It's expensive! We used Pickfords after getting 3 quotes. They will go around the house and then give you and idea of the size you will need and a cost. We needed a full container (20ft) and the overall cost was over £5000. Please remember that you need to pay port costs plus other expenses (normally quoted in US$) locally, also insurance and bandroll tax on electrical items. You can find a list of the bandroll items and the current tax cost on the internet.
You can import permamently now without hassle as long as you state that you haven't lived here for more than 6 months in the last 2 years and are retired.
I wouldn't recommend Pickfords as they couldn't get all our goods into the container and didn't tell us until it was shipped. They decided what to leave off. They didn't even warn us that we were close for us to let them know what do do if that situation occurred. We were left with garden chairs in Turkey and the table in the UK etc - not an ideal situation and the after care is non exsistent - they just wanted to know an address to deliver the left crates to!
We calculated the bandroll tax on TV's Hifi's etc and decided whether it was worth the expense. You don't pay on kitchen electricals etc.
When we originally furnished our house here in 2004, the standard of choice and quality was low. Having looked around and seen what you can get now and the choice, I think I would have sold my furniture and bought again here. Then I would have just paid for my personal items (photos, pictures etc) to come out which would have saved a lot of money.
I know many people recommend starting a fresh here and although that may seem expensive at first, if you are doing a detailed comparison, you may well realise that's not the case.
Hope this helps
