Shipping your belongings
Most of what you own is replaceable and the shipping is expensive. The decisions worth making carefully are which few things are not, and who you trust to carry them.
Shipping your belongings
The other half of this chapter. Most families ship less than they planned, and the ones who are glad of it decided early what was worth the journey.
Before you price shipping, price extra bags
If you are moving clothes, personal things and a few boxes rather than a household, buying additional checked bags from the airline can cost less than any form of shipping — and the bags arrive when you do. It is the cheapest thing on this page and the easiest to miss, because the decision has to be made while you are booking flights rather than afterwards.
What to check on your own airline, whoever you fly with:
- The price gap between buying in advance and at the airport. It is usually large, and it is why this has to be decided before you book.
- Whether the route is priced per bag or per kilo. Some carriers do one, some the other, and it changes what is worth taking.
- How many extra bags you are allowed at all. There is normally a ceiling, whatever you are willing to pay.
- Whether the allowance carries through every leg. This is the one that catches people. A London–Singapore–Auckland booking with a separate domestic flight on to Palmerston North may not carry your extra bags through, and the last leg can be operated by a different airline on different rules. Check it as one journey, not as the long-haul sector.
Air New Zealand sets out allowances, extra bags and fees on its checked baggage page, and sells them in advance through prepaid extra bags. Other carriers on the one-stop routes — Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines — publish the same thing; search their site for “extra baggage” or “excess baggage”. Prices depend on the fare, the route and the operating airline, so compare the actual quote for your booking rather than a headline figure.
Decide what to ship
Shipping is priced by volume, so the question for every item is whether it is worth more than the space it takes. Furniture rarely is: second-hand furniture is plentiful and cheap in New Zealand, and most clinicians furnish gradually after they arrive. Books, tools, children’s things, bikes and anything with a story usually are. Electrical goods work on 230 volts with a different plug; cars are a separate process with their own import rules.
Container or shared?
- A shared container (groupage) suits most families: you pay for the space you use and wait for the container to fill, so allow 8 to 14 weeks door to door.
- Your own 20-foot container is faster and only makes sense for a full household.
- Air freight for a few boxes you need in the first fortnight, priced by weight.
Biosecurity and customs
New Zealand inspects household goods closely. You complete a customs declaration and an unaccompanied personal effects form before the shipment lands, and MPI may inspect it. Anything that has touched soil, plants or animals (garden tools, boots, tents, bikes, sports gear, wooden items, vacuum cleaners) must be scrupulously clean, or it will be cleaned at your cost or destroyed. Most used personal effects come in free of duty and GST if you have owned and used them and are arriving to live here. Check New Zealand Customs: moving to New Zealand and MPI: bringing personal items.
Insurance and the mover
- Take marine transit insurance for the replacement value, not the purchase price. Check whether it covers the whole journey or only the sea leg.
- Get at least three quotes from international movers, and compare what each includes: packing, customs clearance, delivery to the door, and storage if your rental isn’t ready.
- Keep a numbered inventory with photographs. You need it for customs, for insurance, and for the day the boxes arrive.
For where shipping sits against everything else you will pay for, use the moving cost calculator.
Who can move your belongings
A starting point for your own research. Choose where you are moving from and you will see companies that publish a service on that route.
Household removals
Furniture and a full household, priced by volume.
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PSS International Removals
Household goods and personal effects by sea or air. Their New Zealand page leads on boxes, so ask about the full removals service separately.
Publishes a UK–New Zealand route. BAR Overseas, FIDI and FAIM accreditation shown on their own site. Checked 17 October 2026. -
Seven Seas Worldwide
Boxes and sole-use part-container loads by sea or air, for Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch.
Publishes a UK–New Zealand route, with UK collection points and the three New Zealand ports named. Checked 17 October 2026. -
Crown Relocations
Packing, shipping and storage for a full household, with their own offices in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Publishes a New Zealand service and New Zealand office addresses. Checked 17 October 2026. -
John Mason International
Sole-use containers and shared part-loads by sea or air, with export packing and storage. Offices on Merseyside and in Essex.
Publishes a UK–New Zealand route. They claim BAR, FIDI/FAIM and IAM membership; none of those bodies publishes a register we could search to confirm it. Checked 17 October 2026. -
Anglo Pacific World Movers
Full containers and shared groupage by sea, plus air freight and vehicle shipping. No pet service.
Publishes a UK–New Zealand route. Their site carries no dated content after 2021, though the company is active at Companies House (01342357). Checked 17 October 2026.
