How Much Do Movers Cost
True enough, hiring a mover for your relocation is more expensive as compared to doing the entire job yourself. However, more often than not, the extra fees you pay for a mover are all worth it in exchange for your comfort, convenience, and peace of mind. Find out how much a mover costs these days.
Typical Cost Of Movers
The typical cost of a mover is $25 to $125 per hour.
Included In The Price Of Movers
The price includes one mover and all necessary services such as loading, transporting, and unloading of all your household goods, which are all calculated per hour.
Consider These Factors
Number of contents and size of your unit. It follows that when you have a large unit, there are a good number of contents that need to be taken care of. This only means that more work is needed and more hours are required to finish the process. In some cases, the moving company will give you three or more movers at $25 per hour each. For instance, if you have a 900-square foot two-bedroom apartment, the whole moving will consume around four to six hours. Ideally, three movers are required to do the job for this size of relocation. If you do the math, this will cost you $300 to $400. For larger homes that need six or more movers covering eight to 12 hours, the cost can reach as much as $1,800 or even more.
Distance. The distance of your old home to the relocation site can also affect the cost of movers. Usually, the $25 per hour rate of local movers can only mean 100 miles. Cross-country moves can go from $3,000 to $11,000 or even more depending on the size of your unit, the number of household items to be transported, and the like.
Site situation. Most movers analyze a lot of aspects when pricing their services. If your home has stairs, the movers usually price higher since it is more difficult to load and unload stuff if you need to go up or down the stairs. Moreover, long and difficult roads to the relocation site can also affect the price of the movers.
Additional Costs
Most movers do not cover packing and unpacking in their prices. However, they can do the job for you at an extra fee or around $25 to $35 per hour. A lot of homeowners choose to pack the items themselves to save money. However, professional movers can guarantee proper packaging of all your items to ensure safety during travel. The packing materials will add to the cost as well.
Most movers charge extra for handling appliances such as plasma TVs and pianos as they are often harder to handle as compared to usual household stuff like clothes and other furniture items.
Getting insurance from the mover is a very good move when transporting items. This will give you an assurance that every item in your inventory is protected in cases of mishaps such as fire incidents, theft, and the like.
Tips Before You Decide to Hire Movers
Look for several licensed movers near you and study each of them in terms of reliability, efficiency, and credibility. In most cases, it will be helpful for you to look for referrals from family members and friends who have used the services of movers before. This Hiring a Mover Guide will help you in your search for the best mover to hire for your needs. TopMOvingCompanies.com also has an extensive list of resources to help you plan your move successfully.
You can use MoversDirectory.com for their database of moving companies by state.
Get price quotes from different movers. Study the coverage of their services and choose based on what you get in exchange for your money. Get free quotes using this moving calculator from Relocation.com. You can also check the American Moving and Storage Association website to get moving quotes from different professional movers near you.
Before closing a deal, make sure to have a written document regarding everything entailed in the move. This may include the number of movers, insurance policies, services offered, and the like. Check for additional fees that they may ask from you so you can always be prepared with additional expenses.
Schedule a move on weekdays as much as possible. This is true because most of the time, weekend moves are priced 20 percent higher.