The cheapest way is to pack and ship it yourself. It takes time...Here is what I did:
Get rid of all kitchen electronics, TV’s, and clocks. Computers and other USB chargeable items should be kept since you can get plugs for these. Keep your couch if it is in good condition and your bed as well. Furniture is available but may be more expensive. When you have pared this stuff down, try to estimate if it would fit into a 20 ft. Container. The shipping company will help you with this. I moved a two room apartment to Europe with only about 1/2 of a 20 ft. container full.

Next- start packing all the items you can live without for a few weeks. Get it down to "camping-at-home" levels. As you pack each box, label it as to which room the items are from i.e. kitchen items and give each box a running number (box 1, box 2). Now make a corresponding list of each box and give a few more details about what is in each box- box 1: kitchen items -corkscrews, utensils, spatulas, etc. Make sure to label boxes that have fragile items and wrap them in dish cloths, towels, blankets, out of season clothes, or whatever is soft and can be packed (saves buying wrapping materials).This will all make your customs dealings much easier. Do not pack liquor, plants, food items, medicines, or any flammable items - think matches, chemicals, or lighters. Tape up each box. Make the list heading "used household goods".

While you are packing boxes - take a break and look online for shipping or "lading" companies. Make a list of them. Contact several for a cost estimate for shipping from your location to your intended destination. When you can estimate the size of container you wish to use, set a date for it to be brought to your location for loading. My shipping company was wonderful. Get insurance and make copies of everything i.e. lists and container paperwork.

Call your local Fire department. Ask for any firemen who would like some off duty work. These guys are great! Not only are they there for us in dire need but they will also do an odd job when asked – set a payment and tip them well!! Decision time - Do you shrink wrap your goods onto pallets or stack them in the container. I stacked mine in the container and since I decided to sell my car (if I had it to do over I would have put it in the container too) I then asked the firemen to build a frame inside the container that could be boarded up after everything was in there. They brought the tools and 2x4s and several plywood sheets and I paid the bills. On moving day, they came, built the frame, moved the furniture, and packed all the boxes into the container. Then they put the retaining wall on and it was ready to go. Again - tip generously! Not one thing was broken. I took one container for myself - this is because then the container is only shipped from point-A to point-B. No between stops, no one to open the container before it arrived, no sharing with strangers, and no "lost" items. Sharing a container is of course cheaper.

Upon arrival, the customs agent will need to get the wall down and start looking into boxes. This is where that list is really handy. Everything matches. When the agent is satisfied, the container can be delivered. I did this in 1994 from the US to Germany and it cost me about $4000 but the moving companies cost $ 14,000 - $20,000 at that time.

This is not something that you really need to know.. I guess.. Just some information.

1. Be prepared for some extreme weather change. I always have a cardigan with me, just in case, if I know I’m gonna be out until late.
2. Also weather related conversation is good to break the ice and for some small talk.
3. Melbourne is generally a safe city but it seems like there is a surge in crime (from what I’ve been hearing in the air~). Just be wary, especially when walking alone at night.
4. If you need a taxi, you can book from 13cabs website. Much easier rather than calling them. Or you can haul them from street.
5. Coffee can be expensive. Last time I checked, its about $4+ now. Their quality kinda gotten worse as well. But they are campaigning to bring your own mug to lessen the coffee cup waste.
6. Melbourne has a lot of brunch places and restaurants. Go slowly and have some culinary adventures.
7. Tram inside the city zone is free. No need to tap Myki (the tram & train card) inside the city zone.
8. When getting off the tram, if you are in zone 1, you don’t actually have to tap off your Myki. (Actually I’m not sure if this is still true.)
9. No Myki machine inside the tram :( To refill or buy a Myki card, go to train station or a tram station that has the machine.
10. Parking in the city is very expensive and learn how to read the parking signage as well. They can be a bit confusing. But public transport in Melbourne is really good (with tram you can reach anywhere, everywhere!)
11. QV and Melbourne Central is the hip place in the city. Along with the public library’s front yard.

Hope it kinda help, enjoy Melbourne!

First of all, you won't be alone.

See this picture of the post Christmas sales at Melbourne's largest shopping mall

More than 400,000 Chinese migrants live in Australia with around 100,000 in Melbourne. The Chinese community forms a substantial portion of the city's Eastern suburbs, in some suburbs up to 20%. Melbourne also has some 50,000 Chinese students attending the city's universities and colleges. Many of these live in the CBD (mainly students)

Most liveable? Chinese think so

Which migrant groups gather in which Melbourne suburbs?

Melbourne has a thriving Chinese culture, several hundred Chinese restaurants and dozens of Chinese / Asian grocery / supermarkets.

