8 Factors that Affect the Cost of Professional Moving

 

Moving takes its toll and hiring trained, professional movers to help you relocate will lift most of the physical burden off your shoulders (no pun intended). The experts will do all the laborious work for you and will ensure the safety and success of your relocation adventure. With the laborious burden being reduced through professional assistance, it comes at a cost. The cost varies depending on different variables that will directly affect the labor and effort required in moving. 

 

How do Movers determine the price to quote?

 

Any respectable moving company should be able to provide an explanation for all the costs attributed to your move. At Nellions™, we usually conduct a pre-moving survey that helps us identify the items you will be moving. This helps with the planning, as we’re able to compute the Volume of the goods and allocate the resources necessary to execute your move.

When the survey is carried out, we usually look at a few things to determine the prices that we quote:

 

1. Size of Move / Load Volume

 

The biggest factor when pricing a move is the Volume of your goods. Professional movers use the data collected from the pre-move survey to compute the total Volume of your goods in cubic meters (CBM). The load Volume is always clearly indicated in your quotation.

Naturally, if you are moving a lot of items, your movers will quote a higher price. This is because Volume is the basis for calculating pretty much all resources required to execute the move.

The size of your consignment directly correlates to the manpower deployed for the job, the wrapping materials required, and the size of the truck/container that the movers will use.

 

2. Relocation Distance 

 

The greater the distance between the pick-up and delivery locations, the higher the transportation costs will be – it will take more time and more fuel to transport a shipment over a longer distance. Other logistics costs to factor include food and accommodation for the movers where long-distance travel is required.

 

3. International and Cross border moving 

 

International and cross-border moves have different considerations compared to inland house moves. For one, shipping and customs fees apply to your consignment. Packing methods and packing materials also vary.

Handling is also done differently. As such, your mover may have to hire a container to ship your goods, and even fabricate wooden crating to ensure maximum safety. Other costs are determined by the country of destination. In some countries, for example, taking insurance is mandatory while in others it is not. Some countries also impose levies on all imports which add up to the moving costs

 

4. The Complexity of the Job

Any special requirements that necessitate extra steps in packing and handling usually attract higher charges because they either make the moving process slower, riskier, or more difficult. The work takes more time and effort to complete, so the moving costs increase.

Examples of these situations are: 

• when we have to dismantle complex items for moving: bulk filers, bookshelves, etc
• moving delicate items like antiques and fine art
• moving heavy items like pianos, safes, or pool tables
• long flights of stairs in buildings with no elevators
• where the movers have to haul the goods for a long distance between the house and loading vehicle. The international guide is that when the long carry exceeds 30 meters extra labor should be deployed in order to do the job within the set time.

The last two points usually require more manpower to be executed effectively, and all of these situations will certainly have an effect on the price that is quoted for your move.

 

5. Timing of your Move 

 

This is a demand and supply issue. The peak period for moving (when there is the highest demand) is around the end-month. Certain times of the year also bring increased demand, such as summertime in the Northern Hemisphere (June-August) and the holiday season.

If you intend to move during this time, it is advisable you book your move as early as possible — at least 2 weeks in advance — and lock in the best prices. 

 

6. Packing Materials, Equipment and Machinery

 

When it comes to packing, Nellions™ uses reusable moving crates to transport your items during inland house moves. However, international moving effectively negates the use of moving crates, so we use different materials for packing — moving boxes, bubble wrap, and corrugated cardboard — which are left with the client when they arrive at the destination country.

In the cases where we are moving heavy machinery, we sometimes do need to hire machinery that can handle these loads safely, such as cranes.

 

7. Access

 

If you live on the 8th floor of an apartment building with no elevator, it will require much effort and manpower to move your goods compared to someone on the ground floor. 

Also, if you have narrow doors and hallways, a rigger might be needed to hoist them inside through a window. In this case, you could be assessed a hoisting fee. 

Sometimes the link road to your residence is too narrow for a moving truck to get through and a smaller van is deployed to shuttle the items.

 

8. New Furniture

 

In most cases, if a moving company has to mount or assemble brand new furniture there will be a charge for it since that is a different service altogether. This is common when people are moving into new homes whereby they buy new furniture and call in movers to bring in their old furniture to the new house

 

The cost of moving varies from client to client depending on their needs and the goods they’re moving. A lot of factors go into calculating the quoted price, which requires your mover to assess the goods that you are moving beforehand.

Your moving quote provides details on these fees, and you should ask for an explanation from your mover where you don’t understand any charges.