shared container to Hilo

[dennis wheeler]

I will be shipping half a 40' container of household from Salt Lake City to Hilo next June. Can buy a hi-cube, certified 40' here for approx. $2500. Matson currently wants $4462 port to port with their box or mine. Private trucking from Salt Lake City to Oakland or Long Beach is approx. $1300. Matson rail is approx. $2600. So my cost, SLC-Hilo is +-$6000 including deliver to HPP. I could buy a 40' hi cube and sell in Hilo to help defray the costs (I bought one two years ago in Keauu from Kimo for $4800) and/or I can find someone to share a load. I would like to avoid the potential hassle/drama of shared containers but don't want to spend $6000. Don't recommend leaving the useless stuff here as my wife is having it, end of that discussion. ????????????

[terracore]

20 foot high cubes are nearly impossible to find on this island and sell for as much as the 40 footers. Most of the 20 footers on this island are 40 footers that have been cut in half. Why don't you bring over a 20 footer?

[beejee]

I don't know your history in moving over to Hawaii Dennis. If it were me, I'd leave ALL of it behind except the absolute minimum you need for clothes on your back etc. Rent a furnished house to start, keep it simple for 6 months to a year. After that I think you'll have a much better perspective on moving your belongings. Best of luck to you whatever you do.

[terracore]

Looks like Dennis wants to leave it all behind (would have been my recommendation as well) but his wife wants to bring their slice of the mainland with them. I went through a similar process with my family, and everybody in Hawaii was right- most of my stuff didn't "fit in" to a Hawaii house or Hawaii climate. We haven't thrown it all away yet, but inevitably, most of it will be tossed... eventually. Granted, some of the stuff would have been tossed if we stayed in Alaska (stuff wears out, gets broken, was made in China, etc). The advice I tell people is to bring a few checked bags, your carry-on, anything else by US Mail. If you absolutely need to ship other stuff, limit it to what fits onto a pallet and ship a less-than-container load.

ETA: p.s. 99% of whatever you have on the mainland, you can get here. Sometimes its cheaper to replace stuff here than it is to ship it from there.

[dakine]

99% of whatever you have on the mainland, you can get here...

I see it differently. Unless you have a bunch of Walmart type made in China stuff you might consider bringing the things you have that are quality made with you. All things sold in Hawaii, unless (again) we are talking all that big box low end kind of junk, is very expensive compared to most places on the mainland. So if you sell there and expect to buy again here you'll be paying a pretty penny more. I don't know about you but I'd never let go of my carpentry/auto/farm tools, my music/photography/photo equipment, sporting good, kitchen equipment/utensils all that kind of stuff accumulated over the years. Area rugs, real wood furniture etc.

All that stuff either isn't available or what you get is sold at a very high premium. Read: land values, retail shops pay high rent/mortgages, and unless it's big box they don't get great discounts when they buy their inventory so things are priced high. Plus we have the Jones Act (major hit to the cost of commercial shipping to Hawaii). I hardly buy anything retail here as it is since the internet leveled that playing field. Even auto parts are over priced here. But really, look at the discussion about Toyota trucks a while back, if it's worth anything you can get it way cheaper on the mainland. In fact I would suggest if there's something you think you might want when you get here that you don't already have consider buying it before you come rather than waiting until you do, assuming you have the money and room in the container.

On the other hand if you have furniture made out of veneered particle board or other wood laminates you might consider ditching it. Anything that will not handle the humidity ditch. And unfortunately leather doesn't do well. A leather sofa can be a pain.

edited to change 'useless' (auto spell checked/corrected) to unless. Funny thing is in the sentence it was used I think that very thing about 'the mart that shall not be mentioned'

[shockwave rider]

You might want to consider offering to fill out your load with building supplies if you know anyone who is building a house. Cabinetry, appliances, boxes of flooring, bathroom fixtures and fittings would all be easy to pack and much cheaper in Utah than here. Too bad you aren't in Oregon where there is no sales tax, then the savings would be even greater.

[Rob Tucker]

Not so sure about cheaper in Utah. The Hilo Home Depot is on the same price book as California.

[birdmove]

If you want a motorcycle, buy it there and ship in the container if it's legal.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[shockwave rider]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

Not so sure about cheaper in Utah. The Hilo Home Depot is on the same price book as California.

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I was not thinking about stuff from big box stores so much as higher quality building materials you can't get at a big box store. I know several people who over the years have filled containers with high end furniture, appliances and building supplies and paid for their shipping by also shipping similar materials for other people's projects at the same time. They did do their buying in Portland where there is no sales tax though.

[Tink]

I would think that if you put an ad here that you can ship all the stuff that Amazon says they won't ship here you would fill it up pretty fast. Just be sure that your shipper will take it. Custom counter tops (Silestone, Ceaserstone, etc.), high end cabinets and such are scarce here as mentioned. You may find them in Kona, with appropriate Kona mark up.
If you are coming here beforehand, research ALL the stuff you want to have, and shop/ship accordingly.

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