Welcome to Chinatown

Biggest Chinese Dragon in the world - Chinese New Year 2011, Melbourne, Australia

So you won't feel too "far from home".

Will you experience racist reactions from locals? The Chinese community is well established and very well regarded in this city. So the chances of this are small. The only area of public discussion is the supposed impact of Chinese property investment on the cost of houses. Aussie homebuyers crunched by Chinese investors | The New Daily

On the other hand, take the chance to enjoy

Parks and gardens, Nature and wildlife, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Beaches, Nature and wildlife, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Major sport events

I hope you enjoy your time in Melbourne.

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There are one or two social norms which are different in Melbourne than in China

1. Queuing. This is largely unknown in China, and Chinese in Melbourne make themselves unpopular by not joining the back of a queue.
2. Spitting. It is not acceptable to spit into a gutter, waste receptacle, or washbasin.
3. Urinating. It is not acceptable to have infants urinate in public. When there is excrement in a car park, everybody knows that it is a Chinese child under the supervision of a parent who has left it. It is disgusting to Melbourne people.
4. Talking loudly. Especially in confined spaces such as lifts (elevators). Makes you unpopular instantly.
5. Driving a car like you are in China. Melbourne drivers are more obedient of road rules than China drivers. Usually when a driver does something very bad in Melbourne, the driver looks Chinese and is probably from China.

Just be observant, and do the good things that locals do. This actually applies to all foreign travel.

I did that in 1984 from Epsom, Surrey. Then I made a mistake. I took all my furnitures and filled up a shipping container without the whitegoods. Cost then was 650pounds. Not sure what that will cost now. It took 4 months to receive them in Sydney. By then I had to buy most of these in any case. Almost all of what I received from UK became a problem. Most were not needed and many had to find some place for storage in my new rental home in Australia. Imagine finding the space.

I suggest that you leave everything behind and take the bare minimum and you can get everything new here in Australia. Your expenses should be only the plane flight cost. Things are not that expensive either. You can easily furnish your entire house including white goods for about AU$10–12k more or less. You can spend more your better products. Don’t worry too much. Over here delivery is often the next day with some of them. If you already have a house or unit arranged for rental then you can order delivery online. Best to see before you buy first.

For a family of 4 you can find a 3 bed room furnished unit for a year. It also depends where in Melbourne you will be moving too. 3-bed fully furnished units will cost about $750–1000 per week.

Welcome to Australia

First, figure out how to get around the city. I think the main thing you need to know is how to use public transport. Get a Myki pass, you can use it on any system (bus, train and trams). If you can drive and will be looking for a car it’s a bit more convenient, but having a car costs a lot more than using public transport.

Second, budget for eating out now and then. Melbourne is a foodie city and there are a lot of food festivals and food-related events that you may want to go to on the weekends. If dining out and exploring foods isn’t really for you I’m sure you’ll still be okay. Fresh food and produce is plentiful and of good quality here.

Third, relax. Melbourne is laid back. There’s a lot going on at any given time in Melbourne; there’s something for everyone. I think you will have the best time if you get out there and explore. Don’t worry so much if you are having ‘the best time’ or not, just try to make the most of your time here.

For a person who has lived his or her entire life in China, I'd suggest to begin by learn to greet people, and say thank you when service is provided to you.

The norm in the contemporary Chinese culture is to ignore the people providing service to you, such as waiters and shop assistants. While this may be practical in bustling and populous Chinese cities, in Australia where there is a strong emphasis on egalitarianism in the culture, ignoring the people helping you can be viewed as being extremely rude and uncouth.

So begin by looking people in the eye, and when they say "hello", you say "hi", no matter if you know them or not. If they got you a cup of coffee, or just returned you some spare change at a supermarket checkout, say "thank you".

While it may be extraordinary in China (I had more than one shop assistants/taxi drivers in China who told me that this is their primary way for identify oversea Chinese as opposite to local Chinese), greeting others and saying thank you is considered the most basic of social manners In Australia.

When I moved from Windsor On. to Calgary, my solution for an affordable move was to buy a car trailer. I upgraded my truck with a better trailer hitch and weight distribution bars.

Then we drove across the country will all our stuff in the truck and trailer.

Once we got to Calgary where we still live, we sold the trailer, the hitch and bars for over 80% of what I bought it for. It was only a month old and lightly used. If I could have found a used trailer, it would have cost me even less.

I tied up some money for 45 days while we packed up, moved and had time to sell the gear. But I got most of the purchase price back and the overall cost of the move was under $2,000.

At the time we only had two rooms worth of stuff. If I had to move a whole house my solution would not have worked.

When considering relocating between two highly developed countries such as Australia and the UK, there will be some people who want to move one way and other people who want to move the other way, and both could well have valid reasons for those decisions, involving different priorities for different generic issues, and involving factors that are fairly specific to the individual person or household.

