A domestic move needs packing that survives an afternoon in a van. A container crossing an ocean needs packing that survives weeks of movement, humidity and handling at both ends. They are not the same job.
We connect your enquiry with a vetted international moving company from our network that packs to export standard, and they quote the level of packing you choose.
The choice is usually financial. Full packing costs more and protects both the goods and your insurance position. Self pack saves money and shifts risk onto you, which is a reasonable trade if you make it knowingly.
If you pack your own boxes, write what is in them properly. US customs will not accept miscellaneous as a description, and a vague inventory is one of the more common reasons a container is opened.
full packing means the crew packs everything, part packing usually covers breakables, and self pack costs less but normally carries a higher insurance excess because nobody can verify a sealed box.
Furniture is wrapped rather than blanketed, because a blanket comes off at the depot and the wrapping has to last the journey. Corners, edges and polished surfaces get specific protection.
Cartons are chosen for the load rather than for convenience, which is why a professional pack uses more, smaller boxes than most people would. Books in a large box is the classic self pack mistake.
Everything is listed as it is packed. That inventory travels with the shipment and is what a customs officer reads if the container is selected, so it is part of the packing job rather than paperwork done later.
Packing is a large share of the labour, so the quote changes materially depending on which option you choose.
Wrapping, corner protection, cartons rated for the journey and how furniture is handled. It should be specific rather than reassuring.
Writing the inventory afterwards from memory is how boxes end up described as miscellaneous.
| ❗ | Large boxes filled with heavy items, which fail at the bottom rather than the top. |
| ❗ | Half filled boxes that crush when stacked in a container. |
| ❗ | Fragile items packed without enough space around them to absorb movement. |
| ❗ | Liquids, aerosols and anything perishable included without thinking. |
| ❗ | Boxes labelled by room rather than by contents, which is useless to customs. |
| ❗ | Leaving the inventory until the end, when nobody remembers what went where. |
Full packing means the crew packs everything to export standard. Self pack means you do it, which costs less and normally carries a higher insurance excess.
Because nobody can verify how a sealed box was filled. Cover for self packed cartons is usually narrower or carries a higher excess as a result.
The crew packs the fragile and awkward items and you handle the straightforward ones. It is a middle option and a common choice.
Yes. It is built for weeks of movement, humidity and handling at both ends rather than an afternoon in a van, which is why it uses more materials.
Yes, that is part packing in practice. Just be clear which boxes are yours, because the insurance terms differ between them.
By contents rather than by room. US customs reads the inventory, and a description that says kitchen tells an officer nothing they can check.
Liquids, aerosols, perishables and anything flammable. Food, alcohol and medication also raise the chance of an examination you would pay for.
It helps considerably. Questions come up, and decisions made without you are harder to unpick once the container is sealed.
For a typical three bedroom house, most of a day, sometimes two. It is worth being there for it, because questions come up that only you can answer.
Yes. That combination is common, and it keeps the fragile items with the people trained to wrap them.
Send your collection address, your US destination, the move date and the packing level you want priced. A moving company from our network surveys the job and quotes it.
A Working Member of AGM Group. Enquiries are connected with vetted FIDI FAIM certified and BAR Overseas accredited international moving companies from the network.
We are an enquiry service rather than a packing firm. Packing is carried out by the moving company you are introduced to.
Written by Darren Benjamin, Founder.