migrationUpdated 2026-07-20

Shipping Your Belongings: Costs, Customs, and What to Bring

What it costs to ship household goods to popular retirement countries. Customs rules, duty exemptions, restricted items, and whether to ship or buy locally.

Shipping Your Belongings: Costs, Customs, and What to Bring

The most common question from first-time retiree movers is not about the visa. It is whether to ship their furniture. The honest answer for most people moving to most countries: sell the big stuff and buy locally. A full-container shipment from the US East Coast to Lisbon costs USD 4,000-7,000 for a 20-foot container and USD 6,000-10,000 for a 40-foot container. For that money, you can buy new Ikea furniture in every country on this list and still have change left over. But there are cases where shipping makes sense: heirloom furniture, a full household accumulated over decades, or a move to a remote location where local furniture options are limited.

This guide covers what it costs, what customs rules apply, what you cannot ship, and the honest calculation of ship-vs-buy-local for the 10 most popular retirement destinations.

What it costs

International shipping costs depend on origin, destination, volume, and speed. The ranges below are for a 20-foot container (roughly the volume of a one-bedroom apartment's worth of furniture, boxes, and appliances) from a US East Coast port to the destination. Add 15-25% for West Coast origin. Prices are door-to-port: the container is picked up from your home, trucked to the port, shipped, and delivered to the destination port. Port-to-door delivery (customs clearance, truck to your new home) adds USD 500-1,500 depending on distance from port.

Destination	Origin: US East Coast (20ft)	Origin: US East Coast (40ft)	Origin: UK (20ft)	Transit time	Port-to-door surcharge
Portugal	USD 3,500-5,500	USD 5,500-8,000	GBP 2,500-4,000	2-4 weeks	USD 800-1,200
Spain	USD 3,500-5,500	USD 5,500-8,000	GBP 2,500-4,000	2-4 weeks	USD 800-1,200
Mexico	USD 3,000-5,000	USD 5,000-7,500	N/A (overland from US)	1-2 weeks	USD 500-1,000
Costa Rica	USD 3,500-5,500	USD 5,500-8,500	GBP 3,500-5,000	3-5 weeks	USD 800-1,500
Thailand	USD 4,500-7,000	USD 7,000-10,500	GBP 3,500-5,500	5-8 weeks	USD 1,000-2,000
Panama	USD 3,500-5,000	USD 5,000-7,500	GBP 3,000-4,500	2-4 weeks	USD 800-1,500
Greece	USD 4,000-6,000	USD 6,000-9,000	GBP 3,000-4,500	3-5 weeks	USD 800-1,500
Italy	USD 3,500-5,500	USD 5,500-8,000	GBP 2,500-4,000	2-4 weeks	USD 800-1,200
Malaysia	USD 4,500-7,000	USD 7,000-10,500	GBP 3,500-5,500	5-8 weeks	USD 1,000-2,000
France	USD 3,500-5,500	USD 5,500-8,000	GBP 2,500-4,000	2-4 weeks	USD 800-1,200

These are ranges from mid-2026. Get at least three quotes. Seven Seas Worldwide, Crown Relocations, Allied Pickfords, and Doree Bonner are the major international movers with retiree-shipping experience. Smaller freight forwarders can be cheaper but do less hand-holding on customs paperwork.

Shared-container (LCL: Less than Container Load) options exist if you are shipping under roughly 10 cubic metres. LCL is cheaper (USD 1,500-3,000 for a few cubic metres from the US to Europe) but slower (add 2-4 weeks to transit times) because your goods wait for the container to fill. For a retiree shipping a few boxes of personal items, books, and kitchenware but no furniture, LCL is often the right choice.

The customs exemption: what you can bring duty-free

Nearly every country allows new residents to import used household goods and personal effects duty-free, provided the goods have been owned and used for at least 6-12 months and are not intended for resale. The exemption is tied to your residency status: you must have a valid visa or residence permit in the destination country at the time the goods arrive. If goods arrive before you have your residence card, they may be held in bond (at your cost) or assessed duty.

Country	Duty-free window	Ownership requirement	Key restriction
Portugal	12 months from residence permit issue	6+ months of ownership and use	New items (under 6 months) subject to VAT (23%) + duty
Spain	12 months from residence permit issue	6+ months of ownership and use	Inventory list required (in Spanish, with estimated values). Duplicate items may be flagged as commercial.
Mexico	6 months from residence card issue	6+ months of ownership and use	Menaje de casa certificate from the Mexican consulate in the origin country, issued before shipping. This certificate is the critical document: without it, the exemption does not apply.
Costa Rica	6 months from residency approval	6+ months of ownership and use	Exemption applies once per person, lifetime. Do not waste it on things you could buy locally.
Thailand	6 months from arrival (Non-Immigrant visa)	6+ months of ownership and use	Used household goods only. New electrical items attract duty (typically 30-60% of assessed value). Appliances with 220V compatibility only (US 110V appliances are useless without transformers, which are heavy, expensive, and inefficient).
Panama	6 months from visa issue	6+ months of ownership and use	One-time exemption. Vehicles are NOT included and attract high duty (15-25%).
Greece	12 months from residence permit issue	6+ months of ownership and use	EU customs territory. Goods clearing customs in any EU port can be delivered to Greece with no further customs check.
Italy	12 months from residence permit issue	6+ months of ownership and use	Transfer of residence declaration required at the port of entry. This is the Italian customs equivalent of the EU-wide exemption.
Malaysia	6 months from MM2H approval	6+ months of ownership and use	One-time exemption. Electrical items inspected for SIRIM certification (Malaysian electrical safety standard). Appliances without SIRIM may be refused entry or require testing at your cost.
France	12 months from residence permit issue	6+ months of ownership and use	Detailed inventory with estimated values required. Items declared as "new" pay VAT at 20%.

