taking gear to Italy

[Gian]

Hi all

I am moving to Italy for a period of time (not sure how long yet) and I want to take my gear with me.

I have some near field monitors, rack gear, lunchboxes, guitars, mics, leads and the rest is 'in the box'. I also have a pair of PA speakers (10" and horn) that I use for duo work and would like to take.

Does anyone know the best way to get this stuff over there and is there any problems in bringing that stuff into the country.

Your help/experience would be appreciated.

[kalkman]

british airways has no weight limit for carry-on baggage

[ChrisW]

It's going to be expensive.
And I do think Italy has some particular laws on shipping gear into the country.
I shipped stuff from the UK, and honestly I would have saved myself money and a great deal of stress by selling most of it and buying again. But then i was coming here permanently.
Professionals like Rock-It Cargo deal with this $hit all the time. That's the easiest, stress free route, but their services come at a premium.
Your second option is shipping in a container, but unless you take a whole container your stuff will go in a mixed container and who knows what'll get nicked, lost or damaged. Containers regularly drop off the side of ships in heavy weather too. I found the container shipping company I used very stressful to deal with.
A third option is to take as much as you can on the flight where you can keep an eye on it and access it as soon as you arrive in Italy.
Flights through Asia to Europe have low and strict baggage allowances. So you'll have excess baggage to pay.

[rick]

can you post most of it to somebody you know in italy in sane size boxes
or wait till you go and get somebody you know to ship it from here - i am just guessing really !

did you make such a mess of your shed that you have to leave the country ?

[musikwerks]

When I used to work on Red Bull gigs we took a lot of gear o/s with the production. We always had a Carnet from customs to indicate the gear was ours etc, not being bought and brought in. Might be something to investigate?

[Gian]

Hi all,

thanks so far for all your input.

Hope you don't mind me telling you all what I am planning on doing (with my life).

I bought a book on building a home studio which was really helpful, I had organised exactly what I was going to purchase, lined up a friend builder to give me a hand - then an idea my wife and I had toyed with came into fruition.

My wife and I have always thought about the idea of me regaining my italian citizenship, mostly so that we can give our kids the opportunity to get an EU passport, then they can live and work anywhere in europe. Work for me became a bit of a bore, so I came home a few weeks ago and said "let's more to italy" - my wife jumped at the idea.

So, my home studio in the shed (in my back yard) is on hold. I am sad and disappointed, but I will try to do some sort of studio in Italy.

It will take a few months for me to acquire residency, then after that I can get citizenship - each region has different rules for how long it takes for this to happen. So we have to just hang there till time passes and it all happens. We will be living on our savings. I am scared, but excited at the same time.

I will be selling a few things soon to help us get enough savings to pay for us to live there till I get citizenship, then I am allowed to work there. There are a lot of 'ifs" and the worst case scenario will be that we run out of money and we have to come back home having had a holiday in Italy - not the worst thing, I suppose.

[Gian]

Hi Kristian

what is a Carnet? and do I get it from the australian consolate/customes or the italian one?

When I used to work on Red Bull gigs we took a lot of gear o/s with the production. We always had a Carnet from customs to indicate the gear was ours etc, not being bought and brought in. Might be something to investigate?

[musikwerks]

http://globalinsights.com.au/export-docs/ata-carnets

[ChrisW]

Interesting.
I've sort of done the same thing in reverse.
In a way it would have been easier (and perhaps better for me) to move from London to Italy.
However, both my partner and I looked at the language issues and realised we couldn't work in Italy and as a muso my income is always going to be sporadic - a gamble.
The one thing I've sort of realised with regards to my emigration is that it might be best to test the waters by moving short term, renting, not burning bridges 'back home'. In a way it's good to commit, but it's also expensive. If it's a mistake it's an expensive mistake.
Are you proposing to work in music, or will that be part time?

[Gian]

Hi Chris

I am not selling my house. We are going to 'see' what it is like. I am a maths/music teacher so I will be looking at regular work like that to start with and doing music on a casual basis. If things don't work out we can always come back to Australia and I can get work doing casual teaching. So, worst case scenario, it will end up being an extended holiday.

[ChrisW]

Just conversationally......
Where in Italy are you thinking to head to?

[Gian]

Northern Italy, between Milan and Turin.

[ChrisW]

Sounds lovely.
Back on topic....
I found shipping my gear by container company expensive, frustrating and stressful. Maybe I just had a bad experience.
The cost of shipping also added value to the gear I can't recoup from selling (at this stage). I've also found some of the gear redundant in my current circumstances. Some of the less unique pieces I could have sold in the UK and replaced here (if I needed to).
So, from my experience, I would leave or sell some of your average gear here, and only take stuff that really makes a difference, or you can't replace without great expense.

[GlennS]

A carnet is really only for moving professional equipment across borders for short term use (e.g. touring) and, IIRC, you have to put up a security. If it were me I would try to include the equipment in your personal effects, i.e. the rest of the possessions you'll be taking overseas with you. In Australia personal effects are defined as goods which you have owned and used (overseas) for a period of 12 months or more, with certain exclusions (like alcohol & tobacco, motor vehicles). You don't pay duty or taxes on personal effects. You might want to contact the Italian consulate & find out what their definition of personal effects is & if there are any taxes involved. You could try contacting someone like Grace Removals, who specialize in "moving house", including internationally.

[ChrisW]

Even when shipping personal effects you have to fill in importation documents, including description and value...... also for the shipping insurance.
No, you wont pay tax, but they are obviously on the look out for people who send a bunch of new white goods with their personal items to sell on arrival.
Logistically, shipping by sea can take 8 weeks (IIRC?), then your cargo needs to be processed at the other end which can take a couple of weeks.