Singapore Expats

Hi hi,

I'll be relocating from Washington DC to Singapore in a couple of months and would love to hear from those who have experience shipping their stuff from the US to SG.

From the good reviews here, I've short listed a couple of international door to door movers ie KC Dat/Asian tigers as well as Allied Pickfords...but it also seems they're pretty pricey and may be above my budget We have a two bedroom apartment (or one bedroom if tightly packed) in the US so Im guessing we'll need a 20 foot container?? Furniture and just goods in general in Sg seem expensive as compared to the States so we're lugging nearly everything over Unfortunately we've got heavy furniture so we wont be able to pack the goods ourselves and need a door to door service...

Anyway, Ive contacted Allied (as recommended by Sg's Allied Pickfords) and kcdat and hopefully they'll come survey and give me a quote soon...but in the meanwhile, any advise on other possible (more affordable???) movers and things to look out for would be MOST appreciated!

Given the sheer cost of shipping stuff halfway around the world, odds are pretty high that you'll save a bundle by selling off your furniture and buying it new in Singapore. Most all rental apartments in Sg come fully furnished anyway.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. We did consider the costs of replacing the furniture. However we decided against it as it seems like it's either Ikea furniture or if we bought similar quality furniture to what we have, it's exorbitantly priced at Orchard Road and costs way more than what we'll pay for shipping (IF we can even find good stuff in Sg!) We also bought a place in Singapore as we foresee staying there for some time so no fully furnished apartments for us

We decided to go with KC Dat...price seems pretty reasonable for a 20ft container...we didnt manage to fill the container though. We decided on KC Dat as it seems highly recommended and reputable in Singapore.

However, there was another US based company ie Rainier Overseas Movers which I'll highly recommend. Their rates were even better than KC Dat's and they had an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau. The service from one of their staff Dave Wivott was excellent! Their website's www.Rainieros.com However, we didnt choose them as we were more comfortable dealing with an agent that is based in the country my goods were arriving at, and we had already given KC Dat a verbal agreement before we realised Rainier could meet (or even better KC Dat's deal).

To curious onlookers (or others moving from the US to SG)
I noticed that this thread attracted quite a lot of views ie 300+ so if anyone out there is also looking for a shipping company that's affordable and has good service, I'll recommend Rainier. I also got quotes from these other companies (both SG and US based) for about 600-700ft in a 20ft container

US based
- United (Security) - USD9k - Extremely professional but too expensive
- Hampden - USD6-7K non binding quote
- Rainer - USD 6K fixed quote

SG based
- Collins - USD 8K!!!!! Crazy!! They were charging nearly as much as Security which were the people who moved the Clintons into the white house?!? They were initially quick but subsequently SAT on my request for a quote and took a LONG LOOONNGG time to respond...in fact they only responded after I sent them an email stating a deadline for a response ...and then they asked for info I had given them TWICE before! They also didnt seem too friendly on the phone and the quote they gave me had many errors ie wrong country (Thailand instead of US), wrong port (Im near DC yet they quoted me a port in Boston!!!), etc etc. Not impressed by their service or efficiency.
- KC Dat - SGD 9.5K

Hope this helps those out there looking for movers too!

How did your move go?

Serapheve wrote:Hi,

Thanks for the advice. We did consider the costs of replacing the furniture. However we decided against it as it seems like it's either Ikea furniture or if we bought similar quality furniture to what we have, it's exorbitantly priced at Orchard Road and costs way more than what we'll pay for shipping (IF we can even find good stuff in Sg!) We also bought a place in Singapore as we foresee staying there for some time so no fully furnished apartments for us

We decided to go with KC Dat...price seems pretty reasonable for a 20ft container...we didnt manage to fill the container though. We decided on KC Dat as it seems highly recommended and reputable in Singapore.

However, there was another US based company ie Rainier Overseas Movers which I'll highly recommend. Their rates were even better than KC Dat's and they had an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau. The service from one of their staff Dave Wivott was excellent! Their website's www.Rainieros.com However, we didnt choose them as we were more comfortable dealing with an agent that is based in the country my goods were arriving at, and we had already given KC Dat a verbal agreement before we realised Rainier could meet (or even better KC Dat's deal).

To curious onlookers (or others moving from the US to SG)
I noticed that this thread attracted quite a lot of views ie 300+ so if anyone out there is also looking for a shipping company that's affordable and has good service, I'll recommend Rainier. I also got quotes from these other companies (both SG and US based) for about 600-700ft in a 20ft container

US based
- United (Security) - USD9k - Extremely professional but too expensive
- Hampden - USD6-7K non binding quote
- Rainer - USD 6K fixed quote

SG based
- Collins - USD 8K!!!!! Crazy!! They were charging nearly as much as Security which were the people who moved the Clintons into the white house?!? They were initially quick but subsequently SAT on my request for a quote and took a LONG LOOONNGG time to respond...in fact they only responded after I sent them an email stating a deadline for a response ...and then they asked for info I had given them TWICE before! They also didnt seem too friendly on the phone and the quote they gave me had many errors ie wrong country (Thailand instead of US), wrong port (Im near DC yet they quoted me a port in Boston!!!), etc etc. Not impressed by their service or efficiency.
- KC Dat - SGD 9.5K

Hope this helps those out there looking for movers too!

Hi, Serapheve

How did your move go? Was their service good?