Shipping My Life from China to the USA

Do you want to move your life, but are unsure how to do it?

Don't do it! Reconsider, and watch this video. 😂

I'll show you how I moved my belongings from China to Thailand to Vietnam and finally to the USA. I'll show you how much it cost, and how long it took and I threw in some tips on making the process as smooth as possible. Mistakes were made as usual, but lessons are always learned!

So whether you're planning a move across the world or just want to know more about shipping boxes and suitcases, be sure to watch this video!
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Cameras I use:

Leaving China:

[DIYDiaz]

Girl that was just A LOT! I hope you got some rest and relaxation after dealing with all that! And thank God for Moms! Just the realest out there! ❤

[ThomasMusic]

Never put handle with care on your boxes. Because to the shipping people that means BREAK

[kueller]

Ah I can nerd on about a couple of things here!

I assume there is a restriction for shipping batteries. When you fly you have to keep all battery items in your carry-on so if they ignite it can be noticed quickly. In cargo holds it's harder to catch and can be dangerous. Assumedly you'd need to do go through some other process to carry a battery.

Air tags are a neat device. They only work cause of the popularity of iPhones. It sends a signal to the nearest iPhone which then routes that signal back to you. In the middle of the Pacific, or the continent, where there's no Apple products or even internet signal, it's harder to track.

Now on the general topic, I have a coworker who is moving to the US and seeing the mess of packing everything into a crate. It makes me grateful my family was ok with me just leaving most of my belongings so I just carried a couple suitcases.

[Cthulhu_]

Okay, so I can only speak for Europe but I'd imagine it must work the same in the US. In future use a shared freight service. You'll basically share a shipping container with other people. At the price you paid you could have purchased an entire container for yourself to ship your goods from China.

Fill out the documents yourself. In Europe you need a TOR form (transfer of residence) which basically tells customs that you're just moving your household goods from one country to another. I'd imagine the US has a similar set-up. Anyway, the form is not complicated and you'll end up needing the supporting docs regardless of whether you go through a company or do it yourself. These companies make easy money because people assume these documents are way more complicated than they actually are. But be careful to declare any new goods. If customs finds them they will charge you to import these items into the country. I saw it happen a lot with people buying gifts for family and friends to bring back home with them.

So basically do as much as you can yourself (the packing, filling out the forms, etc) and just pay a shared shipping service for the actual freight part - way cheaper that way. 2-3 months is a pretty standard timeframe for freight from China. However, I can completely understand how stressful moving is and yeah, if you have the money to just pay someone to do all work go for it :D

[sparxumlilo]

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone told stories like you do? Brilliant!

[corgijumpman]

Wow! 6 boxes😂 mine was only 3 boxes using ChinaPost😅 but it was like 3 months before it arrived😂

[opaljohnson]

Girl, that was stressful and expensive. It will all be forgotten in time.

[kenyup]

Welcome you back to China at anytime if you willing to do that, farewells, we’ll miss you

[icosthop]

I am a "Pack Rat" everything is *"precious"*, or I would not have *"iT"* in the First place. 🧐

(Learning to get rid of old clothing though. To the dry cleaners, then into one of those large recycle bins)

[ELCEV]

LCL in a shipping container directly to USA. Use a US broker and done. Not dirt cheap but affordable for the boxes.