Creative moving options: Buying/Selling vans

[jsilverman]

Moving to Finland from the Netherlands appears to be practically logistically impossible... I can't rent a van or car in the NL and leave it in Finland, even though the company websites claim one can. The shipping companies all either are booked or require payment in cash, which I don't have. The only other option I can think of is to buy a used van in the Netherlands and sell it on arrival in Finland. Honestly, so far it looks like buying one is cheaper than renting one and leaving it...

I was wondering if anyone knew whether there are unexpected legal difficulties with that: would I need to pay import fees, weird registration issues, be unable to sell it off?

[Upphew]

I was wondering if anyone knew whether there are unexpected legal difficulties with that: would I need to pay import fees, weird registration issues, be unable to sell it off?

Yup. You, or the buyer, will have to get the car taxed to get it to Finnish plates.
http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... /index.jsp

[betelgeuse]

I was wondering if anyone knew whether there are unexpected legal difficulties with that: would I need to pay import fees, weird registration issues, be unable to sell it off?

https://www.veronmaksajat.fi/Asunto-ja- ... i-Suomeen/

There are taxes to be paid on it (I assume you won't have owned it for 6 months). You will want to research the taxes involved before hand since Finland taxes cars heavily. You will be able to sell it off but you will probably need to take care of registering it under Finnish plates to have a chance to find a buyer. You could search Finnish used car portals (with Google Chrome for automatic translation) to see what they currently go for:

http://www.autotalli.com

[Upphew]

http://www.autotalli.com

Those are (mainly? only?) businesses selling. http://www.nettiauto.com/en has also private sellers and so might give better indication of prices asked when selling without guarantees.

[jsilverman]

Thanks everyone, that is really helpful. Oi, this is so complicated... where is Uhaul when you need them...

[cors187]

You could bum it here, buy a finnsh registered.

[orys]

Thanks everyone, that is really helpful. Oi, this is so complicated... where is Uhaul when you need them...

I am already researching the option of moving to Finland myself (from the UK) as I hope to get funding to do my PhD there, I work for the courier company so I know a bit more than some people and I can share with you my findings:

Find a small transport/courier company and speak to them. It has to be small, as the big ones would rather not allow you to do the stuff yourself due to all that Health and Safety BS. Then rent a van locally, deliver all your stuff to them, put it on two or three pallets, pack it well and shrinkwrap it tight (you don't want to trust anyone else to pack your stuff, as it will be reloaded several times on the way, so you want to be sure that it is well packed). Keep breakable and valuable items home and take them with you on your car.

Other option: if you have garage or something like a shed easily accessible from the street go to the pallet yard, buy a pallet or two and do it in your garage then call one of the pallet companies to come and pick stuff from your home. They will usually have tail lifts and pallet trucks on them. From what I know when we speak about big companies, DSV is the company that specialises in delivering small amounts of stuff and they do Finland a lot. If you use some local courier/haulage/freight forwarding company, they will just push it through with one of the bigger players anyway.

Ask them to store these pallets in their warehouse, then just drive your car to Finland (you can take the most valuable things with you, just to be sure). When you settle down, call them, and ask them to send your stuff away with the European Pallet network (if you went with a small company) or just set a date of delivery if you go with DSV or such. It will travel on several trucks from depot to depot and propably arrive there in a week or something. Make sure that you will be at home at the day of delivery, as pallet networks usually do just kerbside deliveries, so you will have to handball it yourself. Make sure that there are instructions on the transport paperwork to call you before delivery to ensure that you are at home, as some companies might to charge you for failed delivery.

I already organized "a move" of my friend to Czech Republic from Scotland. She had a big pallet of her stuff, and for month of storage and kerbside delivery to her new home in Olomouc she paid 200 pounds (and if she had more stuff, I was quoted like 200 for first pallet, 150 for next, 100 for every next). I am sure if I will be (hopefully) moving to Finland in the next few months, I will do it this way, as it is way cheaper than renting a van or using removal company.

[jsilverman]

That's really interesting option. never would have thought of that. I'll have to keep it in mind for leaving Finland :p In the end I just rented a van, which a friend will drive back to the NL.