The trouble with buying US manufactured items in Europe is that they’re much more expensive here
because of import duty.
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OH has said @Steven_Spatz if you want something like a John Deere tractor bring it with you, but make sure beforehand you can get spares in Europe.
I think what also matters is just how liquid you are going to be. We brought our UK dining furniture which has something of a French look about it and it’s still being used. We could not have afforded to buy it new here in France. But @Steven_Spatz if you are happy exploring depot vents and brocantes you can get some bargains, especially if you don’t mind old dark furniture. We bought an enormous old wardrobe for 400€ but we also paid 900€ for a superbly made, solid French oak extendable kitchen table from a shop that takes bankruptcy stuff - full retail price, probably double what we paid, but still not cheap!
Although I’ve never needed to look at them, I brought all my business paperwork - tax returns, bank statements, client invoices because I couldn’t be certain the UK tax authorities might not want to follow something up. I expect the US authorities are even more exigent. Maybe these days all of it is electronic. 15 years ago it was still largely on paper.
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And Carhartt and Pendleton. Really surprised there does not seem to be equivalents in France. When our rural lifestyle could certainly do with these.
Carhartt is here but selection is tiny. Although Le Chameau (French) certainly better gumboots for style.
So I’d say bring your quality outdoor wear and gear.
John Deere is big in Italy, IIRC
And cheap? John Deere is big in France - just VERY pricy.
If you’re buying new stuff and shipping it over, you’ll pay import duty, which varies by the type of item and then pay TVA at 20% of the price after duty. Once you’ve added shipping on top of that, it can become uneconomical. Also, if you do decide to ship stuff over, please keep all receipts for customs. If you don’t have receipts, the douanes will estimate the price based upon prices in France and then add on the duty and TVA.
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That’s very helpful - and scary! - advice, Hairbear. Thank you!!
A pal from NYC noticed that everything in the Lands’ End catalogue USA was identical in the catalogue UK, including the item ref # and the price in USD simply given as GBP.
The French, like the Spanish, are still up for ‘dark brown furniture’, the stuff you can’t give away now, in UK.
There’s lots of everything on the [vaguely] equivalent to EBay, leboncoin. Today I bought a Karcher K4 pressure washer, barely used, for €50 - they are €175 on Amz.fr, down from €280. And a garden fork and hoe for €5 ea.
My lovely ‘boat bed’, mattress still in wrapper … €80 [advertised at €100]
The French have funny ideas about pricing. I have bought 4 ‘Poang’ IKEA chairs, varying in price from €15 to €25. But there are lots on leboncoin for €80-€90-€100.
That bed - the family selling my plywood shack offered me one identical for €300. I advised them to check the going rate on leboncoin but I heard no more.
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If you are moving home don’t you get an exemption on your personal goods imported in first 12 months? (Excluding cars, motorbikes and yachts)
More often than not it doesn’t work sadly though as outside their home country brands will position massively differently. I was horrified on wandering in the Topshop on Spring St in lower Manhattan and seeing an item I was wearing and paid less than thirty quid for on the racks for well over $100. Being the ‘new thing’ in the US Greasy (Phillip) Green thought he could make a killing and so positioned them much less ‘on every high street’ and more ‘luxury boutique’, and with horrifyingly higher prices too. H&M was very similar, tat on every high st in Europe but an exotic foreign trendsetter in the US.
My mother had six of the things! I’m wondering if there are any more in the loft.
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We have a collection of cook books from the USA, UK and Europe.
And cherish the appropriate measuring cups etc. To quickly produce a meal without having to calculate us fl oz, vs. Imperial pints vs. Ml etc.
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If you are comparing prices with amazon.com, look the the cost on amazon.fr! Very quick and easy, especially as Euro and USD are near enough the same.
As far as I know that’s the case and it may be you can import a vehicle too if you’ve already owned it for a minimum of twelve months ( that’s how I was able to take my Merc to S Africa for free=. I’m sure @anon90504988 will know everything about that aspect.
Live in France, first, before you try to figure out what to buy.
Seconded. We has a MS for 10 years before moving. We stayed there at all times of year. Still, that may not give you an idea of what you want/where you should live. We moved over and rented for up to 12 months. We spent time looking and eventually found what we wanted after 7 months. And, what we found was not what we were originally looking for. So, don’t be blinkered, and take you’re time.
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Thank you all for the incredible advice you’ve shared.
@MaryW and @hairbear - I really appreciate that long view of things.
I do plan to rent for the first 6=9 months after I’ve landed in France so I can learn/explore and hopefully be delighted with what I find. I’m going into this adventure with my mind wide open, and it’s conversations like this that give me confidence that I’m making the right move.
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