundred NT. I used it without problem sending non-fragile things like books and clothes.
I think we have other topics on this subject, free Mercedes CL600 Coupe* to any one who finds me a thread I can merge with this.
*Subject to availablity