How to ship a bulky pack to Europe?

[micheleru]

Hi folks,
I have to ship to Italy a bulky pack of about 5 cubic meters (170 x 170 x 170 cm) with clothes, books and Japanese kitchen knifes (10);
don't need express shipment, 3 months deliver by sea on a cargo ship is fine to me. I know I could have some problem with the knifes...
I called FED EX to get a quotation and they told me to go to any Post Office and get a "waybill". What is that? I get no experience at all with this stuff
Has anybody experienced a similar matter? Can you suggest a shipping company that doesn't charge me over 2500 usd?
Any suggestion is highly appreciate, thank you!
Michele

[ceevee369]

Check with carriers (Eva a-like, Nippon etc)
A bit more expensive but door-to-door might be Crown, Asian Tigers etc. they ship household items for expats
The Japanese knifes should not be a problem if reported as kitchenware.

Think you should find quotes around 400-500 USD per ship only. Weight & cubic cm combined.
for 2500 USD you ship a car...

[micheleru]

Ehy man, thank you so much!
The companies you suggested fits more my need, and Crown looks better than other ones. Now just wait the quotations.

[Steviebike]

Also worth checking is http://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/ I know many people who have used them with no problems.

[Doraemonster]

Sorry, that might be a stupid question, but why not just send it by post with the cheapest option there is (surface or 水陸)?

According to the list here:
http://download.post.gov.tw/post/download/國際包裹資費表完整版(101.06.18).xls

For Italy, your parcel can have up to 20 kg, and the price is 450 TWD for the first 1 kg, and 40 TWD (yeah, that's 40 TWD) for each additional kilogram.

I used this service 3 years ago. Took about 70 days then (also Europe), though the service to my country has been cancelled since (for reasons unknown).

[Taiwan Luthiers]

Please note the OP has 5 cubic meters of stuff to send... that's quite a bit more than what the postal system will allow, unless you send like 20 boxes. 5 cubic meters will take up half of a 3 ping taofan.

I have read shipping companies charge by volume, not weight but last time I asked about this people were telling me figure of around 10,000 USD and that scared me from ever sending anything larger than postal sized packages.

[Doraemonster]

Please note the OP has 5 cubic meters of stuff to send...

I realize that, but according to his description he does not seem to have any particularly bulky stuff. He just put everything together, but it can be separated into smaller parcels.

[...] unless you send like 20 boxes.

What's wrong with that. Three years ago I sent 12 boxes. I even had a postal truck come to pick up the stuff from my apartment, for free. Taiwan post office is great (just don't do any banking with them). I got large boxes in excellent condition for $10 per piece from a fruit shop (you can probably get them for free from places like Wellcome if you go there at the time when deliveries are made).

[cake]

I used this service 3 years ago. Took about 70 days then (also Europe), though the service to my country has been cancelled since (for reasons unknown).

From what I remember, it was stopped due to the ship from Taiwan docking at a location Royal Mail no longer used for international parcels. Dover - Fexistowe (sp?) or something.