How the heck do I ship a mattress from Holland to Canada

[Dennis Kalma]

Just thought I would check the collective intelligence of this group. Just heading over for a month in Holland.....eeehaa vacation and maybe start of retirement!

Anyway, we have all metric sized mattresses (90cm x 200cm0 and mine is about 20 years old and needing replacement. We tried the custom made memory foam versions, wife likes hers, it gave me a backache and so I went back to the old one.

Idea is to buy a mattress there and ship it, via slow boat if needed) from the Hague to Calgary. I have checked the regular shipping guys and get some pretty wild estimates (like $1500) which i will suck up if I have to....but does anyone out there have any insight into a shipper or means for me to do this?

Stijn or any other person near den Haag....if you can figure out a way....there's a few beer that I am sure I can buy in partial compensation!

Thanks

Dennis

[Zeke]

Jeez, for 1500 you could ship a car. Maybe that's a thought, but a car to make a buck or two and stick a mattress in it before it gets shipped. Seriously, I'd look into piggy backing on someone else's shipment of household furnishings. I'm sure if you get in touch with the local Dutch club, someone will know someone who's moving, or something else that will work.

BTW, what do they have in Holland that you can't buy in North America?

[9dreizig]

:BTW, what do they have in Holland that you can't buy in North America?
Come on milt duh?? coffee shops?? Amsterdamn??

[Joeaksa]

Been there and done that. Buy a frigging mattress in Holland. They have a vast selection and all types.

[juanbenae]

Originally posted by 9dreizig
:BTW, what do they have in Holland that you can't buy in North America?
Come on milt duh?? coffee shops?? Amsterdamn??

yeah, customs may insist on cutting it open to have a look for contraband.....

so why do you need another metric mattress? something to do with fitted sheet size?

[Dennis Kalma]

....alright, a bit more explanation....

We have this wonderful tropical mahogany bedroom set that we bought when we lived there. Cost a small fortune then, is probably enought to retire on now. Beautiful German craftsmanship coupled with sorta rare tropical woods....very nice and my wife likes it too.

Part of the set is a bed with end tables/headboard and all that stuff that is made for two mattresses of exactly 90 x 200 cm. I have checked all over the place, all they sell on this continent is either the regular sizes...queen/double etc that do not fit or the custom fitted foam jobbies...as per my previous comments.

So, I have back problems, need a good mattress. The one I have lasted about 20 bouncy years, it is now dead...deceased and I need a new one. I wish there was an easier answer.

Oh yeah, Milt, the piggy back idea is a good one....I will check with local expatriate community and see what is up there...

Thanks all,

Dennis

[9dreizig]

This might be an off the wall idea,, but what about IKEA ??

[Dottore]

IKEA is the right answer. They sell European size mattresses and linens.

[Dennis Kalma]

I checked the Canadian IKEA exhaustively, they used to stock metric mattress sizes until the early '90's, but now they have converted to North American sizes....and as much as I tried and lobbied with their management/customer service sorts, they were unwilling to ship some nice Ikea mattresses from a store in Europe here as part of one of their larger shipments.

Sigh...

Dennis