There is nowhere you see more people end up spending a fortune by trying to save a few dollars than when moving house. Here are a few of the most common traps we see people fall into.
Skimping on moving boxes materials
It seems a lot to spend over $100 on materials just to get your belongings from a to b, but often the right materials can save you more than they cost. Not only does it prevent breakages, but regularly sized boxes are easier to pack, take down stairs or out on a dolly which means your removalists are faster.
No time to pack it right
A lot of people save themselves some money by packing themselves. However, a lot end up costing themselves more because packing properly takes longer than most people think. Suddenly the money you thought you were saving by not hiring packers has now been spent on the move anyway (or worse, it’s cost even more) and it’s been a lot longer and harder day for you and your family.
Taking the cheapest quote
Don’t get us wrong, we’re not just plugging our own mid-priced services here. The reality is, cheap quotes that sound amazing are often too good to be true. There are companies out there that will quote low just to win your work and rely the fact that when everything blows out of on moving day it’s too late to change your mind. You will often find these companies also don’t use professionals, so they take longer to move your things, don’t get everything in one truck load or damage your things.
Getting stung by hidden costs
Like any company trying to win work, removalists will put their best offerings front and centre. The problem is too many have a whole lot of less attractive fees that are buried in the fine print. Fuel levies, deposits, base to base charges, credit card surcharges and the like can all end up costing you more than that very attractive hourly rate made you think, so make sure you ask exactly what will be charged and make sure you understand what that means, even small percentages can very quickly add up.
Underestimating just how much stuff you have
If you haven’t moved in a while, chances are you have about twice as much stuff as you think you do. You’d be surprised how much stuff ends up in the back of cupboards, under the stairs, in the garage or in the roof cavity. I’ve yet to meet anyone who gets all their stuff in one place ready to move and says, “oh, there was less than I thought”. Start packing the ‘out of the way’ stuff early, and cull as you go, that way you will know early on if you are going to run out of time or that 3-4 hour quote may no longer be realistic.
Undersell the size to get a cheaper quote
Some people seem to think if they make the job sound easier than it is, somehow it will ultimately cost less. Here’s the thing, we ask about how many stairs, access, awkward objects etc, not to beef up the price, but to be able to give you a realistic estimate of how long it will take. If you undersell the size of your job often your removalists will bring a smaller truck, or less movers which means not everything fits in one go, or the savings you thought you were making by not paying for an extra removalists are quickly eaten up by the extra time it takes.
Not getting the right sized truck
Not all removalists or removalists trucks are created equal. A lot of companies have different sized trucks. If you’re moving around the corner, it doesn’t matter so much, but if you have even a half hour journey between your old home and your new home a second trip can cost a lot, so make sure you understand what size truck your removalists will be using and how much it will fit.