Customs and destinations
How to write a packing list for customs
Your packing list is your customs declaration. Here is how to describe, count and value used belongings, with a worked example.
Articles
Practical guides to sending luggage, boxes and personal effects from the UK: sizes, weights, customs and what to pack.
Customs and destinations
Moving to Spain, France or Ireland: your belongings
Since Brexit, belongings sent from Great Britain to the EU go through customs. How transfer of residence relief works in Spain, France and Ireland.
Claims and insurance
Insuring belongings you ship: what is and isn't covered
The included cover is a limit on liability, worked out by weight. For full value you buy transit insurance yourself. Here is what to check.
Packing
How to pack a suitcase for shipping
Your case travels on its own, stacked and handled many times. How to choose it, pack it, close it and label it so it arrives the way it left.
Packing
How to pack a box for shipping
Which boxes to use, how to load and tape them, how heavy to make them, and why a box that fits its contents costs less to send.
Measuring and weighing
How to measure and weigh luggage at home
Where to put the tape measure, how to weigh a case on bathroom scales, how accurate you need to be, and why items are checked again after collection.
Students
End-of-term checklist: sending your things home
A week-by-week plan for moving out of halls: what to sort, how to pack and label, storage or sending home, and what changes when home is outside the UK.
What you can send
Why you cannot send aerosols, perfume and power banks
A shipped bag is cargo, so the rules are stricter than at the airport. What cannot go, why, and the safer swaps for each item.
Moving abroad
Courier, air freight, sea freight or excess baggage?
Four ways to move your belongings abroad, compared on speed, how the price builds up and what each suits, with the point where sea freight starts to make sense.
Customs and destinations
Cleaning outdoor gear for Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand check shipped outdoor gear for soil, seeds and plant matter. A step-by-step clean for each item, and what it costs if gear fails.