I thought it might be helpful to describe my own experiences moving...and what I'd do different if I had it to do all over. My guess is that others have I had quite different experiences, both u because they made different decisions, and because they have different priorities/circumstances.

Context: I moved from semi rural Florida USA to semi- rural Marlborough NZ. I'm outdoor oriented, love gardening and animals, specially dogs, and am the opposite of house proud... Comfort is good but I'm not out to impress anyone. I'm big on DIY and love tools.
Having heard that most stuff is expensive in NZ, I bought a 20 foot container. I brought my basic furniture and household goods, almost all my hand and garden tools, a couple transformers, selected 120 V appliances, a couple bicycles, misc stuff ranging from sandpaper to nuts and bolts to sponges and towels. I bought all sorts of clothes, but used socks, undies, t-shirts, etc as packing material, so they didn't waste space.
If I had it to do again, I'd bring my beds but no other furniture. You can pick up antique / vintage furniture here at reasonable prices in op shops, on Trademe, and in used goods stores. I mean hardwood...not crummy press board junk that looks snazzy, but won't stand hard wear.
It took 3 months for my container to arrive and I'd had to buy various tables, chairs, etc
to survive. I found some really good old stuff. As for the stuff I bought over, I failed to do a good job cleaning out dog hair and sand that accumulated inside one of my sofas, and I'm going to end out paying more than the damn thing is worth to get it steam cleaned. I would bring more tools, especially gas powered mower, blower, trimmer, and the like.
I didn't understand the rules about
bringing in new goods, and agreed to import an adult tricycle for a friend. That plus things like transformers and some stuff I bought for making cider here put me over the allowed $NZ1000...and I ended up paying $550 import duty.
Also found that some high end made in China items are no more expensive here than in the US. Eg, I found queen size cotton flannel sheets, high quality fabric, but boring print, on sale at $38/set at Warehouse.
Well, this could go on and on, but enough is enough.