Q: Can you give me an estimate on how much I need to budget to ship my household items to Israel? I own a three-bedroom house but plan on downsizing and bringing maybe a container worth.
Thanks,
Sonya, Columbus, OH, USA

A: Dear Sonya,
Fortunately I am answering your question on the Internet - if this was in the Post's printed edition, they would have to add several more pages to their regular production!
But I will try to give you an outline of how to budget.
Let me give an overview first - every shipment is made up of three components:
1) Origin (packing and loading) service
2) Ocean and Overland Freight
3) Destination (delivery and unloading) service.
When a shipping agent gives you a quote, he or she will calculate the cost of these three components and give you quote. If you are taking a container (FCL - Full Container Load), the ocean and overland freight component is very easy to calculate. The origin and destination components will vary depending on the volume and in some countries, on the weight of your shipment.
If you are taking less than a full container (LCL - Less than Container Load) in which your shipment is consolidated in a container with other people's shipment, you will be charged by cubic foot or cubic meter. This is more difficult for us to calculate as we are not sure how full your shared container will be and how much to charge for your portion of the ocean freight. But that is our problem.
Another factor affecting cost is container size if you are using a FCL. There are three basic container sizes based on the length of the container. There is a 20-foot container which holds about 1000 cubic feet (~30 cubic meters) of household goods. A 40-foot container is exactly twice the size. A 40-foot "high cube" container is one foot higher and holds about 300 cubic feet (~8 cubic meters) more than a regular 40-foot container.
This above is probably much more complicated and involved than you really wanted, so I will emphasize what you should do to get a more exact answer about your expected costs….
• Call two or three recommended shipping companies that understand and specialize in international (hopefully to Israel) shipping

• Have them come to your home and perform a pre-move survey

• Get a quote from each one and insist they specifically list exact numbers for all costs in Israel.

• Do not ignore the option of getting a quote from an Israeli agent (fair disclosure, I have an interest in your considering an Israeli agent J ). I believe there is an advantage to having your contract with the receiving agent in case there are any problems. And you have the bonus of supporting the Israeli economy.
And of course, it doesn't hurt to have a suitcase with small unmarked bills….
Good luck in your aliya.
All the best,
Shmuel