Local (plus) Expat moving out of HK, why so ungodly expensive?

if you ask for a door to door quote its expensive as most moving companies know that the big corporates are paying for relocation. the shipping cost of a container is only about usd 1500 from HK to LA. if you get a local co to pack and put stuff in the container its a lot cheaper. you also have to appoint a local us clearing co but plenty available. you basically break it into 3 modules and can do the lot for less than usd 5k. I got a 20 ft container from the UK last year and the company charged me 50 POUNDS for freight (they said most containers from UK to Hk come empty) . I paid 500 pounds local charges from the Midlands to southampton. All in it cost me HKD 15000 door to door.

If your BMW costs the same as the sea container, then sell the BMW and you will have enough money to move back to the UK.


Decide really how much you want to send back. Is it going to be suitable for your UK address? Is it going to fit in your UK address? Is it so old that really you will need to buy a new one soon? Will you need all the summer clothing? etc etc, Then donate all this stuff that just isn't needed to reduce what you are sending back. After you have minimised, call in the moving companies for quotes.


Do not call them in first as they will quote on all the extra stuff you have and this quote will be bloated. You have to be ruthless in your donations.


Consider a shared container, ask about the cheapest way to get it back. Normally, people want their goods to arrive close to their arrival time, this costs extra. If you can get by for a few months, tell them you do not mind leaving it in HK (watch out for storage costs - do the maths) until they have another 1/2 or 3/4 container and yours will fill it.


There are many ways to reduce your costs. We have moved so many times, we just don't carry around junk any more.

Can anyone advise about shipping a motorcyle to Australia?

Why don't you ask a shipping company?


For the bike itself, you'd typically need to drain it of fluids, then make sure the inside of the tank is treated with an anti corrosive so you don't get rust.

You need to contact FORS (Fed Ofice of Road Safety) . As an aussie if youve owned a vehicle here for a year , you can apply for an import permit directly via the internet. Once you have it there are plenty of companies doing shipping to oz. a Typical 20ft container is about hkd 10 to 14k so a bike should be 3-4 k on a pallett. once its there you pay the GST and Duties about 25% in total and then get the road worthy and licence. pretty straight.

You dont need to drain fluids etc, just let the fuel tank go on to reserve and let 1 litre swirl around. sailing time to Brisbane is only 11 days.