How To Save Money When Hiring a Professional Moving Company

How To Save Money When Hiring a Professional Moving Company

Yes, it can be done, but before I get started, I would like to clarify a couple of things. First of all, this is not a “must-do” list that needs to be done before your movers arrive. This is simply put, a set of recommendations that, if followed, can lead to a much less-expensive move. Secondly, I am a professional mover and am writing this guide primarily for our customers. I can't speak for all moving companies, however, there are standards in the moving industry, and in most cases, these tips should apply to anyone hiring professional packers and/or movers to help them with a relocation.

I work for a professional moving company (Sooner Moving Company in Oklahoma). I am writing this based on my own experiences in the moving industry along with input from our company's founder. Most companies like ours, charge an hourly rate for services. Although, I can't be sure that every moving company out there charges the same way we do, this is the industry standard. The less time it takes us to complete a move, the less money our customer ends up spending. We don't mind doing, (or dealing with), most of the things I will be discussing in this article. In fact, the more time we spend on a job, the more money we make. For that reason, we have no problem spending whatever time it takes to finish the job. However, that being said, our goal is not to milk our customers for every dime we can get. Our primary goal is to end up with clients that are 100% completely satisfied with the service we provide. In doing so, we hope to obtain repeat business, recommendations and a few new friends along the way. We deal with people from virtually every walk of life. For those on a stricter budget, cost can be an issue and if the job takes too long we could end up with an upset customer. We don't want that to happen. So, what I hope to accomplish with this article is to simply put the ball back into our customers hands. If cost is not an issue, and you want us to handle every aspect of your move, by all means, we would love to do so. If cost is an issue, then there are things you can do prior to our arrival that could dramatically decrease the time it takes us to complete the job, and therefore, save you a lot of money off your final bill.So let me talk about a few things you can do.

First and foremost, you must decide if you would like us to handle the packing, the moving, or the entire job.

Packing Services

The main benefit utilizing our packing services is that we are highly experienced and very well-trained. We can pack everything in your home or business in such a way as to ensure that it can make it to the new location in the same condition it is in when loaded onto a truck. Not having to pack yourselves will save you a lot of time; time I'm sure you need to focus on all the other things you need to get done before your moving day arrives. We also cannot guarantee that items we don't personally pack are packaged in such a way as to minimize the possibility of loss or damage. The drawback to us doing the packing is that, although we are very fast and efficient, it does take a significant amount of time to pack a home or business properly, and as they say, “time is money”.

Moving Services

The benefit to us handling the physical moving of your items from one location to another is that we have a well-equipped staff of highly-skilled professional movers that know just what to do to get you to your final destination without loss or damage along the way. We can handle everything from your clothing, to your fine china and even your precious antiques. The drawback again, is that it takes time.

Another important consideration as you make the decision is how many other things you have going on as you prepare to move. Allowing us to handle both the packing, loading and unloading can take a lot of stress off your shoulders, so that you can focus on everything else you have going on.

Here are some other things you can do to save time and money.

Please, if at all possible, secure your pets. It is very common for people to have several dogs and cats running around a home while we are working. In that situation, we have to slow down to avoid tripping over and possibly injuring them or us, or damaging your items. I promise you...that is the last thing we want to do.



Before we arrive, you should consider moving everything you don't want to be packed into a separate room or area, marked as “DO NOT PACK”. We spend a lot of time during every move clarifying what goes and doesn't go. If we know up front that everything gets packed and loaded except those specific items, we can move much more efficiently.

Put a note (post-it notes work great) on the door to every room with what should be marked on the boxes, (i.e. girls room, man-cave, Fred's room, master bedroom, etc.). This is a big help when we enter into new rooms and don't have to find the home or business owner to clarify who's room it is.

Separate out all items we are not allowed to take, (car batteries, ammunition, chemicals, etc. See the FAQ section or our website for more information.

Disconnect appliances/TV’s, and make sure they are clean and ready for transport.

If at all possible, refrigerators, window air conditioning units and freezers should be disconnected at least a couple days ahead of time so they have a chance to completely dry out.

If items are going into storage, remove batteries from electronic devices and consider other things that could be damaged such as oil paintings, crayons, candles, etc.

Quite often we have people that want part of the load to go to storage and part to the home. If that is the case with your move, Please let us know ahead of time so we can load the truck in a way that allows us to unload part at the storage unit, and the other part at your home/business without having to shuffle things around at the destination.

Make sure we have a place to park our truck, extend our ramps and have a clear unobstructed path to the entrance of the home/business.

Consider what you will be doing with aquarium plants and fish as we are unable to transport them. Tanks should be drained and dry prior to our arrival.

Dishes should be clean, dry and ready to be packed.

Clothing will be packed just as you have them stored. Hanging clothes will remain on hangers and packed in wardrobes, ready to be hung up at the new location. Clothing in dressers may be left in dressers. All other clothing will be boxed.

We are happy to disassemble and reassemble your furniture (beds, dressers with mirrors, etc.), however, this can be very time consuming. If possible, have them taken apart before we arrive, and make arrangements to have them put them back together again after we leave your new location.

Items mounted on the wall such as television sets, speakers and pictures should be taken down and be ready for packing.

I hope this guide will help you prepare for your movers. Our goal is to get in, get you packed, loaded and unloaded as carefully and efficiently as possible with no loss or damage along the way.

Whether you choose our moving company or another, we at Sooner Moving hope you enjoy a stress-free move and wish you the best of times in your new home.