What you cannot ship (or should not)

Electronics with voltage incompatibility. US appliances (110V, 60Hz) do not work on EU/Asian 220-240V electricity without a step-down transformer. Transformers for high-wattage appliances (kitchen appliances, power tools) are heavy, hot, and expensive. Do not ship US kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, or power tools to 220V countries. Laptops, phones, and most modern electronics with switching power supplies (100-240V input) work fine with a plug adapter. Check the label on every electronic device: if it says "100-240V, 50/60Hz," it will work. If it says "120V only," leave it.

Vehicles. Importing a car is a separate customs category from household goods and is rarely worth the cost and paperwork for a retiree. The exception is moving to a country where your car is worth significantly more than in your home country (rare) or a classic/collector car with sentimental value. For ordinary vehicles: sell it and buy locally. The duty alone ranges from 10% to over 100% depending on the country and vehicle type. Left-hand vs. right-hand drive compatibility is another layer of cost that rarely makes sense.

Plants, seeds, soil. Every country prohibits or strictly regulates the import of plants, seeds, and soil due to agricultural disease risk. Do not pack them.

Food and alcohol. Most countries allow a small amount of packaged food for personal use, but alcohol is heavily restricted. Wine and spirits above the duty-free limit (typically 1-2 litres) incur duty plus excise tax. Packaged food in commercial packaging is usually fine; homemade food in unmarked containers will be confiscated.

Medications. Ship your medications in your carry-on luggage, not in the shipping container. Prescription drugs in the container may be flagged and confiscated. Always carry a doctor's letter and copies of prescriptions when travelling with medication. See the pre-departure checklist for the medication strategy.

Firearms and ammunition. Strictly regulated in every country. Most countries require a local firearms licence, and import permits are separate from household-goods exemptions. If you own firearms, consult the destination country's embassy well before the move; this is a process that can take months and may not succeed. Some countries (Costa Rica, Thailand) have functional processes for licensed owners; others (most EU countries) are extremely restrictive.

Ship or buy locally: the calculation

For most retirees moving from the US, Canada, or Northern Europe to a lower-cost retirement destination, the honest answer is: sell the furniture, ship the personal items.

A 20-foot container from the US East Coast to Lisbon costs roughly USD 4,500. In Lisbon, that same USD 4,500 buys: a new bed and mattress (EUR 800), a sofa (EUR 600), a dining table with four chairs (EUR 500), a desk (EUR 200), bookshelves (EUR 300), a wardrobe (EUR 400), basic kitchen equipment (EUR 300), and linens (EUR 200) -- roughly EUR 3,300 all-in, leaving EUR 2,000 in your pocket. This is a floor-to-ceiling furnish for a small apartment.

The calculation flips if you have: heirloom-quality furniture that would cost USD 20,000+ to replace, a full professional kitchen setup, a workshop of tools (check voltage), or a library of several hundred books (books are heavy and cost more in local-language markets). In those cases, the cost of shipping is less than the cost of replacement.

The middle ground for most retirees: ship 2-5 cubic metres of personal items (books, kitchenware, framed artwork, small electronics, clothing, and irreplaceable personal items) via shared container, and buy furniture locally. This costs USD 1,500-3,000 and gives you the essentials without the volume cost of furniture.

Packing for a shared container

If you use a shared container (LCL), your items will be on a pallet or in a lift van (a small wooden crate). The packing is done by the moving company, not by you, for insurance and liability reasons. What you can do: separate your items into "must arrive with me" and "can wait 8 weeks." The must-arrive items (clothing for the first season, essential documents, medications) go in your checked luggage, not in the container.

Insurance

Standard moving insurance typically covers weight-based liability (roughly USD 0.60/pound), which is nearly worthless. A 50-pound box of books insured at standard liability would pay USD 30 if destroyed -- far less than the replacement cost. Full-value protection (replacement-cost insurance) typically costs 1-3% of the declared value. If your shipment has a declared value of USD 20,000, insurance costs USD 200-600. For shipments with irreplaceable items (artwork, heirlooms, photography), this is worth it. For a shipment of replaceable furniture, standard liability may be acceptable if you are willing to accept the risk.

Check the moving company's insurance terms carefully: many exclude damage from mould, pests, and "inherent vice" (damage from the item's own properties, like wood cracking from humidity changes). Maritime shipping involves temperature and humidity swings that can damage wood furniture, musical instruments, and electronics. This is not the mover's fault; it is the environment. If you are shipping a grand piano or antique furniture to the tropics, you need climate-controlled container options, which add roughly 50-100% to the base freight cost.