If you have a normal sized household with lots of big items or furniture paying for a container (or part of one) to transport your things would pay off. If you are like us and only have household items packed up in boxes (we had ten in total) you might consider sending it through the mail.
We weighed all our boxes and measured them. Then we checked how much it would cost us sending it either through USPS or UPS. In the end we chose USPS and ended up paying around $900, that's including two guitars and an amp.
This article will give you all the dos and don'ts of choosing a shipping company:
http://www.movingscam.com/articles/a-guide-to-international-shipping
You really want to read through EVERYTHING! in the contract and make sure you understand what they mean by it - don't be shy about asking questions! I actually looked up some of these companies on the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission and couldn't find them or found documents that said they had their documents removed. I just sent an email asking the respective company about it and most of them replied either with a good reason or a link to where they are registered in the system.
One thing that I learned is that you really want to have someone stop by your place in person and do an evaluation. This should reign in unpleasant surprises down the road.
After doing your research(ask, ask, ask questions) it's important to listen to your gut feeling as well. I just didn't feel right about choosing a container company and in the end it saved us so much money and trouble just going with the normal Mail system. (I do have to mention though that one of the guitars was damaged... and their insurance system sucks!)
We sold all our big furniture and kept only the most important things. Germany has different electrical outlet plugs, so you have to see if you have something that's worth getting a converter once you're over there. (More on that in another post.)
