Cyprus-Forum.com

[optimist]

Hi, we will be moving over to Cyprus from UK next year and I'd like any advice from people who have gone thru a move. I have seen some threads but not found one that covers the kind of thing that I'm worrying about at the moment!

How long is it from packing your house up in the UK to getting your stuff into your new house in Cyprus? And what do you do in the meantime?

Is it cheaper/better to ship your stuff over or to buy when you get there? - I have seen that Cyprus is expensive for furniture etc.

Any advice from anyone as to what they would do differently or what worked well would be appreciated.

Many thanks
Sue

[cyprussami]

Shipping took my parents around 3 weeks but then they had to get a cypriot immigration lawyer to sign the funiture in at the port (in limassol note: if your moving elseware its a nightmare, limassol is the only port).. took them about 4 weeks in the end, not that bad, but what did they do in the meantime!!!

Personally I brought new when I arrived I found it very stress free (if fairly expensive).... its a balance, do you want to pay more for new furniture of wait for your present stuff... its the value between time and money. The difference in furniture prices are probably balanced out by the cost of shipping, transport to house, labour costs.

Id advise buy new, you get the buzz then too


http://www.proactpartnership.com

[littlemiss]

My parents shipped everything over and so have most of their friends, some things they bought here but they did ship most of their furniture. I guess it depends on wether you can afford to but all new when you get here. While they waited for their things to arrive they rented a fully furnished appartment. Im moving into a new house and I am having to buy all my furniture and if you shop about especially when the sales are on you can but some good stuff at a reasonable price. I recommend a holiday where you can have a look around and get an idea on how much things would cost then compare to how much it would cost to ship you own things. It all depends on what you want and how much you already have.

[cyprusgrump]

Littlemiss is right, people generalise too much about the prices being higher here.

Come for a holiday and check everything out rather than relying on board member’s opinions.

However, if you want mine, we shipped everything out apart from TV’s. Then we bough extra furniture that we needed in the many shops here at prices that we thought were amazingly cheap. We even had a unit custom built for our bedroom (just drew a picture with dimensions, then chose the wood, etc) which was just a few hundred £’s.

Curtains/blinds are other things we bought here with the advantage that she shop came and measured then fitted when ready.

[souroul]

unless its really expensive furniture, i think its not worth the trouble of shipping them over.
besides, you'll have a great time remodeling your place

[optimist]

Thanks for all your comments. We aare coming over in the autumn for a "holiday" The last one was spent house hunting, talking to solicitors etc. Looks like this one will be spent looking at furniture! But who wants to lie on a beach?

Cyprusgrump - we were thinking of buying new electricals - TV, fridge etc Think we will have to time the move to coincide with sales - do they happen seasonally like in UK?

[cyprusgrump]

There is lots of competition so you can often find bargains.

Also, you can haggle on price here – even in the large chair stores. We bought all of our white goods (apart from the washing machine and tumble dryer) from the same shop and got about 30%c off on the package.

[caveman]

2 bits of info.
If you decide to ship your furniture give Cardinal Maritime in Uk a try. No is 0161 491 0491 recommended by loads of people. We used them several times.
If you decide not to ship lookaround the second hand shops they often have brand new furniture at very reasonable prices.

[optimist]

Thanks forr that advice.
I am also thinking about how to get the little things over, like my books, music, pictures, ornaments etc And i will never get all my clothes, shoes etc into the luggage allowance! (female members will understand)
I will be getting rid of lots of stuff but there will be some things that I just can't part with! Is there an economical way of bringing things like that over?

There is just so much to think about and sort out, how does anyone ever get it all done?!

[caveman]

Hi again
To avoid excess bagage costs ring your airline and enquire about sending your stuff cargo it goes on the same plane and arrives at the same time but you may have to collect it a little later. It cuts your costs by a very large amount.
Only bring on the plane your allowance or the cost will be horrendous.
Books etc will be packed by the shippers they are very good and provided you go with reccommendations you should be OK.
Where in Cyprus are you moving to?b