OK. What to take & what to leave?

Apart from the cost, then the worry about breakages, will the import duties kill you?
The rest depends if you're alone or with family.
Alone, easy on check in and carry on, but my TVs are LED projectors.

no import on personal belongings surely?

I'm cranky I can't bring my 18yo Subaru Outback here! it would be a really great car to have here, and being 18yo, like, so steal it. :-)

Just me, Fred. That is the point or something. :-(

macintyre wrote:

no import on personal belongings surely?

I'm cranky I can't bring my 18yo Subaru Outback here! it would be a really great car to have here, and being 18yo, like, so steal it. :-)

Trust me, the customs guys will want some money even if it is just personal stuff.

With a house and garage full of stuff I just went though this in January.  I brought two suitcases of clothes and two laptops.  That's it.  I'm lucky that I'm still going home two weeks every two months so I'm keeping my house in US for now so the garage, house and one storage unit are packed full.  I plan to slowly sell off stuff over the next two years.  I wouldn't try to ship stuff.  The cost plus coffee money fees and legitimate import fees are likely going to make it "not worth it" to ship stuff.  Still have three cars, two motorcycles and three boats left behind.  Those will be sold in spring.  Tough to sell stuff like that in winter in Nebraska.

@OP: I tried to look back at your previous posts but couldn't find anything that indicated your rental preference.  Is it an unfurnished house, the reason you wish to ship your furniture?

hi there again Ciambella

no, I wasn't saying I wanted to ship furniture, just wondering about stuff like fridges and washing machines and TV. I think it is decided that that is not worth the cost and trouble to ship, rather than sell and repurchase. and the same applies to my TV/s actually as they aren't that new either.

so I guess question answered.

thank you every one. I would like the Subaru though :-(

kind regards

mac

Take a tip from SteinNebraska (two suitcases and laptops). Most places are furnished. My place in VT came with a Panasonic fridge (the sound is fantastic), a Sony flatscreen tv, and a Sharp washing machine, for example.

Plus, thanks to globalization, everything is available here in Viet Nam, probably way cheaper than in the States. The main exception is good boxer shorts. You can find them here but they're not very easy to locate and the selection is not that great.

Anyway, for the expat lifestyle, "Less is (definitely) More". Freedom takes precedence over possessions.

By the way, I guess you realize that you are coming right at Tết (Lunar New Year holidays).

thank you. yes as per post, but it seems it works out all right actually, and even initial accomm in HCM didn't seem so much as it might have been

OK. Just wanted to make sure you were aware. Actually, HCMC will be quite quiet as millions return to their hometowns. Many places will be closed for a few days or a week, Vung Tau will be packed wall-to-wall from the 7th or 8th until Monday the 11th.

:-)

macintyre wrote:

Ok everyone. Now I am serious.

I arrive HCMC 3 Sun Feb  (yes, yes, I know. I moved my departure date forward two weeks without realising what the date was. but actually works for in other ways).

Initially I am only planning to bring basics, until I have decided on a permanent location (which for, different reasons, I now looking at Vung Tau or Mui Ne, or similar),  near HCMC, not further north.

But when I start shipping  more 'stuff', what is worth the freight, and which is not? which is better to sell (or give away), and repurchase?

I have even decided that my gorgeous large fridge is not worth the freight, when I could resell here for quite a bit (i hope) and rebuy. That was the single most thing I fretted about.

but what is simply easier and cheaper to replace? TVs? Washing machines?

and what is the 'best' company to use for shipping? as long as we are not talking fridges, washing machines, TVs, furniture. I figure 10-12 tea chests if we are lucky.

many thanks

dec

Hey Dec/Mac/Don,

I'm in Đà Nẵng, but still might be taking a look at Vũng Tàu, mostly because I could be at the ocean, but not terribly far from the big city advantages of HCMC.

I really felt for you, reading what's going on in your mind regarding "stuff".

Somewhere in the forum I wrote about the process I went through as I sold, donated and trashed virtually all of my possessions.

Not much I can add to the good input from @SteinNebraska and @johnross23 except maybe two thoughts:

1. Another thread is talking about prices in HCMC, and I'm finding that if something is made in Vietnam, it's often 50% to even 20% of the price of things Imported from Korea and elsewhere.

If something isn't made in Vietnam it probably CAN be made here, for a lot less than it would cost to import the "original".

It may not be an exact duplicate, and a certain amount of ingenuity may be needed to get you something close to what you're looking for, but every day it seems I run across someone constructing furniture or machining metal or reusing disposables in very clever and inexpensive manners.

2. There are many posts about negotiating for apartment/home rental rates, and it's generally understood you will have great difficulty doing that.

However, I've now lived in 5 different locations since arriving last August, and I've discovered in my experiences that landlords are often very willing to negotiate what's included in the apartment.

Need a bigger or taller table or an extra sofa?

Done.

How about a larger T.V.? One landlord did an upgrade for me.

Missing a special appliance or cooking pot in the kitchen? As soon as I asked (before agreeing to rent) one landlord made a huge pot appear in the blink of an eye.

