How Do I Save Money When Hiring a Moving Company?

There are plenty of ways to save money on a moving company. We will discuss many of the best ways to save money when hiring a moving company.

First thing you should now is that it can be very difficult to know whether you are getting a great deal with a moving company until you get the final bill. It is very difficult for moving companies to give you an accurate estimate over the phone. You have to keep in mind that they cannot see the scope of the project until they arrive on location at your home. A moving company can give you an approximate estimate but they can never be sure how long something is going to take until they arrive. Some moving companies will also charge a lot of hidden fees. A company that sounds like the cheapest one at first may end up being the most expensive.

Money Saving Tip #1

Pack as many of your things as possible before the movers show up. That might sound like an obvious statement. However, a lot of people who are moving only have about half to two-thirds of their belongings packed when the movers arrive. Moving companies charge by the hour so if it takes several hours to get the rest of your belongings packed, it can cost you hundreds of dollars. When you have lived somewhere for several years it’s easy to forget how many belongings you own. A good rule is to guesstimate how much time it is going to take you to pack and then double that amount of time.

Money Saving Tip #2

Make sure you have all of your own packing materials such as boxes, bubble wrap, and packing tape. There are some moving companies that will charge you for boxes, bubble wrap and even packing tape. Box companies will frequently contact moving companies to sell boxes. Moving companies will then turn around and sell the boxes to customers at a large markup. Many stores will give you boxes if you simply ask for them. The best time to get boxes is in the late night and early morning hours right after stores have just restocked their shelves. Large box stores also sell bubble wrap.

Money Saving Tip #3

Ask plenty of questions about billing when you are getting a quote. Some examples of great questions to ask are as follows: Do you have a travel charge? What is your travel fee per mile? Do you have any additional fees if stairs are involved? What is your hourly rate? How many movers do I get for that hourly rate? Are there fuel charges? Are you insured? Do you have any additional fees besides the hourly rate?

It may seem like you are asking a lot of questions but moving companies will know you are a savvy consumer. A moving company will be much less likely to try to pull one over on you if you ask a lot of relevant questions. Asking all of these questions will allow you to get a better idea of what the actual fees may be for moving.

Money Saving Tip #4

Choosing a large company does not mean you will receive a better quality of service. Choosing a large company also does not mean your move will be cheaper. Some large nationwide moving companies pay their employees very low wages. This leaves the employees resorting to other means to try to make ends meet. Theft is all too common in the moving industry. Large moving companies have to hire a larger number of employees, willing to do manual labor, for poor wages. The easiest people to hire that already meet all of those criteria are individuals with a criminal history. When you hire a large moving company that pays their employees poor wages, you may just be inviting criminals in to steal your belongings. The most commonly stolen items are electronics and small items that a person would not notice were missing for several weeks or even months. Even if nothing is stolen during the move, they know where you live. If those criminal individuals like your TV or some other item, they may just come back at a later date to steal it. Many moving companies will state that they run background checks on all employees. Just because they run a background check does not mean that they don’t hire people that have had a criminal record. You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with saving money? Replacement costs due to theft will dramatically increase the amount you spent on the moving company.

Money Saving Tip #5

Hire a small local moving company. Small local moving companies rely more heavily on providing a quality customer experience. Small companies have to rely upon word of mouth to generate more customers. While large companies spend vast amounts of money advertising their companies. Some have been known to pay marketing firms large sums of money to bury negative comments about their companies. What does this mean for you? It means you will likely have higher moving costs and more hidden fees.