IntlMOVE: Shipping Electronics and Appliances

When moving overseas with IntlMOVE, you may be wondering what electronic devices you can ship overseas.

Different countries have different electrical requirements, so shipping your large electronic appliances overseas might not always be practical.

IntlMOVE has put together some moving tips to help you determine what electronic device you will want to ship overseas and which items you will want to leave at home. 

Power Compatibility

If you are brining any small electronic devices like cell phones, smartphones or laptops, make sure your charger will work overseas.

Most countries have difference electrical requirements, so your chargers for these devices will not work.

Luckily, there is an easy fix!

You can buy converters that make it easy to charge up your phones or laptops wherever you go.

You will also want to invest in a portable surge protector. 

You may be able to use your larger appliances with a transformer or converter.

When choosing to buy a converter that can handle higher voltage appliances, there are many things to take into consideration.

The back of your appliance will usually have a label describing the electrical requirements.

Once the voltage is determined, make sure your converter can handle more than your device requires.

Some appliances create surges when turned on, so you can ruin your appliances if your converter can’t handle the amount of wattage.

You can plug more than one appliance into to a converter as long as the converter can handle the voltage and watts.

However, transformers can be expensive so make sure that buying the extra equipment is worth the money.

Many people moving overseas choose to buy new appliances. 

Cell Phones and Smartphones

When you are moving overseas, you will likely wonder what this means for your cell phone.

It can be quite easy to bring your cell phone to your new country, but don’t expect that decision to be cheap.

The international roaming fees will rack up to cost a pretty penny very quickly.

Also, you have to make sure that your cell phone will work overseas.

Many of the new cell phones will work overseas, so make sure the frequencies are compatible with the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).

If you are switching out your SIM card to use your telephone on a new cell phone network overseas, then your phone needs to be unlocked.

Many cell phone carriers lock their phones to make sure you can only use them on their network, so buy an unlocked phone or buy the unlocking kits available to unlock your phone.

Appliances

If you are renting an apartment or buying a new house overseas, your new home may already be equipped with the appliances you need.

When you want to ship large appliances overseas, you will want to look at the voltage compatibility and make sure it works with your converter.

If you want to ship your TVs overseas, you will need to make sure that your will be able to receive the local broadcast signals. 

Space Issues

When you are moving overseas, you also have to consider if there is enough room in your house to accommodate all the appliances you want to ship to your new country.

If you are moving to a large city overseas, you may have a much smaller home.

You may need to replace your full washer and dryer with a more compact unit.

Your large television may not fit in your new living space.

Take measurements from all the appliances you want to ship overseas and make sure they will fit in your new home.

Planning ahead will save you time, save you money and save you from headaches! 

When you have decided which electronic appliances to ship overseas, log onto the IntlMOVE website for your free international shipping quote.