Preparing household items for move

[adetia9]

I need to prepare household goods for moving in advance of our immigration being approved.
Having said that, I'm trying to do things such that I wil not have to return to my goods in storage to fix up a new list.

How specific is everyone being in their list of goods to follow?
I will have nothing with me at the time of landing, everything will be following later.


So far, I have 70 boxes, which I prepared in a list that give a generic description of the contents like:

Used clothing
Misc kitchen stuff
Dishes
Linens
Baskets
Misc household goods
Christmas decorations

etc etc etc

Do I have to guess at a value for these things? I have no idea, nor any idea how to calculate how much boxes of stuff are worth -- most of my things have little to no monetary value but are things that have been in my family or have sentimental value.

The reason I'm having to take care of this now is that my mother passed away this week so we are selling our house in Pennsylvania. So, everything has to be packed in advance , then it will be stored until I get permission to immigrate, then my brother who lives in PA will load it into a Upack truck.

Help?

 

[AlanWales]

My list was like this
X Cds @ approx Canadian value
X books @ approx Canadian value
X DVD's @ approx Canadian value.

Yes they do all need to have a value, but I didn't go into huge detail and my container was cleared on Tuesday by customs and is being delivered on Monday by the shipping company.

 

[adetia9]

*sighs* I'm so stressed out, because I packed up boxes, and didn't give a thought to value, so I guess I'm going to have to go back and rip them all back open, and I'm already running out of time

Is giving a generic description of the contents probably ok?

I tried to list the most prevalent item in the box like, craft supplies, dishes, etc, like i said above.

I'm not even sure what a paper box full of dishes would be worth.

This trip was an unexpected one, I'm stressed about getting back across the border, and now having to deal with all this unexpectedly too, its just been more then I can handle almost while I'm trying to grieve for my mom.

 

[BeShoo]

There's no need to get stressed out about this. I'm sure you have other stuff to worry about more right now.

The generic descriptions should be fine for most items. I think that descriptions like "5 boxes of assorted used clothing" will be good enough. As for the value, I don't think it's really very important, but they do want a number, mainly for statistical purposes. Think about what you might pay at a Goodwill Store, or Salvation Army Thift Store or a yard sale or something like that. Same with the dishes. If you saw a box of dishes like that at a yard sale, how much would you expect them to be? So long as you have some kind of ballpark figure, it sohuld be fine.

The only things you really need to list one by one are expensive items, like things with serial numbers, and jewellery. You are supposed to list all the serial numbers, so that would be a good thing to do in advance.

There's just one consideration where accuracy might be important. If you're having them shipped, you might want a more accurate estimate for insurance purposes in case they're damaged.

Other than that, while it might be nice to be able to say: 20 shirts, 10 pairs of pants, etc., I'd just go with the general descriptions. At worst, they might open the boxes when they get to the border and try to make more detailed lists but that very unlikely.

 

[adetia9]

Is there a total value of goods that my entire shipment needs to be under?

As to jewelry I only have a few significant pieces and was going to hand carry those when I return in April, (won't be my landing) and leave them with my husband in Canada.

Is that against the rules or do I need to take it to the border when I land?

 

[BeShoo]

There is no dollar limit, as far as I know. The goods must be for your personal use and they must generally be in used condition (certain wedding gifts are an exception to that). Full details are worth reading in this official document:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d2/d2-2-1-eng.pdf

Technically, you can't bring jewellery on a visit and just leave it in Canada, though informally, you might get away with it. I think I'd list it on the form anyway, and if they ask you tell them that you left it in Canada. Really, though, you'd probably be best to have it on your person when you "land". It can't be that hard to carry, I wouldn't think.

 

[AllisonVSC]

Adetia9,

Don't be stressed about your boxes, and I see NO need for you to return and open them all!! I went through the same as you and packed my boxes prior to approval to immigrate. I made a list of each piece of furniture and labeled each box with a number and general contents and then kept a list (furniture item, box number, bin number etc, and general description). I read somewhere (probably this forum) that I could put general categories on my Goods to Follow form, but I wasn't sure it was acceptable and filled the form using pencil. When I took it to customs at landing the agent said it was too general, so I handed him my three page list of furniture and boxes. He stared at it for a while, then decided my general categories were acceptable after all. He asked that I write a value for each category which I did along the lines Beshoo suggested using thrift store value. (So, furniture and case goods $3000, kitchen and dish ware...$500). I was totally guessing on these values and gave numbers in the hundreds...$500 for this, $200 for that, etc. I also listed my car on the Goods to Follow form since I planned to import it to Canada and the agent was able to look up the value for me in a book.

The agent did ask that I list jewelry as a separate item on the list and since I had not packed anything of significant value, he said write "Costume jewelry" and assign a value. I did not include things like my mother's and grandmother's wedding rings which were in my possession when I entered as a visitor but which I did not have with me when I landed or imported my goods. I probably should have, but I didn't have appraisals for them.

When I arrived with my goods in a uhaul truck, the border agent looked at my short general list and wrote on a yellow sheet of paper "verify." When I went inside, the same customs agent was there and remembered helping me before. He basically asked if I had anything else that I had not declared when I landed. I did, a humidifier worth about $50. He stamped my form, never looked in the truck, and sent me on my way.

I had visions (nightmares really) of being in the customs area parking lot as agents crawled through the truck, opening boxes on the ground, asking me to find specific items for inspection, and leaving me to repack the truck on my own. NONE of those things happened.

I hope you are reassured somewhat by the responses you are getting to your query. Best regards for a successful move and my sympathies for the loss of your mother.

Allison