Selling up vs. Crates

[Butterfly]

We are still in the easliest stages of getting our ducks in a row. However, this is one of our big debates right now...

Should we crate up all our household goods, and have it shipped, or is it easier, and more stress free (and possibly cheaper) to sell everything and start fresh once we have a house? Right now we are tending towards selling up.

We have a huge amount of stuff, very little of it is sentimental, and most of it is clutter. Our furniture is all mostly 5 years old already, and things like the lounge suite will need replacing fairly soon anyway. Appliances like the fridge, freezer, washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer are all vital to us, but would it not be cheaper to buy new once we arrive?

I'd appreciate any and all input, particularly from those who have done one or the other.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Butterfly

[Rison]

Butterfly,

I think it is a personal choice whether to take over furniture or buy new ones. We bought everything new in Australia, because we wanted to start fresh and not take over some old furniture due for replacement. Other items were very valuable, but we made the choice to sell all and make a clean break. We sold out everything, cashed up and had enough money to buy what we needed. I must warn that it is a "painfull" experience when selling your furniture and other personal items and you always tend to feel it is more valuable than what people are willing to pay for it.

We literally only came with our luggage and put some really personal items in a few plastic containers and flew it over with Qantas. This arrived one week later. We found it convenient to buy new stuff when we landed and we knew for sure it would fit into the Australian house. Also you can select and only buy what you really need and not have uneccessary furniture standing around. For us it was part of the process of starting a new life.

On the other hand if you have good quality and near new furniture then it may be cheaper to bring it over. Furniture in Australia is not cheap (depending on your personal taste).

Good luck with your choice.

[ShArK-NoW]

Hi Butterfly

There was alot of discussion on this topic in the forum before, I think going through it will give you a good idea what to do. Bronwyn's husband made a budget to compare buying new furniture with taking everything over. It's under the heading "Çheck my furniture budget" by Bronwyn page 4 of this part of the forum.

Hope this helps

Regards

Aniena

[Pippa]

Dear Butterfly,

Bronwyn's husband made a budget to compare buying new furniture with taking everything over. It's under the heading "Çheck my furniture budget" by Bronwyn page 4 of this part of the forum.

Herewith the link to Bronwyn's "Check my furniture budget" that Aniena refers to.

Good luck!

Lovies, Pippa! X

[Butterfly]

Thanx a million.

Going to go read that post now.

[Bob]

Riaan ("Rison") made a good point in stating that selling your household goods may not be as pleasant an experience as you might think with others not offering nearly as much as you'd like to get back.

My advice is always to take what items are personal and sentimental . . . things passed down from family and such. You can't buy these again, nor will your children / grandchildren have them passed on in years to come.

Only you can determine what is more cost effective.

To determine the replacement of all your household goods here are some websites. Bear in mind that December is the month most trade is done in and bargains aren't found like in January and immediately after Chritsmas or in June / July (the end of the Australian financial year for clearance sales throughout the warehouse)

Remember to factor in the cost of shipping all or part of your goods to Australia, if necessary.

www.thegoodguys.com.au

www.harrisscarfe.com.au

www.myer.com.au

cebas.ikea.com.au (NO www. before this url )