International shipping to Vietnam: getting and comparing three quotes

Shipping a household to Vietnam is one of the largest line-items in a relocation budget — $4,000 to $12,000 for a 20-ft container door-to-door, with a 6–10 week sea-freight transit. The choice of mover has more impact on stress than on cost; cheaper quotes routinely come back with surprise customs handling fees and missed packing dates.

This page is about the quote-comparison process itself. The customs / clearance side and the in-country expectations sit in importing personal belongings.

Prices are indicative and vary by season, origin port, container size and door-to-door scope. Use these as a planning baseline, not a quote.

Get exactly three quotes

Fewer than three and you can't tell whether the first quote is high. More than three and you spend three weeks on conference calls and the differences blur. Three is the calibration sweet spot.

Find them via:

• A destination services consultant at your employer (if relocating for work). They'll usually have a panel of two or three vetted movers.
• AMSA / FIDI / OMNI member directories — these are the international moving trade associations; FIDI especially weights compliance heavily.
• One local Vietnamese mover with origin pickup (e.g. Asian Tigers Vietnam, Crown Worldwide Vietnam, Santa Fe Vietnam). They quote competitively because the destination side is their core business.

Avoid quote-aggregator websites that hand your details to a dozen brokers. The follow-up emails will be relentless and the lead-quality of the actual mover is low.

What to ask each mover before they quote

A serviceable quote needs:

• Origin — exact pickup address.
• Destination — your arrival city (HCMC, Hanoi, Đà Nẵng).
• Volume — approximate cubic metres / cubic feet. A surveyor's visit is free and the most accurate way to estimate.
• Service scope — door-to-door, door-to-port, port-to-port. Door-to-door is almost always worth the premium.
• Packing — full pack (movers wrap everything), fragile-only pack (you box the rest), or owner-pack (you do it all). Customs clearance is harder when shipments are owner-packed.
• Insurance — all-risk vs total-loss-only. All-risk is the standard for full household moves.
• Pets / vehicles / wine / firearms — declare upfront; each is its own permit dossier.
• Timeline — your latest acceptable arrival date. Sea freight is 6–10 weeks Europe-to-Vietnam, 4–6 weeks US west coast, 3–5 weeks intra-Asia.

Compare quotes on the same eight lines

Once you have three quotes back, put them side-by-side on these lines:

Red flags

• Quote with no surveyor visit. Any quote over 5 CBM without an in-home survey is guesswork; surprise volume on packing day usually means an upcharge.
• Headline price 30% lower than peers. Almost always a stripped-down scope (customs clearance excluded, no all-risk insurance, owner-pack).
• Vague Vietnamese-side partner. Ask: which Vietnamese company unpacks at destination? If they can't name them, the quote isn't real door-to-door.
• No mention of customs duty exemption requirements. Vietnamese personal-effects exemption requires the importer to be a Vietnamese resident; if you don't have a TRC by arrival you may end up paying duty on the whole shipment.

What to ship vs leave behind

Vietnamese furniture, electronics, and household textiles are good quality and cheap. The cost-effective shipping list:

Timing the move

The shipment ideally arrives 2–4 weeks after you do. That gives you time to find a long-term lease, confirm utilities, and have someone present at the apartment for delivery day. Don't try to land and receive the shipment in the same week — landing-day energy is a finite resource.

If your shipment must arrive before you, the mover holds it in bonded warehouse at a typical $80–150/week — budget for that.

Insurance claims — what actually pays out

All-risk insurance on a household shipment is standard, but claims for breakage generally need photographic evidence and inventory-by-inventory documentation. Take photos of fragile items pre-pack; keep the packing inventory; report breakage within the policy window (usually 14 days from delivery).

Total-loss coverage pays only if the entire container is lost at sea — rare but real.

Related

• Importing personal belongings (customs / clearance)
• Arrival week checklist
• First 90 days checklist
• Importing a car to Vietnam

Customs and import rules change. Verify duty / VAT exemption conditions with the Vietnamese General Department of Customs (Tổng cục Hải quan) and your chosen mover's destination office before signing.