Any suggestions on shipping a few boxes from USA to the Netherlands?

Hi, Theresa, If you have only a few boxes to move, it may sometimes be cheaper to either send your packages by couriers such as UPS, DHL, or FedEx using their boxes. Otherwise, freight forwarders may have pretty good rates but you may be asked to manage the customs clearance (which is doable given you are moving to the Netherlands) or you can pay them a fee to help. Is your employer not helping you with the relocation? If you are a US person (i.e. Green Card Holder or US Citizen), you should note that there could be complications with your US taxes and financial reporting. I could give you more information about these if you are. Thanks!

I moved to the Netherlands from CA 3 months ago. I shipped my computer USPS. I found USPS to be far more economical than UPS or FedEX. One thing I really wish I had looked more into was import fees. My computer is valued at around $2,000 US and shipping it via USPS totaled around $200 USD. However, once my stuff arrived in the Netherlands, we had to pay around 600 euro in import fees. So, I might have done things differently had I known it would cost around $900 to bring that stuff. I considered sending my computer, clothes and some other housewares via freight but it seemed expensive considering most of my belongings weren't worth that much, and I was trying to downsize all of my possessions. However, finding a good shipping company that is solid on import/export laws could end up saving you a ton of time/money. I found these guys who send items from the US through the UK, because EU agreements, by importing through the UK you avoid those high import fees, brilliant. I need to stress my reason for not using them was because I was naive to import fees. Had I known the total cost of shipping/importing using this service would have been a huge benefit. I am in no way affiliated with this company, but here's the link: http://upakweship.com/ Also, if you decide to go the freight route, be sure to grille the company about their import knowledge, you'd be surprised with the naivety of some"professional" companies. Good luck!

I know a cheap and reliable company that ships from the USA to the globe. Their name is www.forwardme.com . I've used them many times while in Holland and it's always worked for me, whether the products sold only in the US or when I want to get my own stuff. I don't know if it will work for you, but maybe you can use them to send your small items.