What to Ship, What to Buy

4POSTS

8 years ago

Hi, First, I am entering this for my daughter who is at work and trying to arrange all details of moving by Oct. 10. She has the help of a licensed migration agent, so the legal stuff is in hand. Major question is about what to ship versus buy new in Australia.

Current thinking:
1) Ship all clothes beyond the two suitcases allowed on the flight.
2) Don't ship furniture -- her partner has enough on the NSW side.
3) Do ship DVDs, TV, and blu-ray player because there are compatibility issues with Australian electronics. Yes, she will need adapter/converters, but better to get them there?
4) Ship her professional notes and selected textbooks.
5) Don't ship cookware and table settings?
6) Better to buy a new smart phone here, or wait?
7) We are digitizing photos. She will take her laptop.

She will be taking some artwork and personal items. (This is emotional, so no advice here please.)

We would appreciate any comments on these plans.

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Fred Indonesia Expert

30549POSTS

8 years ago

Buy a new cellphone in Australia.
Apart from a US phone likely being locked to a given service provider, the charger might not accept Australia's mains voltage and a US phone is going to be a pain if it goes wrong as you are unlikely to be able to claim warranty in Oz.

Fred Indonesia Expert

30549POSTS

8 years ago

Oh, don't pack suitcases, pack soft bags.
Suitcases take your weight limit up because they're heavy but soft duffel bags are very light so you can get more useful stuff and stay within the weight limits.

Fred Indonesia Expert

30549POSTS

8 years ago

Don't ship DVDs, get conversion software and store the lot on hard drives. As with the photos, duplicate the drive so it's harder to lose the data.
I understand it's perfectly legal to make a copy of a DVD for your own use as long as you own the original.

2 hard drives weigh a lot less than a pile of DVDs

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Fred Indonesia Expert

30549POSTS

8 years ago

Buy a new TV in Oz. Apart from the pain of shipping and the likely incompatibility of the set to Australian standards, its chances of getting to Australia undamaged is less than 100%.

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labgirl7 New member

4POSTS

8 years ago

Thank you all. Seems to be a consensus here. Of course, our daughter will make her own decisions, but this should help greatly. See ya Down Under, mates.