The Shipping Quotes Arrive

I received the various quotes back from the moving companies. After a free in-home survey from one of them, my apartment came out to 16 square meters in volume and 3400 lbs. I would be lying if I said I understood why they quote you the volume using metric and the weight using the English system. Anyway, I took that quote and shopped it around to several international movers. Here are the results:

• UniTrans International
• Price: $3,976
• Included: $5,000 insurance, extra insurance at 3.5%-4% of declared value
• KRP moving
• Price: $8,400
• Included: $25,000 insurance, extra insurance at 2.8% of delclared value
• McCollister's Transportation Group
  • Price: $10,400
  • Included: $40,000 insurance

As you can see, the quotes are not even in the same ballpark. I tried contacting UniTrans Int'l to try and find out why their quote came in so much lower than all the others. I asked for their local Argentina partner and also a question about their packing policies. They were the only carrier who did not include "packing" or "packing materials" at the source. All other providers included all packing, crating, and packing materials. I wanted to ensure that this quote wouldn't jump another $4,000 after they came to the apartment and packed up my things. My sales rep never got back to me. I checked with the Better Business Bureau and found that this is a new company – only been operating since 2003. So, I decided not to pursue it.

In the end it was all a moot point anyway, since we decided to sell all our belongings before the move. But here you have three providers, their contact info, and the quotes they gave me. I hope this info will help some of you with your move.