These are two highly developed countries with very high rankings in the international league tables for “overall quality of life”. Britain’s got more history; Australia’s got more geography. Britain’s got more people; Australia’s got more space. Britain’s probably got more sports teams; Australia’s got more beaches and nicer weather. They’ve both got a great business, financial, political, and cultural infrastructure. They are both great places to live, work and bring up a family.

Is there a clear “direction of migration” between these two countries that would benefit everyone? No, there isn’t. But are there plenty of circumstances where moving from one to the other would be beneficial for a specific individual or household? Yes, I think there are, in both directions.

Get a Removal Company in London first.

Well ill never be happy to leave London while moving to Australia, but if it was very necessary to move my all stuff to Australia; which was a part of my upcoming startup plans for 2018. The very 1st thing I will do, ill be calling a "Removal Company in London"

Footnotes

Assuming you don’t also have British Citizenship, you’ll need a visa to live and work in the UK. You can find info on work visas here.

Assuming you’re an Australian Citizen, you might want to look at the Ancestry and Youth Mobility visas first.

The Ancestry visa allows you to live and work freely in the UK for five years, at which point you would normally be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. In order to qualify, you need to hold citizenship of a commonwealth country (e.g. Australia) and have a grandparent who was born in the UK (or Ireland before it became a republic).

The Youth Mobility Scheme visa allows you to live and work [almost] freely in the UK for 2 years, at which point you would need to transfer to another type of visa. This could be a skilled worker visa, but you would need to find an employer to sponsor you - this is a very common route to permanent residence in the UK for Australians. To be eligible or a Youth Mobility Scheme visa, you need to be under 31 and hold citizenship of a country on the specific list (e.g. Australia). You also need to have at least £2,530 in savings and not have any financially dependent children.

If neither of those are an option and you’re not married to, in a civil partnership with, or in a long term relationship with a British Citizen or person with Indefinite Leave to Remain, you would need to look at the Skilled Worker route and find a UK employer who is willing to sponsor you.

Depends on how good your networks are.

The cheapest option is, of course, getting friends to help move the furniture. As around and see if anyone you know has a van or a ute that you could borrow, or that they could drive themselves. You might be surprised at just how helpful even casual acquaintances can be when it comes to helping someone move. Three or four people and a mate with a ute might be all you need.

Although not compulsory, traditional payment is a slab of beers and paying for fuel. If your helpers don’t drink, or if you’ve got a personal or religious objection to alcohol, you could offer to throw them a barbeque. As in, cooking a bunch of sausages, not giving them an actual barbeque.

I know it sounds cliched, but these things really do go a very long way. It’s a way of expression gratitude and people really enjoy that sort of thing.

Jumping up a notch, you can hire a truck from pretty much any car hire place for very reasonable rates. A standard car licence holder can drive up to a five ton truck in Victoria, which should be enough to carry most a whole lot of furniture in a single go.

If you have more than you think could be done in a single day, start looking through the removalist companies. Seek out at least three quotes to get a handle on how much you’re looking at paying. Most companies have a website on which you can enter how much and what type of furniture you have to move, and will provide you with a quote on that.

While a more costly option, the big advantage of using a removalist company is that they are insured, so if they break anything you’ll be able to replace whatever was broken.

Good luck!

The best way to start is to do another trip, but this time set up as many in-person meetings as possible. These meetings could be:

• Formal advertised job interviews. Also consider internships if you can afford to be paid poorly (or not at all) for a while.
• Networking - lunches and coffees with anyone you know who is living in the area.
• Conference attendance - depending on your profession, a conference (preferably international) is a good place to meet potential employers.
• Local organisations biased towards Australians, e.g. http://www.americanaustralian.org/ often have events.
• Universities, if returning to study is an option you can afford - this gets you an extra qualification plus more time to look for a job locally.

Basically, you need to spend as much time as possible physically there, to maximise your chances of getting a job.

Realistically, your current profession and qualifications will have a large impact on your chances of getting a job in a reasonable amount of time. “Portable” highly-skilled professions such as engineering and computing usually transfer much more easily to other countries, because companies can justify importing people with particular skills.

Not sure if this helps - anyway good luck!

It depends on how much stuff you plan on bringing. If it’s just a few boxes the cheapest way would be the USPS.

If you are moving quite a bit of stuff, you may want to get a couple of estimates from international movers. Usually the estimates are free but you’ll probably want to ask before making the appointments.

I hired a moving company to ship my belongings from São Jose dos Campos, Brazil to Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. In hindsight I would have done a few things different but still would have used the moving service. I believe it cost around $3000 total for them to pack and ship everything. All of my belongings fit into half a container.

