How to recognize overly expensive movers

Besides being stressful and physically demanding, moving can be a big burden for your budget as well. Luckily, there are many ways to lower your moving costs, and learning how to recognize overly expensive movers is one of the ways to do it. Unfortunately, there are many factors that moving companies take into consideration when forming the price of your move. Therefore, Best Cross Country Movers will show you how much an average relocation should cost and what you should be paying attention to when hiring movers.

There are many factors that affect the price

Determining the cost of your move is not an easy task. There are many things that you should consider when preparing your moving budget. However, it is important to understand right from the start that the money you will have to spend on your moving company is not the only thing that will cost you during the process. Nevertheless, it is the biggest item in your moving budget. Therefore, if you manage to recognize overly expensive movers and find more affordable options, the cost of your move might lower dramatically.

a chalkboard with some messages
There are many things that affect the price of one move

Hiring the cheapest option is not always the smartest move

Another thing that you have to keep in mind when hiring movers is their reliability. It is easy to imagine that there are many very cheap movers out there. But what is the quality of their services? Is going with the cheapest option really worth the risk? According to our experience with dealing with some of the best moving companies in America, hiring cheap and unreliable movers can actually cost you much more than you hoped for. Not only that, in certain cases, the damage be irretrievable. That is why our suggestion is to first take your time to find moving companies that are trustworthy and reputable and then look for the most affordable option.

What is included in the price?

As we already said, there are many factors that are determining the cost of your move. And looking at the shier price of the move cannot really tell you all you need to know. For example, two moving companies could offer you the same price for a move. However, when you look closer, you will see that one moving company offers to pack your possessions while the other offers only labor and transportation services.  Therefore, if you really want to recognize overly expensive movers, find a few residential movers that look reliable, get their quotes and take your time to compare them thoroughly. That is the only way to get the best offers.

Try to find movers that offer labor only services if you want to move cheap

Hiring a full moving service has many benefits. And it is, naturally, the best way to move. Unfortunately, most people cannot afford to pay for such help. So, they usually, opt to do part of the work on their own and to hire a moving company only for transport. And there are a few variations of this service as well. Some will do the loading, transport, and unloading, while others will let you rent a moving truck and come only to assist you with getting your items on and off the truck.

movers loading a truck
Some movers will offer labor only services and it is the cheapest way to move

The point is, is that some moving companies can offer only the most basic help if you decide to lower your cost to the max. On the other hand, there are moving companies that do not operate in that way. They offer only full moving services and those are the moving companies that you should definitely avoid when looking to move cheap.

How much an average relocation can cost?

Now, let’s take a look at how much an average relocation could cost. First, is it a residential or commercial move? Hiring commercial movers to help you relocate your business is more expensive than hiring residential movers to move your apartment. How far are you moving? Local relocations are charged per hour per mover, long-distance relocations have a more complicated formula. How many items do you have to move? Moving a small apartment is cheaper than moving a 5-bedroom house. Are you getting a full moving service or a labor-only service? Here is the average cost of a move:

  • A short-distance move can cost between $800 and $2,150
  • A long-distance move can cost between $2,200 and $5,700

Moving short distance

When moving locally, moving companies will charge you per hour per mover. And most of the time, movers will charge you that hourly rate somewhere between $25 and $50. Here are some of the average costs of a short distance move based on the size of your home and the number of movers that are usually involved in such relocations

  • Studio/1-bedroom apartment with two movers and four hours to finish the move will cost around $400
  • 2-bedroom home with three movers and six hours to finish the move will cost around $900
  • 3-bedroom home with four movers and seven hours to finish the move will cost around $1400
  • 4-bedroom home with four movers and nine hours to finish the move will cost around $1,800
  • 5-bedroom home with five movers and twelve hours to finish the move will cost around $3,000
a man sitting on a back of a truck
Moving locally is cheaper than moving long-distance

Moving long distance

When it comes to long-distance relocations, there are many more items that will affect the price of your move. Transportation fees will be higher, tools, gas, fees for the drivers if the move lasts more than a day, etc. Here is the average cost of a long-distance move:

  • Moving a 1-bedroom home for 250 miles costs between $850 and $2,300
  • 1-bedroom home for 1000+ miles costs between $1,400 and $3,000
  • 1-bedroom home for 2500+ miles costs between $1,900 and $3,800
  • Moving a 3-bedroom home for 250 miles costs between $1,300 and $4,000
  • 3-bedroom home for 1000+ miles costs between $2,100 and $7,800
  • 3-bedroom home for 2500+ miles costs between $3,200 and $9,700
  • Moving a  5-bedroom home for 250 miles costs between $2,100 and $5,700
  • 5-bedroom home for 1000+ miles costs between $4,900 and $8,100
  • 5-bedroom home for 2500+ miles costs $9,400+

It’s not easy to recognize overly expensive movers but it is necessary if you want to move cheap

As you can see, it is not easy to recognize overly expensive movers. You have to consider many things in order to get the most affordable offer. Still, if you take your time and check your movers thoroughly finding those that fit your moving budget is definitely possible.

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