Suitcases and boxes
Compare these against extra airline bags before you book either.
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Send My Bag
Suitcases, boxes and sports equipment collected by courier from your door. No packing, no furniture.
Publishes a UK–New Zealand route. Checked 17 October 2026. -
Seven Seas Worldwide
Also ships individual boxes and suitcases by sea — worth a quote alongside a courier.
Publishes a UK–New Zealand route. Checked 17 October 2026.
Options to compare, not recommendations. Ethicare takes no fee if you book with any of them. The line under each name is all we checked — read reviews yourself and get three quotes. Compare the whole journey — collection, customs, delivery, insurance.
Household removals
We have not yet found a removals company in this country that publishes a route to New Zealand on its own website. Several advertise international moves without naming the country, which is not the same thing, so none is listed here. Ask any firm you approach to confirm the route in writing, and compare them against a company shipping out of a neighbouring country.
Suitcases and boxes
Compare these against extra airline bags before you book either.
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Seven Seas Worldwide
Collects boxes and suitcases from an Irish address and ships them by sea.
Publishes an Ireland–New Zealand route, with collection from your door. Checked 17 October 2026.
Options to compare, not recommendations. Ethicare takes no fee if you book with any of them. The line under each name is all we checked — read reviews yourself and get three quotes. Compare the whole journey — collection, customs, delivery, insurance.
Household removals
Furniture and a full household, priced by volume.
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Stuttaford Van Lines
Full household removals from eight South African branches, including vehicle shipping and storage.
Publishes a South Africa–New Zealand route. Their FAIM accreditation is confirmed on FIDI’s own register, for the Johannesburg branch. Checked 17 October 2026. -
Seven Seas Worldwide
Sole-use container loads, with depots in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
Publishes a South Africa–New Zealand route. Checked 17 October 2026.
Suitcases and boxes
Compare these against extra airline bags before you book either.
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Seven Seas Worldwide
Boxes and suitcases by sea, with customs and quarantine clearance included.
Publishes a South Africa–New Zealand route. Checked 17 October 2026.
Options to compare, not recommendations. Ethicare takes no fee if you book with any of them. The line under each name is all we checked — read reviews yourself and get three quotes. Compare the whole journey — collection, customs, delivery, insurance.
Household removals
We are still reading what companies publish about this route. Nothing is named here until we have found it on the company's own website, so this is empty rather than guessed. In the meantime, ask any company you approach to confirm in writing that they collect from your address and deliver to New Zealand.
Suitcases and boxes
We are still reading what companies publish about this route. Nothing is named here until we have found it on the company's own website, so this is empty rather than guessed. In the meantime, ask any company you approach to confirm in writing that they collect from your address and deliver to New Zealand.
Options to compare, not recommendations. Ethicare takes no fee if you book with any of them. The line under each name is all we checked — read reviews yourself and get three quotes. Compare the whole journey — collection, customs, delivery, insurance.
Household removals
Furniture and a full household, priced by volume.
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Seven Seas Worldwide
Household goods or a self-load container from Vancouver or Toronto. They estimate 116 days by sea.
Publishes a Canada–New Zealand route, with both Canadian depot addresses and the transit estimate on their own page. Checked 17 October 2026.
Suitcases and boxes
Compare these against extra airline bags before you book either.
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Seven Seas Worldwide
Boxes, suitcases and excess baggage from Vancouver or Toronto. At about 116 days by sea, pack for a long gap.
Publishes a Canada–New Zealand route. Checked 17 October 2026.
Options to compare, not recommendations. Ethicare takes no fee if you book with any of them. The line under each name is all we checked — read reviews yourself and get three quotes. Compare the whole journey — collection, customs, delivery, insurance.
Household removals
Furniture and a full household, priced by volume.
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Seven Seas Worldwide
Household goods or a self-load container. Their US estimate is 129 days by sea — longer than from Canada.
Publishes a USA–New Zealand route. Their US entity and incorporation number are published on the site. Checked 17 October 2026.
Suitcases and boxes
Compare these against extra airline bags before you book either.
-
Seven Seas Worldwide
Boxes, suitcases and excess baggage. They publish one US address rather than a depot network, so check collection first.
Publishes a USA–New Zealand route. Checked 17 October 2026.
Options to compare, not recommendations. Ethicare takes no fee if you book with any of them. The line under each name is all we checked — read reviews yourself and get three quotes. Compare the whole journey — collection, customs, delivery, insurance.
Your pets are family, not freight
They have their own guide, because the lead times, the permits and the quarantine rules have nothing in common with a shipping container.