Students
A term, a year, a degree
Books, bedding, winter clothes and a decent duvet, sent ahead so you are not buying everything twice in the first week. The single most common baggage shipment we handle.
Shipping boxes and baggage overseas from the UK
Not everyone moving abroad is moving a house. If what you are sending fits into cartons and suitcases — a student's term, a year's clothes, the things that would not fit in the hold — you do not need a removal van. You need someone to collect the boxes and get them there.
Last reviewed:
At a glance
- Suits
- One carton to about thirty
- By sea
- 3–14 weeks, by destination
- By air
- 5–10 days door to door
- Cartons
- Delivered to you, free if you ship with us
- Collection
- Any UK address
£12–18/kgWhat airlines typically charge for excess bags
Door to doorCollected from your home, delivered to theirs
Double-walledExport cartons, not the ones from the supermarket
Customs handledCleared as unaccompanied personal effects
Cheaper than the airline, and you don't carry it
Airlines price excess luggage to discourage it. Beyond your allowance the charge is typically somewhere between twelve and eighteen pounds a kilo on a long-haul ticket, payable at the desk on the day, when you have a queue behind you and no alternative. Two extra suitcases can cost more than shipping five boxes.
Unaccompanied baggage works differently. Your boxes travel as freight rather than as your luggage, so nothing counts against your allowance and nothing has to be dragged through two airports. You are quoted before you commit, not at check-in.
The trade-off is time. Your suitcases land when you do; boxes arrive days later by air or weeks later by sea. Most people send the essentials with them and everything else this way.
Packed at home · Shipped as freight · Delivered to the door
Which service do you actually need?
Baggage shipping is right for a particular size of job. Above and below it, something else is cheaper, and we would rather tell you now.
How it works
Four steps, and you only have to do one of them.
Tell us how many
Roughly how many boxes and cases, and where they are going. We quote on that, and adjust if the number changes before collection.
We send cartons
Export-grade double-walled cartons, tape and paper delivered to your door. If you ship with us, you are not charged for them.
You pack
In your own time. Label each carton as we show you below, and take a photograph of the contents before you seal it.
We collect and ship
We pick up the packed boxes and any cartons you did not use, handle export and import customs, and deliver to the address you gave us.
Would rather we packed? We can send a crew instead, which is worth considering if there is anything fragile. Cover on cartons we pack is broader than on cartons you pack, for the obvious reason that we know what went in them.
Who sends boxes rather than a container
Excess baggage
Beyond what the airline allows
You have three cases and an allowance for one. Ship the other two rather than paying at the desk, and travel with only what you need on the day.
Working abroad
A posting, not a permanent move
Furnished accommodation at the other end, so only personal effects travel. Clothes, kitchen basics, work equipment and the things that make a let feel like yours.
Coming home
Returning to the UK
Years abroad compress surprisingly well once the furniture is sold. We collect from your address overseas and deliver here, and handle the Transfer of Residence relief. Read the guide to moving back.
Sending to family
Not moving yourself
Belongings to a relative who has emigrated, an inheritance, or the contents of a room after a house is cleared. You do not have to be travelling for us to ship it.
Between homes
While you work out the rest
Sending the first load ahead while the container question is still open. Many people send boxes now and a shipment later, and we will price both together.
The cartons, and what goes in them
Use ours rather than the ones from the supermarket. Export cartons are double-walled, they stack without collapsing, and a container is stacked several high.
| Carton | Size | Volume | What it holds | Aim for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mediumthe workhorse | 18 × 13 × 13in | 1.8 cu ft | Books, crockery, tinned goods, shoes | Under 20kg |
| Largelight and bulky | 18 × 18 × 20in | 3.8 cu ft | Bedding, towels, clothing, cushions | Under 20kg |
| Tallawkward shapes | 18 × 18 × 30in | 5.6 cu ft | Lampshades, duvets, bulky light items | Under 20kg |
| Wardrobewith a hanging rail | 20 × 18 × 48in | 10 cu ft | About 18in of hanging clothes | Under 25kg |
| Your own suitcaseperfectly acceptable | Varies | About 5 cu ft | Anything you would normally pack | Under 25kg |
Twenty kilos sounds low until you fill a large carton with books. A box that two people cannot lift comfortably will be handled badly somewhere along the way, and heavy boxes are the commonest cause of damage in owner-packed shipments.
Packing your own boxes properly
Your cartons will be handled by people who cannot see inside them, stacked under other people's boxes, and moved several times. Pack for that rather than for a car boot.
