Average Packing Services Cost

Are you planning on moving to a new home with plenty of new opportunities but are unsure how much you will have to pay for your plans to come true? You are planning on hiring some of the best cross-country movers but you just cannot wrap your head around the fee of packing, and unpacking? No worries, we’ve got your back. We’ll lead you through the necessary steps in order to be able to understand and calculate all of the costs you can expect from your packing services. We’ll even talk about how you can lower those costs. So without further ado, let’s check out the average packing services cost and how you can affect them.

What will a professional packing service do exactly?

Before we even consider going into the toll of standard packing services, you need to be informed about what to expect from the company you will hire. When hiring a professional moving/packing company you should be greeted by people that are able to pack your things at a much faster pace than you. The aim of paying them after all is a more secure and efficient way of packing your things. Once they come in, they should disassemble your furniture, wrap it properly, and finally secure it nicely. Of course, they need to take care of the art, carpets, and even expensive items like a piano. So it will be no longer needed to worry about packing your musical equipment. Although the more fragile or bigger items may come with a larger fee. Hopefully, we’ve cleared up the basic expectations that need to be covered by the professionals.

So how much do the average packing services cost?

From company to company, you might get charged in various different ways. Some companies demand an hourly payment, while others just rely on you straight off paying for the labor. You might get paid for traveling fees or you might not. What you need to know is that they will charge you for the boxes they need for packing. That is, of course, unless you provide them with your own boxes. They will also pay you more depending on how many workers you’ll need. It’s very important to go through all of these specifics in order to understand the cost of packaging. So what do the typical packing services cost? Let’s dive into some different scenarios, and get a bit more detailed.

Cost of boxin’ up

If you don’t have boxes of your own and can’t get ahold of some, you are pretty much forced to pay for the company’s boxes. This will sadly add up to that standard packing services cost. Don’t worry though, they most likely know what they are doing and won’t just bring any kind of equipment. This will cost you a set of pay that includes tape and what they need in order to pack those boxes. Why this might be a good deal for you? Well, you don’t need to worry about things like how to label moving boxes properly or if they fit in your car and similarly. After all, those boxes and the equipment used might be of a better quality than what you yourself can offer.

Moving on, the actual price will vary depending on the size of the box you’ll need and well, obviously the amount. The smaller boxes have an average price of $1 per unit, while the medium boxes usually cost $1.5 per unit. Adequately, large boxes cost $2 per unit, and lastly, extra-large boxes cost $2.5 per unit. Please keep in mind that these are truly the average costs. Meaning that the company you will hire might not offer the same prices. Always be sure to call and check for the prices before establishing the final budget.

Expensive items that add up to the average packing services cost

If you own some specific specialty items that are really expensive or extremely fragile, you might have to stretch your moving budget a bit. This is the case because the people you’ll hire will have to spend more time securely packing these antiques. Moving a piano or a large expensive painting is no easy job after all. Therefore, you should expect to give up at least $25-$100 more for that service. Although this might end up expensive, this is truly worth paying because of the experience the movers have. Moving those specialty items yourself can be of a high risk you might not be happy to take. This is one of those things that will highly affect the cost of standard packing services.

Cost by home size

Now that we’ve been through the things that will always add up to the price if need be, let’s look at the different ways the company might calculate the price for you. Whether you are moving to Seattle or any other place, your packing costs will probably be determined by the size of your house/apartment. This means that depending on the number of bedrooms, you’ll get charged differently. So let’s fill you in on the typical packing services fee. The costs that we will be listing include the equipment. Let’s look at the prices:

• One bedroom – A one-bedroom apartment (400 sq. ft. – 1,000 sq. ft.) will cost you from $280 to $650.
• Two bedrooms – The average packing services cost for a two-bedroom place (700 sq. ft – 1,250 sq. ft.) will add up from $530 to $1000 of an expense.
• Three bedrooms – Having three bedrooms in your place (1,250 sq. ft. and over) usually leads to a price range of $1,030 – $2,200.
• Four bedrooms – A four-bedroom home will boost the price to $2000 and over.

Paying by the hour

Some packing services might ask you to pay them per hour they spend working. In this case, you will most likely get to choose how many people you will pay for. The company obviously might tell you what they think but ultimately if you assign one person and he takes 3 days to pack everything up, you’ll be paying him for every hour he spent working. That quite obviously is not the brightest idea. Therefore, try asking for an adequate number of workers for the assignment. The estimate is that one worker can usually do 100 sq. ft. in an hour. In which case, if you would hire two workers for 400 sq. ft. they could finish it up in 2h and you would somewhere around $120. So the average packing services cost for one worker per hour about $50/$60.

