How do we SHIP stuff from here to there?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Scooby Doo

IEatShavedPussyCats
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2001
Messages
3,797
Reaction score
1
So in moving from the west coast to the east coast for medical school....is it way too expensive to ship stuff or are people just starting over with new goodies?

Members don't see this ad.
 
it's pretty expensive to ship stuff. i have moved from cali to ny (and back) and cali to boston (and back). each time i shipped about 4 boxes. it cost me something like $300-$400 to ship 4 boxes of stuff from boston to cali. most of the stuff was pretty lightweight, but i did ship a small tv (approx $100 to ship -- not that much more to buy a new one). it's fine to ship some boxes of clothes, but shipping furniture or heavy items is impractical. if you're going to ship books, you can ship them "book rate" for a cheaper deal. i usually use ups but have shipped through the post office as well.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
stuff it in your uhaul and drive across the country.
 
[extra-frugal method]:
-load up both your check-in luggages to the max. of 60-70 lbs (depending on airline). Stuff your carry-on backpack with more stuff.
-Have each person coming from home for the white coat ceremony lug more stuff.
-Bring what ever non-essentials are left when you go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
-search dumpsters by local apt. complexes for furniture
-buy whatever else you need at a thrift store

I'm planning on doing the first 3, and am considering the last 2. :)
 
[alternative method]

A complete different option I was recommended was doing a "driveaway" - when someone wants to move across country but doesn't want to drive and needs to get there quicker than their car, they can have a company match the car with a driver that wants to get to the same city (or nearby) with their stuff.

www.driveaway.com
 
Here's another idea... and what I'm doing...

So I'm going from CA to OH, and I found a company called ABF UPack Moving. Their web site is: ABF UPack. The way they work is that they are commercail freight shipper, and they let you buy space on their trucks. The catch is that you have to load your stuff yourself. These are regular big rig freight trailers. So you put your stuff in, then they put in whatever else they're shipping, and they drive the truck. You then unload your stuff from their trailer at the other end.

I just have too much nice stuff that I got during my year working in the real world to just leave it all behind. Cost: I'm shipping basically a 1-bedroom apartment worth of stuff from CA to OH for $875. I also used to work with a guy that did this to move from Iowa to CA, and had very good results.
 
We used a Uhaul to move from Texas to Maryland. It was about $1000 but it held about 3 rooms worth of stuff
 
I shipped 4 boxes using mailboxes etc and most of my boxes caved in and some stuff broke...

when my family came to graduation, we had a total of 15 suitcases on the plane ride back....

I recommend buying mostly new stuff and only taking what u need. I bought everything new and i'm driving to school!
 
Originally posted by USeF
[extra-frugal method]:
-load up both your check-in luggages to the max. of 60-70 lbs (depending on airline). Stuff your carry-on backpack with more stuff.
-Have each person coming from home for the white coat ceremony lug more stuff.
-Bring what ever non-essentials are left when you go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
-search dumpsters by local apt. complexes for furniture
-buy whatever else you need at a thrift store

I'm planning on doing the first 3, and am considering the last 2. :)

or find a roommate who has his own cool furntiture already. : )
 
Top