I'm missing my Lazyboy recliner chair, but I'm betting I can have a decent substitute made for me somewhere.

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable move.

macintyre wrote:

Just me, Fred. That is the point or something. :-(

If I were alone, I would be able to move house in my car.
I'd own:

Clothes
A fold up bed settee (no frame)
Computers and stuff
No TV, just LED projectors
Portable AC unit
Small fridge
Surprisingly good portable speakers
Small portable gas stove
Microwave

Not much more - That was the extent of my worldly goods in England when I realised that ruddy massive TV and unbelievable stereo were hardly switched on in favour of a portable DVD player and a tranny radio.
I ditched the lot before I'd even decided to move. Stuff the adverts telling me I need a load of stuff - I don't

When I decided to emigrate, I sold everything, or rather gave it away (e.g. a B&O sound system worth 50k for 3k) or threw it away.

I arrived here with 2 big suitcases (30kg each) and a small hand luggage case.

I didn't need half of them until now and I still have enough clothes for the next 10-20 years.

gday, fred. well I won't be quite that light. :-) eg I am taking a lot of my own kitchen and dining stuff, wine glasses etc,  bed linen, and actually some tools (although not all my hardware).

kind regards

mac

macintyre wrote:

gday, fred. well I won't be quite that light. :-) eg I am taking a lot of my own kitchen and dining stuff, wine glasses etc,  bed linen, and actually some tools (although not all my hardware).

kind regards

mac

I can imagine the arguments at customs now - Be wary

macintyre wrote:

... and actually some tools (although not all my hardware).

I also brought my electrician tools and some measuring instruments.  But I have seen that everything can be bought here at an affordable price.

:-)

I know it is endemic.

but I am not sure how it works in practice, but I will have some local (VN) help from friends, so hopefully they will sort it.

kindest

mac

macintyre wrote:

I am taking ... bed linen

Bed linen may not fit, or rather, bed linen from the US do not fit the beds here.  Don't know about Australian sizes though.

The best mattress manufacturer here is Kymdan, with 20 cm as the thickest depth.  Standard mattress in the States is 30 cm although the much more popular pillow top mattress is 60 cm. 

Kymdan mattresses come in 10 different sizes.  The mattress in our bedroom here is 180 x 200 cm (larger than a Queen but smaller than a California King).  Just the length and width alone, American bed linen wouldn't fit, and the extra deep US fitted sheet would be thrice the depth of the mattress here.  And flat (top) sheet?  Forget about it.  No top sheet would stay put over a too thin mattress.

Pillows are the same way.  There are only two sizes here:  45 x 65 cm and 50 x 70 cm.  The smallest (standard size) pillow in the US is 55 x 66 cm, Queen is 50 x  76 cm, King is 50 x 91 cm.  Pillowcases in the US wouldn't fit right on pillows here in Vietnam either.

The hard pillow here is what literally hurts me the most.  American pillow is described by loft, not thickness. I'm used to sleeping-on-the-cloud-with-my-neck-cradled pillows, not stretching-my-neck-over-a-guillotine-threshold pillows.  I haven't had a night of deep sleep since moving here.  Not once.  I'll accustom to the mattress one of these days, but I'll never be friend with my pillows here, no matter how many times I've adjusted the amount of shredded foam inside.  Thus, two sets of the best American-made pillows my money can buy are at the top of things to bring back from our trip to the States next month.

Ciambella wrote:

macintyre wrote:

I am taking ... bed linen

The hard pillow here is what literally hurts me the most.  American pillow is described by loft, not thickness. I'm used to sleeping-on-the-cloud-with-my-neck-cradled pillows, not stretching-my-neck-over-a-guillotine-threshold pillows.  I haven't had a night of deep sleep since moving here.  Not once.  I'll accustomed to the mattress one of these days, but I'll never be friend with my pillows here, no matter how many times I've adjusted the amount of shredded foam inside.

I was very surprised to see a soft knock-off of my Tempurpedic pillow in downtown Đà Nẵng the other day, at:

Parkson Vinh Trung Plaza
Vĩnh Trung Plaza B, 255, 257 Hùng Vương, Hải Châu 2, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000

goo.gl/maps/RDQcSZnsT6G2

I can't recall the name of the vendor, but I'd be happy to go back and check it out further.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I was very surprised to see a soft knock-off of my Tempurpedic pillow in downtown Đà Nẵng the other day

I can't recall the name of the vendor, but I'd be happy to go back and check it out further.

Cool.  Would you send me a pic when you have the chance, please?  I'll still bring back pillows from the States, but I like to have many pillows on my bed, so some local knock-off would work fine.

Ciambella wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

I was very surprised to see a soft knock-off of my Tempurpedic pillow in downtown Đà Nẵng the other day

I can't recall the name of the vendor, but I'd be happy to go back and check it out further.

Cool.  Would you send me a pic when you have the chance, please?  I'll still bring back pillows from the States, but I like to have many pillows on my bed, so some local knock-off would work fine.