Shipping to Australia

What is the cheapest company to ship large items (eg: suitcases weighing 40-80kg) to Australia? There is no rush for them to arrive, so sea mail is fine. All of the Australia-based companies are very expensive, so I'm hoping to find a cheaper alternative by going with a Japanese company. Please post your recommendations below!

If you only have a few suitcases then the best is to take them with you on the plane. Most airlines charge about 10,000 yen per extra bag, and around 10,000 overweight fee. 40-80 kg is way way overweight, so I'd suggest getting those down to more manageable sizes if possible.

As for shipping overseas, Japan Post is probably the cheapest option. The only issue is that it is restricted to 30kg max, 105 cm long, 200 cm total linear dimensions. If you can get your luggage down to this size then it would cost 13750 yen per piece to Australia and take about 2 months.

I would recommend using the services of Japan Luggage Express if you are only shipping suitcases weighing 40 to 80kgs. They handle shipments of small size which most other shipping companies do not.
I have used their services a few times when shipping my personal stuff from Japan and if it is only 40 to 80kgs, it would be better to ship by air than by sea. (It is cheaper too.) Their website is http://www.jluggage.com
They also have a page for shipping to Australia : http://www.jluggage.com/toau_e.html

Japan post

Thanks, I just checked it out and jluggage is really expensive in my opinion - Y50,900 for a 60kg shipment? That's hardly much cheaper than Japan Post! I thought sending it via sea would be a lot cheaper. What is the minimum weight I'd need for sea shipping? I am leaving Japan next July but don't want to pay the expensive airline fees for excess luggage as I'll be likely to have 80kg of stuff. For me it's much easier to send half of my stuff home in December, then take the other half home with me on the flight in July.

Nippon Express http://www.nipponexpress.com/moving/diy.html

Thanks everyone. Kamal you are actually right, judging from recommendations here and from friends, Japan Post is the cheapest way to send a 30kg box overseas, especially if it's via surface mail (delivery time 2 - 3 months). I am really shocked that the post office method is cheaper than a shipping company, in my home country (Australia) it costs 850 yen just to send a CD domestically. I feel lucky to be living in Japan where postage rates are so cheap. Thanks again!

Luggage shippers like Jluggage are better for those sending large shipments. They typically have a minimum size of one square meter (roughly 7-8 large suitcases), which (for me shipping to the US) is around 70,000 yen.

If you only have a few boxes it's better to go with Japan Post, but in my case the break even point is around 6-7 boxes. More than that and it makes more sense for me to ship everything by sea.

How much stuff do you have to ship. Figure that out and you'll get a better idea of what will be more economical.

In case of international shipping, especialy when there is no need to hurry i definately recommend you using site's like http://clicktrans.com/. You can just select pick-up location and delivery addres and wait for quotes from transport providers instead of looking for the best offer by your self. Time is money :) And you will probably lower the price of shipping by 20-30%. Maybe even much more :) Good luck!