If you are in a hurry, you can just hire more people at once. Though you will be paying more for their services. Determine what’s right for your needs yourself. It’s usually alright to have two workers all the way up to the 3-bedroom point. If you own a home with 3 bedrooms or more you would be advised to hire at least three people. Once again, it is very important that these prices are average estimates based on 2022 prices. Your company might charge you more/less depending on where you are and the standard packing services toll in your state.

Potential traveling fees

Don’t worry, not every company will charge you for the traveling fees. You might just end up paying per hour or a fixed price according to other factors like the average packing services cost. But just so you can’t say we didn’t warn you, some services do tend to ask for traveling fee payment. That is going to be the case especially if you are not that close to the company that is packing your things. Meaning that they will spend a lot of money on gas to come to your place. This is just how gas prices affect the cost of moving, whether we like it or not. You can never be too sure so you should probably ask them whether they charge the fuel.

The cost of unpacking services

After packing up all of your belongings, let’s imagine you transporting the stuff. The workers assembling everything after the move are usually already in scale with the original price. Meaning that they should be assembling everything back together. You might have to pay a bit extra for the specialty items though. Now, once again, each company works differently, so we cannot predict if they will charge you extra for that or not. Moreover, the average cost of packing might differ in your state. But they usually end up charging extra for assembling the expensive item. Depending on their way of charging, you might need to just pay them for another hour of work in order to assemble the specialty item. On the other hand, you might not have what to do on your first day in your new home, so maybe take up a challenge and try assembling everything yourself.

How to save money on the packing services

Now that we’ve gone through the average packing services cost you can expect from the packing services, let’s see if you can save some money with a few tips. Firstly, consider piling up your own boxes. Maybe go ahead and figure out how to reuse cardboard boxes for maximum proficiency. What are the chances of you not having some boxes laying around in your house? If anything, maybe ask a friend or two if they can offer some of their own. Apart from that, getting your own equipment for packing will substantially lower your expenses. So buying bubble wraps, moving blankets, and packing paper is a really good idea. Be wary that if you do not contact the packing company beforehand, they might cause problems with liability for the items. Meaning they can blame your bad equipment for damaging something.

Alternatively, you should consider throwing away some things to lower the number of things they will need to pack. Since moving junk is just nonsense, after all, disposing of it beforehand is a favorable act. Another option for lowering the standard packing services price is packing up some of the things yourself. We used the word some because packing the piano or some weirdly shaped items is just a bad idea all around. So maybe just minimize expenses by packing up all of the standard household items. Sadly, we currently aren’t focused on packing tips for an interstate move, but we’re sure you’ll figure it out. Afterward, you can call up the packing service and let them focus on some of the furniture and the expensive things. This is one of the ways of lowering the cost of standard packing services and still securing your things with professional help.

Why choose professionals over DIY packing?

The need to save some money for other expenses for moving is indeed understandable. The fact that you need every penny is not surprising at all. This is exactly why we decided to talk about saving money under the heading above this one. But here, we are more focused on why you should decide to spend some extra money on professional moving services. Let’s see why the fee for standard packing services is well worth it. First off, being in a hurry practically calls for a professional moving business. There’s probably no one else that can pack your stuff faster than they can. You might not even know when the right time to start packing is. So instead of you spending days figuring out how to disassemble that sofa, they could do it in less than an hour.

Next up, the safety. We’ve already mentioned this several times, but there is nothing more important than the safety of all of your valuable belongings. With the experience of professional packers, you will have your things packed up in the best way possible. As they say, better safe than sorry. Upcoming, let’s talk about insurance. So even if your things get damaged during the packing, a big chunk of the companies offer insurance for all of your things. Even if something happens, they are forced to pay the needed money for the cause of damage. The last thing, and maybe the best thing about paying professionals is that don’t need to worry about one thing in a long list of chores for a long-distance move. You can sit back and relax knowing that people with experience are handling your possessions. All of that for just an average packing services cost.

Conclusion

It’s been a long ride, but a very informative one. Hopefully, you aren’t fed up with all of the information you just memorized. We genuinely hope this article has been of help to you and your moving accomplices. After all, making your move easier is one of our main goals. Knowing the average packing services cost is one step further into organizing your move better and calculating the correct budget. Therefore, you are now closer to finally moving into your new home. We wish you the best of luck with your move!