This is a review of our experience shipping from Vancouver to Toronto.
First, I recommend greyhound shipping. They are very affordable, they allow you to ship multiple packages at once without extra surcharges (making it very easy to ship as you're preparing to move) and for $12 extra they will pick your stuff up and deliver it to someone else's door. They don't guarantee a time and it can take 1-2 weeks, but if that isn't a problem for you then you could save a ton.
Also, I shipped an imac (heavily protected in a larger box) and it survived completely fine! They wouldn't insure it, but that's true of everyone except UPS, who will charge about $400. I got my imac across the country safely for $100. Generally that was true of everything we shipped; the boxes got banged up pretty bad but some careful packing and you should be fine.
So why the three stars? We shipped 22 packages in 5 shipments, and somehow greyhound LOST 4 PACKAGES. Not from the same shipments either, it was a box per shipment. We eventually got them all, but it involved a lot of calling, both to their central dispatch and individual shipping centres. They aren't well-coordinated so when something goes wrong (which it apparently does often) you're going to have a headache. Good news as I said is they found everything, and apparently while this seems to happen a lot, people also eventually seem to get their package.
Thinking of shipping with them? Here is how you can increase your chance of a 5-star experience. TAPE THEIR WEIGHBILL FIRMLY ON TO YOUR PACKAGE. Who knows why, but for years they've been using the same crappy weighbill stickers that they know fall off their packages. Once that happens things get chaotic. So when the person puts it on, say "I hear these fall off a lot, I'm going to tape it down along the edges." Also, make sure you've written the destination address clearly on the box or package. If they do lose track of it, this will help people at the local depots found your rogue box.