What went wrong…

I wasn’t thinking of the possibility that my movers might supplement their income by distracting me while another guy ransacked my things and stole my jewelry, but they did.

The boxes and crates they used to pack my things were pretty flimsy which is kind of typical of Brazil but the large crate they built around all of my boxes and furniture broke open somewhere along the journey. The broken crate may or may not have caused the next problem….

All of my belongings were held in customs for over a year. Each week I was told it would be next week and some excuse. I had to purchase most everything over again and ultimately ended up with a lot of doubles because of it. After 9 months with no furniture I finally bought a couple of couches only to have mine arrive 3 months later. I used a company called Gerson and Grey.

My cousin lived in England for several years before moving back here. She also hired a mover but did her own packing. She couldn’t remember their name but her stuff took 6 weeks to arrive and the only damages were some scratches to the dining set.

I would recommend getting estimates, get some sort of insurance coverage before the move (I believe any renters or homeowners policy would cover it), make sure your valuables are in a safe place like a safety deposit box of with a relative and get references.

The cost of moving overseas is hefty. For myself it would have been better if I’d have given things away and just bought new. Once you have estimates, you can compare your costs to replacing items. Anything electric will need a converter there and could run hot.

Transporting goods to Australia is most affordable via sea freight. Here are the options: 1. Groupage (shared container): This typically ranges from $300 to $800 AUD for smaller shipments (1-2 cubic meters). 2. Less than Container Load (LCL): For small to medium shipments (2-10 cubic meters), expect costs between $500 and $2,000 AUD. 3. 20ft Container: Larger shipments (20-40 cubic meters) will cost approximately $2,000 to $5,000 AUD. It’s advisable to compare rates from various sources such as freight forwarders, shipping companies, and online services like: - Seven Seas Worldwide - PSS International Removals - Maersk - COSCO - Shipa Freight To minimize expenses, consider these tips: - Self-pack your items - Opt for a shared container - Plan your move during the off-peak season (winter) - Select a longer shipping duration (around 30-40 days) - Steer clear of peak season fees Additionally, remember to include extra expenses such as customs clearance, insurance, and quarantine charges in your budget.

This is my costs for moving an entire 3,000 ft house-full of property coast-to-coast 3 times
1. East Coast to Ca-$500 moving $10,000 storage
2. CA to East $2000 moving $15,000 storage
3. East to CA $2000 moving $20,000 storage
4. Total cost moving property $4,500
5. Total cost storage $45,000
6. Total cost moving and storage $49,500
Since most of property is books, and I live in San Diego, at auction this would probably get $1000
MORAL: Before moving read this story, then watch George Carlin's routine "Stuff" on YouTube. You should sell or give away at least half your stuff instead of moving it.

If not too much stuff, you can rent a big van or covered truck ( U-haul type).

If a big move - rent a container on wheels with a driver. In the large size container (over 20 feet), you can usually also transport a car, motorcykle etc.

If moving overseas - you move your stuff with a moving company by a container ship. It takes about two to six weeks. You can do "door to door" which is the most convenient. The cheapest would be to pack the stuff yourself (if in accordance with the movers policy) - And let the moving company move it and dock at the nearest port of your new overseas home. Drive the distance between the port and your home yourself - with your own or leased truck. Always make sure that you have a contract in writing with the movers.

My husband moved from Sweden to California when he married me. I'd say that qualifies as long distance. The plane ticket cost what it cost, but if he paid anything to move his stuff (we don't recall) it was one extra bag on the plane. Even if you don’t pare it down to just one suitcase, moving less stuff generally costs less and opens up more options.

He started with a well equipped student apartment. Several months in advance, the started sorting through papers, books and apparel. Some of the papers he downloaded or scanned. Mostly, he recycled a big pile of them.

He gave furniture, dishes, and so on to family or donated it to thrift stores. He culled a lot of worn-out clothing. He was a little sad about selling his bicycle, but he has a much nicer one here now. A few books showed up later, when his family came to visit.

Before you move anything, see how much you can do without moving. There are thrift stores and garage sales all over, to gather new-to-you stuff inexpensively when you get there.

There are various options for getting from Melbourne to London. Here are some of the most popular choices:

Plane: With flight lengths ranging from 22 to 27 hours, this is the quickest option to travel between the two cities. Qantas, Emirates, and British Airways are among the carriers that operate direct flights from Melbourne to London. Prices begin about $900.

Train: There is no direct rail service between Melbourne and London. You may, however, travel a train from Melbourne to Singapore, then connect to a train from Singapore to London. The overall travel duration is about 30 hours, and the cost starts about $2,000.

Ship: You can also travel from Melbourne to London by ship. However, this is the slowest option, with journey times of around 60 days. Prices start at around $3,000.

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