Moving abroad, across borders, through time zones, has costs that surface as uncertainties are exposed. Costs vary depending on the country, distances and possessions being shipped. Costs controlled beforehand reduce surprises beyond expected language and cultural frustrations.
The Cost Centres Of All International Moves
• Site Visit, Quotation and BookingThere is a comfort in having a salesperson visit and put together your quotation as you plan your move. This works especially well for local moves happening within days. The longer planning cycle for international moving is a little different. For starters, the cost of moving items balances against buying new on arrival. Selling off items or donating them may not go as planned; or the change in climate can expose yet other charges.Those are just the start of the extra complexity. Add time zones, more government interaction, plus the time to travel all the distances involved, reveals how using technology can control and reduce costs.You can save by doing an on line site visit and quotation. It means you do a “walk about” with your cell phone broadcasting a video of the items you want moved. You will receive your quotation, based on a “walk about” and your instructions. As the moving day comes closer, you will find items to add or discover practical concerns. A new on line “walk about” video to identify the changes and your desires is easily done and its impact on the final quotation created. The video identifies items for the move inventory. The possessions shown in that video, form the move inventory used by the shipping handler and government customs, as well as, the basis for move costs. Your move becomes less costly to arrange and you have a clearer focus on the items included without the danger of items not shown being shipped, by accident. Your help in reducing site visit time and handling uncertainties by providing video documentation, reduces the cost of your move.
• Packing and Custom CratingProper packing is key to cost control and the expectation of joy from those possessions, arriving safely in their new foreign home. It is the best way to assure the contents survive as they transit moving between the local moving truck, containers, through customs inspection and all the handling. Packing and custom crating is a requirement for any meaningful shipment insurance and proper processing on arrival.
• StorageCoordinating the move management requires storage considerations. The transfer points such as docks, airports and customs all present risk factors. Temperature changes, insects, disease, dirt are added to human handling and bureaucracies as risks. These are the time and money sink holes novices fall into with regularity. Ones that add thousands of dollars in unexpected costs. With decades of international experience, Bekins Worldwide has learned and earned how to avoid these pitfalls.
• TransportAs any move ends up consolidated first into containers and then into trains, ships or planes there are predictable charges done by weight or volume. There are also indirect costs. For example, climate change is impacting the transit via the Panama Canal, or rebels slowing the Red Sea transit cause all vessel insurance rates to jump or available fuel supplies to shift resulting in surcharges or re-routing shipments via unexpected ports. A very difficult area for local movers or novices to international moving. Going over the risk versus cost options, at the time of move, is part of each moves peace of mind.
• Delivery Completion ServicesArriving in a new land, to a home filled with your possessions can still leave questions and confirmations. Key to making arrival easy are the destination delivery team and processes in place to deal with the various issues for that destination. Each destination has values and processes that need to be respected in order to avoid any cascading repercussions. Here again, Bekins’ learned and earned experience gives you a hand up towards a successful beginning in your new land.