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Moving to Europe? Taking records?

DjArcadianDjArcadian 3,630 Posts
edited January 2006 in Strut Central
Has anyone moved from the USA to Europe of vice-versa and taken their record collection with them? My collection is probably 800 deep. I really could probably whittle it down to 500. How did you ship it? Did any of them get damaged/lost?

  Comments

  • DelayDelay 4,530 Posts
    I'm considering a move to Berlin in the next couple years, and this has been weighing heavy on my mind. My father has a large storage space where much of my collection will more than likely end up. I couldnt imagine how expensive it would be to move my records, let alone my equipment to Germany. The move would most likely be temporary, so I would probably take only the bare essentials.

    where you moving?
  • CousinLarryCousinLarry 4,618 Posts
    In college a friend of mine from Zurich had all the records he bought while he lived in philly shipped back to Zurich. It was about 4 full boxes. He paid for a private currier company, and got insurance. I would most def research the company well. He told me everything got to Zurich fine and nothing was damaged. I would take the most valuable crate of records as carry on.
  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    In college a friend of mine from Zurich had all the records he bought while he lived in philly shipped back to Zurich. It was about 4 full boxes. He paid for a private currier company, and got insurance. I would most def research the company well. He told me everything got to Zurich fine and nothing was damaged. I would take the most valuable crate of records as carry on.

  • GropeGrope 2,970 Posts
    Maybe you should contact a smaller forwarding agency (carrier company - don't know the word for it) and ask if they have a half booked container on a container ship to Europe. A friend of my girlfriend's dad ordered a Hammond B3 and asked one of those companies. Since they had an half empty container they offered him a great last minute deal. He only paid sth like 50 Euros. He had to pick the organ up from the harbor by himself though. Try to avoid big companies and middlemen. Contact a carrier company directly and get those records to the harbor by yourself. Pick them up in Europe by yourself too. That would be a safe and cheap way, unless you don't move close to a coastal area of Europe... and don't own a car.
  • Phil_DeckerPhil_Decker 83 Posts
    Has anyone moved from the USA to Europe of vice-versa and taken their record collection with them? My collection is probably 800 deep. I really could probably whittle it down to 500. How did you ship it? Did any of them get damaged/lost?

    I'm moving from Helsinki to San Francisco in couple of months. I'm moving with 3000+ records and still balancing if I'm going to put my records to ship container and get my fingers crossed or to use carrier. Whatever I finally decide I will definetly take insurance and take all the raers as hand luggage.



    If you only have 500-800 records you might consider just move those as normal air luggage in some hard plastic crates. Get estimate from airline and carrier and then decide.



    Couple of hints to avoid damage and make life easier:

    1. Look for some hard plastic crates or something instead of using cardboard boxes.

    2. Get plastic sleeves, and take record with innersleeve out of the cardboard sleeve and put both inside the plastic sleeve. This way you'll avoid getting any spindle damage.

    3. Fill the moving crates tight enough but not too tight. When you have filled the moving crate just wave the crate sideways. If there's loose movement add couple of records.

    4. Also when you fill in the crates always put five records one way and turn then the next five records to point to other way. This way it will pack tighter since the closed (back) end of the record sleeve is always thicker than the open (pocket) end.

    5. Number your crates and make a list of what's in each crate. If something gets lost you'll at least know what dissappeared and how much insurance money you can claim.



    Good luck!
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