Moving from Sydney to Melbourne | Any Suggestions ?

Lde9299 on 03/01/2016 - 01:59

Hi OzBargainers,

Thanks for all the great deals, and a happy new year to you all! I have been lucky enough to (finally) get a promotion and an option to move back to Melbourne in end of Jan this year. Since it was my preference to switch cities ( I've lived in Melbourne before), my workplace has gone tight arse in offering any relocation assistance.

I gave them a ballpark of a $900 for moving costs + airfare + extra baggage but I need to be prepared in case all negotiations go belly up.

I am only moving clothes, random small personal items, heaps of IT books and a TV. All my stuff fits in to 4 jumbo boxes and the valuables fly with me as additional baggage on Qantas.

Both places in Sydney and Melbourne are already furnished so I won't need to sell/move/buy furniture. Most of the posts in this forum deal with large moves.

I've called a few places for quotes and most of them are in the 600-700 ballpark. Taxibox was an interesting and super convenient service that provided a quote of 700 but I could fit 4x the stuff in the "box" they provide- not really a value for money if I'm paying for it. Truckit.net/backloaders also gave a similar quote.

Driving a rental down to Melbourne is out of the budget as well as most places involve a one-way fee.

Does anyone have any suggestions on shipping a small batch of items interstate ? If I have to pay for this move I am considering :

1) Selling the TV, most of the books ( old certifications that I already have) and cutting down my footprint. Ship the rest via AusPost.
2) Trusting Taxibox to keep my valuables secure and just using it , and cancelling out additional baggage. This would not be cheap but would be hassle free. And I'll try to bug my boss to score me some Cisco Live! vouchers for my troubles.

Sorry for the long post, let me know your thoughts!

General Discussion

Comments

  • Marcsie on 03/01/2016 - 02:15

    You made a right choice,welcome back to the world most liveable city :)

    • de9299 on 03/01/2016 - 02:19

      Thanks! lived in Melbourne for 4 years before moving to Sydney 18 months ago. Can't wait to be back :)

    • airzone on 03/01/2016 - 10:46

      I always felt that the best part of the Melbourne was the airport check-in counter.

      • de9299 on 03/01/2016 - 11:14

        I see what you did there!

        • airzone on 03/01/2016 - 14:06

          badum boom!

  • Juvi on 03/01/2016 - 05:13
    +1

    When we did the move from Qld to Melb - we looked at camper vans - there's a site relocations for campervans - basically someone has hired the van and taken it to point A , the company wants it to be returned to point B, so they offer to rent you the Van and occasionally pay for petrol all for $1 a day if lucky or maybe a bit more.
    We took a mid size van - filled it with our stuff and drove down.
    an e.g site https://www.transfercar.com.au/
    But do a search a few companies do them. Unfortunately its hard to plan ahead, depends on what's available on the day.
    Good luck on your move.

    • de9299 on 04/01/2016 - 01:06

      Thanks for the suggestions!

      Transfercar is brilliant, it is a shame that I don't have patience to wait for a last minute deal though.

  • Flowerbomb on 03/01/2016 - 09:32
    +1

    Taxibox sounds very expensive. I moved a bed and 6 big boxes from syd to mel for $400 a couple of years ago. Do an online quotes with your requirements as it is much faster than calling around. Did u try getting a quote online from packnsend http://www.packsend.com.au/road-express

    Driving would be the best option though. Only 9 hours or 12 hours if you take lots of breaks.

    • de9299 on 04/01/2016 - 01:04

      Taxibox would have been perfect if I had more stuff and the workplace paid for it upfront.

      I've been able to get better deals with Truckit , thanks for you suggestions!

  • RockyRaccoon on 03/01/2016 - 09:33
    +3

    Driving a rental down to Melbourne is out of the budget as well as most places involve a one-way fee.

    Depending on when yoiu are doing this, you may find a relocation special from Sydney toi Melbourne, that could be close to free, and save you. Campervans and Cars

    Search google relocattion cars, there are a number of sites

    e.g.

    http://www.imoova.com/imoova/relocations

  • darkchoc on 03/01/2016 - 11:03
    +1

    Hey mate. Did the same thing a while back.

    A couple of suggestions that we did when we moved…

    Check out https://www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au and play with dates and keep locations generic or central. Some hire car companies (europcar was for us) are very reasonable if you hire from cbd centres and hire for a longer duration from memory.

    You may also find a promo code for the hire care company to reduce car cost.

    Sell the tv on Gumtree. Then buy another tv again on Gumtree when in Melbourne if car space is an issue! Might even make a small profit!

    Good luck!

    • de9299 on 04/01/2016 - 01:03

      Thanks for the suggestions!

      I'm going to bookmark vroomvroom for future travel.

  • danield on 03/01/2016 - 11:08
    +3

    Ditch the IT books, those things are dead weights that you have to let go of one day, they will be outdated before you ever look at them again or reference them… you'll turn to google before you turn back to those books.

    • de9299 on 03/01/2016 - 11:33
      +1

      Ditching the books is an excellent idea. They have already become dead weights.

  • Randxyz123 on 03/01/2016 - 14:28
    +1

    Welcome back to the worlds most liveable city with probably the best coffee in Australia!!

    Agreed to ditching the books. As someone studying IT keeping those books sound pointless. Put them on gumtree as well. You never know what people will buy….

    Sell the TV on eBay / Gumtree and buy a new one in Melbourne.

    I think driving down with a cheap rental is the best option. Agree with checking out relation deals but keep in mind something will become available, you'll have to book it and go… All within one day.

    • de9299 on 04/01/2016 - 01:00

      Even the office barista in Melbourne makes better coffee than his counterpart here in Sydney. Maybe it is just the air!

      Those books easily add 20 kilos. I'll try to offload them to gumtree!

      Thanks for your suggestions!

  • inherentchoice on 03/01/2016 - 15:06

    Buy a car that will be easy to sell at the other end?

  • spackbace on 03/01/2016 - 15:08
    +1

    From the above replies, sounds like a good option would be:
    1) sell off TV and text books
    2) 1-way camper relocation, or SUV hire (seems like the remainder of your stuff should fit in either of those)

    Surely the new job could front the cost for the car hire?

  • de9299 on 04/01/2016 - 00:57
    +1

    Thanks for the suggestions guys!

    I found an excellent deal on truckit.net that would move my stuff(TV et al) for $250 flat. There were cheaper offerings (in the $200 range) but the timing wasn't right.

    Other stuff goes on a flight - about $180 with baggage.

    With the cheap rental option, unfortunately my OCPD will not let me wait for last minute deals haha.

    I have roped in mates to drop and pick me at the airports.

    $430 is not too shabby but I'm sure a true Ozbargainer could bring that down!

    Now to offload those IT books. MCITP (2008) and CCNP RS (300 series) anyone ;) ?

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