How much did you spend for the big move?

amother

Fri, Jul 03 2020, 5:00 pm

Just curious, for those of you who recently made Aliyah, how much did you have to spend for the entire move? I know the flight is free. How much did you actually spend on the moving company, lift and shipment total?

I’m not sure how big of a container we will need. We’re a family of 5. I’m taking furniture and we have lots of books, clothes and toys. Not taking appliances. Not sure about the car yet, my feeling is that it will be too complicated to import. For those of you who imported your car, which one and how much did you have to pay for that?

Any other additional charges? I’m wondering especially how much you spent on your first week over there. I know it varies, but looking for estimates to see around how much money we would need to spend on the big move. Thanks!!

Edit: for those of you who ended up buying furniture/appliances in israel how much did you spend?

dinglehopper

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 2:25 am

The large lift is going to run you about 10,000$ at least as of a few years ago. This does not include a car. It also doesn't include the cost if your shipment gets held up at customs. But it should include getting it from your home in the USA to your home in Israel. You will obviously need to tip the movers on both ends. Also if you are coming from somewhere in the USA that is far from the ports, possibly the cost is more. We came from NJ.

amother

Goldenrod

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 5:14 am

I think our partial lift cost about 7,000$. (It was almost enough to be a full lift. ) We bought a 20,000$ car during the first week but I can’t remember any other big expenses. Remember, you get sal klita over the first few months. I’m pretty sure we got the equivalent of 15,000$ for our family of 4. As soon as we landed we got an equivalent to about 1,000$ while still in the airport. In our minds, sal klita is what “paid” for the lift.

amother

Natural

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 5:21 am

Just me and DH, moving most of the contents of a 1 bedroom apartment. Spent 6,000 dollars on a 20 ft lift. That included packing up on the NY end, delivery to their warehouse, they act as your representative for meches, deliver it to your home in Israel, shlep it to your apartment/house and do some light putting together. Like, if they took the legs off your table they put it back together, set up your bed frame, etc.

The tipping thing is a scam, in my opinion. States-side, the foreman wanted 50 per person per hour, which was an unexpected expense and we bargained him down to take 100 for the crew of 4, which was what we had planned on. Israel side they were more than happy to take whatever we offered them.

Note that if you pack it up yourselves it will probably be less. But DH and I were both working full time up until the lift and couldn't do it ourselves so the expense was worth it.

Except for the tipping. Just beware that your company may not tell you outright that that's what the crew expects.

Success10

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 5:36 am

I'm reading through this, and I don't see how it's worth the expense to shlep your stuff. Sell it in the US and buy used stuff here, because:
1: It seems like it would come out cheaper in the end
2: Israeli apartments are smaller, and your bulky US furniture isn't going to fit. And of course the appliances on US electricity...
I know stuff in Israel is more expensive, and lower quality, but even with all that, the cost of the lift, tipping, assembly and more just doesn't seem worth it. Plus I always see ads of people selling their stuff that they brought on a lift and realized too late it doesn't fit.

amother

Powderblue

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 5:39 am

Success10 wrote:

It depends how attached you are to your stuff, and how expensive it is.

IF someone has solid wood antique furniture, then yes it's worth transferring it. OTOH I don't think it's worth transporting 5 year old IKEA furniture. Just buy new in Israel.

amother

Babypink

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 5:46 am

Success10 wrote:

You do have to check out appliances. We bought and shipped some 220 volt stuff, because I wanted a huge washing machine and a standalone freezer. I'm glad I brought them. We bought smaller appliances here. Anything that's going to need a converter is going to break - don't bother. That means, for example, that it's not worth bringing a Mixmaster.

What furniture to bring depends on how big your house is. We moved into an American size house, so our furniture fit. See other threads to decide about mattresses and sheets.

Don't bring anything that's wearing out - replacement will be cheaper than shipping. We gave away lots of old toys and baby equipment because we figured that by the time we needed them again, safety standards would have changed.

We did bring things that had sentimental value, because that's what makes a house a home.

amother

Natural

Sun, Jul 05 2020, 5:51 am

Success10 wrote:

For our beds alone the lift was worth it. We also took along all of our pots, pans, silverware, dishes, books, sefarim, etc. Replacing everything we brought along (even though say, our table was Ikea but a model they don't carry here) was more than worth it. Replacing the kitchenaid alone would have been more than 3,000 shekel. We also only kept enough clothes to last us the three weeks we had left after the lift, plus the 3 week Israel side before the lift came. It was so helpful to have these pieces available and not have to run around buying furniture right away. Plus imagine replacing all the books and sefarim, and the effort it would take to get rid of them before moving? Was so worth it.

We also made sure that the apartment we took had room for our stuff. But we also had someone on the ground already able to help us with that.

amother

Coral

Sat, Aug 22 2020, 10:00 pm

Looking into Shipping companies any recommendations?

Is it worth taking 2 bedroom apartment worth of furniture? around $6000 furniture plus small kitchen appliances, another $1000

Trying to research if it's worth shipping or buying new there

Whats the Sal klita for family?

shabbatiscoming

Sun, Aug 23 2020, 4:00 am

amother [ Coral ] wrote:

You have to make sure the furniture will fit your new place in israel. Furniture is sometimes bigger from different places out of israel.