International shipping is priced by volume, so the rule is simple and unforgiving: ship what is small, light, and genuinely irreplaceable. A container for a two-bedroom home routinely runs five figures, and most of what would go inside it is worth less than the freight.
Storage is the other default, and it is a subscription on a depreciating asset. Two years in a mid-size unit costs $3,000 to $4,500 across most US metros, and furniture is worth less every month it sits. If you are not certain you are coming back to the same city, storage is usually money spent to defer a decision rather than to preserve value.
That leaves selling, which for most of a household is the right answer — and it is the part people leave until three weeks before the flight, which is exactly why it goes badly. Anything with real value needs six to ten weeks of market exposure. Compressed into the final fortnight, everything sells at clearance prices to whoever turns up.
VaultXL runs the whole liquidation. We value what you own, tell you honestly what is worth selling and what is not, separate out anything sentimental before a single item is listed, sell across the channels that actually move each category, donate the rest with itemised receipts, and clear the place before your lease ends. You keep 85% of every sale.
If you have already left, we can still run it. Access is arranged in writing, prices are approved through your client portal from wherever you now are, and settlement is electronic. Nothing waits on you being in the country.
What the family receives.
- ✓Free assessment: what to ship, what to sell, what is genuinely worth storing
- ✓Honest arithmetic on shipping and storage costs against real resale values
- ✓Sentimental items, documents and heirlooms taken out of scope first
- ✓Photography, research and listing across local and national channels
- ✓Buyer pickup coordination, so you are not meeting strangers on your last week
- ✓Donation with itemised FMV receipts for your final US tax filing
- ✓Final clear-out and broom-clean handover
- ✓Remote operation for clients who have already flown
- ✓Electronic settlement — you keep 85% of every sale
Why VaultXL.
Volume is the enemy
Shipping is priced by cubic foot. We help you work out what genuinely earns its freight, which is almost always less than people assume — and it is rarely the furniture.
Storage is a decision, not a pause
A unit you rent on the way to the airport is a monthly bill on things losing value in the dark. Sometimes it is right. Usually it is a deferred decision with interest.
We can run it after you have gone
Access held in writing, prices approved through a portal, proceeds paid electronically. Timezones do not need to line up for this to work.
The tax paperwork is part of the job
Donation receipts are itemised at fair market value, because your final US filing is one of the last things you will do from abroad and reconstructing it later is miserable.
Where we serve.
Charlotte · Raleigh-Durham · Greensboro · Winston-Salem · Asheville · Wilmington · Columbia · Greenville · Rock Hill · Fort Mill · and remote engagements nationwide
Start with a walkthrough.
Two hours in your home. No estimate in the room — we send a written plan within forty-eight hours.
Frequently asked.
Usually not. International shipping is priced by volume and a container for a two-bedroom home routinely runs five figures. Ship what is small, light and irreplaceable. For most furniture the freight costs more than replacing it on the other side.
It depends on how long and whether you are returning to the same city. Under a year, often yes. Past eighteen months the storage bill usually exceeds what the furniture will be worth when you return. If you are not certain you are coming back, storage is typically money spent deferring a decision.
Six to eight weeks for a full home if you want proper prices, and ninety days is more comfortable. Valuable items need weeks of exposure to find the right buyer. The final fortnight is clearance pricing no matter how good the item is.
Yes. We arrange access in writing, list from photographs, and you approve prices through your client portal from any timezone. Settlement is electronic, so nothing requires you to be physically present.
Those come out of scope before anything is priced. They get boxed for family storage or shipped with you. Deciding what is never for sale is the first conversation we have.