Common Packing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

8 Sep 2021

An international move can be stressful. Learn how to avoid some costly mistakes – not only financial expense, but also unnecessary stress, delays shipment, and damage to irreplaceable treasures.

1. Improper or insufficient packing to protect the shipping contents 

Boxes are handled between packing and delivery, and experienced bumpy rides under air and sea shipments. Weak boxes risk falling apart and spilling their contents even from regular handling. If boxes get wet, the contents will likely get damaged, and boxes will fall apart when being moved again. 

Use the correct packing materials for the items being packed – pack correctly with sufficient protection, and ensure boxes are sealed securely with tape. The best way to avoid mistakes is to engage international moving company.

2. Underestimating how much needs to be shipped 

If you don’t have a good idea of your shipping volume, you’re likely to set an unrealistic budget with insufficient packing materials, and underestimate the duration of packing. 

Ask a professional moving company to organize a survey by providing a quote. Armed with this information, you’ll be able to make better plans for your move. 

3. Underestimating how long it will take to pack 

People often underestimate the packing time of their belongings for shipping. For estimating the duration of packing, try packing few boxes, and you will realize that the first few boxes are often quicker to pack than later boxes which often hold more challenging packing items. 

As with #2 above, getting a survey done will help better understanding on your shipping volume, and leaving it to the international moving company is better than packing by yourself. If you decide to pack by yourself, start extra early as you will need more time than planned. 

4. Overestimating how much you will declutter and cull 

When a professional goes into a home to survey, they frequently hear “I plan on getting rid of a lot of stuff before I move.” However, they consistently overestimated how much they would be able to get rid of before the move. People often don’t realise the duration of sorting, selling, giving away, or disposing of items. 

Be realistic about what you’ll be getting rid of, and consider the case that the buyer fails to collect. Consider what you will do if you run out of time to sort or cull. It’s a good idea to get two quotes – one for your planned shipping volume, and one for a greater volume if your decluttering plan isn’t going as planned. 

Next week in “Common Packing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them – Part 2“, we will look at more packing mistakes and the avoiding method. 

If you have any questions or want to arrange a quote, contact your local Asian Tigers office or reach out to us via our online contact form. 

You might also be interested in taking a look at Timing Your Move, and Learn From My Shipping Mistakes.