Are you one of the more than 8.7 million Americans living abroad right now? Are you getting ready to transition? After the pandemic, no doubt the numbers are actually quite a bit higher than the “guesstimate” of nearly 9 million.

One of the most difficult parts of moving overseas is leaving behind your precious personal belongings. If you decide to leave it behind, not only will the memories be lost but you’ll have to invest a lot of money in new furnishings.

Is it worth it to ship furniture overseas? How long does it take to ship furniture overseas? Keep reading if you’re wondering how to ship furniture overseas cheap, quick, and secure.

Shipping Furniture Overseas Cheaply

One of the cheapest ways to ship furniture overseas is on a container ship but you can save time through an air carrier. Regardless of being a little cheaper, international container transport rates can quickly get complicated. There are a number of primary contributors to transport rates, including the:

• Type of shipping method
• Season you’re shipping in
• Route the shipper will use
• Weight and size of your container or belongings

The cheapest overseas shipping method is by sea. This is because air shipping can cost five or more times that of sea travel.

Is It Slow to Ship My Container by Sea?

Air travel of your belongings is definitely the fastest. It costs about five times more, but you also get it five times faster. That’s usually between five and ten days.

Sea travel on a container ship could be anywhere from 20 to 45 days. It isn’t only the monetary cost you must consider, but also the question of “can I do without my belongings for more than a month?”

Is Shipping Furniture Overseas Complicated?

It’s a loaded question because it certainly can be without an experienced shipping partner. Our description of major cost factors didn’t include the:

• Distance between the container’s pickup and dropoff locations
• Loading and unloading of the container onto a vessel or aircraft
• Possibility of “day rates”

Also, the size of the container could throw you off. There are two options for shipping containers and it can save you money to know exactly what you need. Containers come in 20-foot and 40-foot options.

Even the 20-foot container will generally hold all of your belongings for a three-bedroom home. The snag comes in if you have oddly shaped furniture like a couch. Otherwise, 20-foot containers will hold up to ten standard pallets of your belongings.

In either case, you’ll need to have your furniture broken down as much as possible before you start packing.

Time to Ship Your Furniture Overseas

Now that you have the basics to ship furniture overseas, it’s time to start looking for a shipping company to partner with. We’re confident that with the knowledge you now have, you can choose a shipper familiar with shipping from the destination and the origin points.

Need to know more about what it takes to move overseas? Don’t stop now, keep browsing our articles to get the advice you need!