Do I need to sell, ship or store my goods when moving abroad?

More than ever, we live in a global society where people tend to live a nomad-like lifestyle and move abroad for both private and professional reasons. Yet the act of moving abroad does not happen overnight and comes with a lot of practical decisions to be made, such as what do to with our goods and belongings.

First, moving abroad does not mean leaving everything behind. You can easily take a majority of your goods with you. However, some things have no practical use or added value abroad, or are too much of a hassle to move because of their size or weight. For these kinds of items, people need to find a different solution. We have listed some of the advantages and disadvantages of selling, shipping, and storing your goods.

Advantages

One of the easiest alternatives to get all your moving worries out of the way, is to simply sell your goods. You can then use the money from the sales to fund your move abroad, buy new goods and get settled in right away. This also takes away a lot of practical headaches, like getting your goods shipped out and having to wait for them to be delivered to your new home.

Disadvantages

On the other hand, selling your goods is a very definitive solution that cannot be reversed. Once you have sold them, there is no way to come back on your decision. So we would like to give the advice to really think this through, especially for items that hold a lot of sentimental value. 

Advantages

The biggest advantage of shipping your goods abroad is that you can take the items that have the most value to you, to your new country of destination. You can choose from an abundance of transport options like air freight, sea freight or transport via road. This way, you can feel at home right away in your new accommodation.

Disadvantages

Whereas shipping is one of the easiest options to take your goods with you, it can also be one of the most expensive ones, depending on where it is you are moving to. If you are looking to ship your goods, you must consider a lot of factors, such as shipping costs and import duties. Especially over greater distances, the costs of shipping might even outweigh the actual value of your goods, which in turn might make it more tempting to sell everything, buy new goods and save money in doing so. 

Advantages

With both short-term storage and long-term storage, you can easily store your goods temporarily or indefinitely and come back to collect them when you need them again, simple as that. For a fair and fixed monthly or annual fee, your goods will be safe and well looked after, so that you do not have to worry about any damage or risks.

Disadvantages

When storing your goods, you pay a fee every month or annually, so you must make a good assessment as to whether the goods are worth keeping or if it is better to sell them or donate them to charity. 

At Compas, we offer various storage solutions for all your short-term and long-term storage needs.

we offer you cost-friendly and reliable storage solutions: 

• a fully equipped high-security facility
• Temperature and climate-controlled units
• High accessibility through location and opening hours