- Number every carton and write the total — 1 of 9, 2 of 9 — on at least two sides
- Put your name and the reference we give you on every carton, including suitcases
- Fill every void with paper or soft goods; a half-empty box collapses when something is stacked on it
- Heavy things at the bottom, light things on top, and nothing sharp against the wall of the carton
- Tape the base as well as the lid, across the seam and then along it
- Wrap crockery and glass individually, stand plates on edge rather than flat, and never pack them loose
- Keep each box under about 20kg — test it by lifting it before you seal it
- Photograph the contents of each carton before you close it, and keep the pictures
- Write a list of what is in each numbered box; you will need it for customs and for any claim
- Do not seal anything until you have checked the prohibited list below
- Remove batteries from appliances and pack them in your hand luggage instead
- Leave unused cartons out for collection — we take them back and you are not charged for them
What cannot go in the box
Two separate lists apply: what is banned from the aircraft or vessel, and what your destination will not admit. Air is stricter than sea, and quarantine countries are stricter than everyone.
Check before you seal
None of this is us being awkward. Dangerous goods rules are international, they are enforced by screening, and one prohibited item can hold up an entire consolidated shipment belonging to a dozen people.
- Never, by sea or airAerosols of any kind, paint, thinners, bleach, fuels and oils, gas canisters, lighters, fireworks, ammunition, and anything with a fuel tank.
- Air freight only, additionallyLoose batteries and power banks, perfume, aftershave, nail varnish and remover, vapes and e-cigarettes, most cosmetics, and anything pressurised.
- Food and drinkRestricted almost everywhere and prohibited into Australia, New Zealand and the EU. Opened packets in a kitchen box are a common and avoidable problem.
- Plants, seeds, soil and timberRestricted in nearly every country. Clean garden tools thoroughly, and leave the houseplants with a friend.
- Money and valuablesCash, jewellery, watches, passports, deeds and portable electronics should travel with you. They are excluded from cover in any case.
- MedicinesCarry your own prescriptions with you. Several countries control drugs that are routine in Britain, and a shipped box is the wrong place to discover that.
We send you a written list for your specific destination before you start packing, and we would rather answer a question than find something at screening.
What it costs, and what customs will want
- Sea is priced by volume, air by weightBy sea you pay for the cubic feet your boxes occupy in a shared container. By air you pay on chargeable weight, which is the greater of what the boxes weigh and what their size says they should weigh. Our air freight page explains that sum.
- Duty is usually not charged, but it is not automaticMost countries admit used personal effects free of duty when you are moving there or returning home, subject to your visa or residency status and often to having been away twelve months. It is a claim we make on your behalf, not something that happens by itself.
- Some charges land at the far endQuarantine inspection, customs examination and any duty assessed are payable on arrival and are not in our quotation. We tell you which apply to your destination before you ship.
- An itemised list is what keeps it moving"Personal effects" is not a description. A numbered list of what is in each box is what turns a two-day clearance into a two-hour one, and it is the first thing we will ask you for.
Quoted firstA price before you commit, not a figure at the desk
Cartons includedDelivered free when you ship with us, unused ones collected
InsuranceAvailable on owner-packed boxes, with narrower cover
TrackedYou get the vessel or flight and can follow it
Boxes and baggage: common questions
How much does it cost to send a few boxes abroad?
It depends on how many, how big, where they are going and whether they fly or sail. As a shape: a handful of cartons by sea to a well-served port is the cheapest international shipping there is, and the same boxes by air cost several times that. Tell us the number and the destination and we will price both.
Is it cheaper than paying the airline?
Past one extra bag, almost always. Long-haul excess is commonly twelve to eighteen pounds per kilo, charged at the desk. Freight is priced in advance and scales far better. The airline wins only for a single extra suitcase you need the moment you land.
Can I use my own suitcases?
Yes, and plenty of people do. We would still recommend our cartons for anything fragile: they are double-walled, they stack squarely, and a suitcase in a container gets crushed in a way it never does in an aircraft hold. Mixing the two is fine.
Do I have to be there for collection?
Someone does, to hand the boxes over and sign. It does not have to be you. For students we often collect from a hall of residence or a parent's house, and we can agree a window in advance.
How long does it take?
By sea, three to fourteen weeks door to door depending on the destination, because your boxes wait for a container to fill and then clear customs as part of a group. By air, five to ten days. Both are estimates, and consolidation is the part that varies.
Will my boxes be opened?
Possibly. Customs and quarantine can examine any shipment, and owner-packed cartons attract more attention than professionally packed ones because nobody official has seen inside. A clear itemised list makes examination less likely and much quicker if it happens.
Can I add boxes after I've been quoted?
Yes, until collection. Tell us before the driver arrives so the paperwork matches what is actually loaded. Turning up with four more boxes than the manifest says is the one thing that genuinely causes problems at the port.
What if I'm sending things to someone else?
Perfectly normal. We need the recipient's full address and contact details, and in most countries they will need to provide identification to clear the shipment. Some destinations only grant duty-free entry to the person actually relocating, so tell us the situation and we will explain what applies.
Get a price for your boxes
Roughly how many, and roughly where. We will come back within one working day with a sea price and an air price.
- Baggage desk
- 07749 924755
- baggage@halointernationalrelocations.com
- Sending more than boxes?
- If furniture is coming too, start with the move estimator or the self survey and we will quote the whole thing.
- How it travels
- By sea in shared container space, or by air when you need it sooner.