AIBU to think there must be an alternative to hiring a removals van?

Hey. We own a removal company.
if you are being quoted circa £1000 for moving a few doors away- you need to check up on this! Get some more quotes because that seems excessive!
We get where you’re coming from, honestly with the price. We hate having to charge so much for the removals. We price the cost to us and add a tiny bit more to make some sort of profit, but believe me, the cost to us has increased so much over the last few years, that our profit has reduced to so little, that we can barely feed our own kids after paying the staff! In the last few years, our cost price (and therefore our profit) has changed so much: The recent increase in fuel has meant that the prices we quoted 3 months ago, now mean we will do moves for no profit whatever.
my best advice is to make sure you have as many quotes from all the different companies in your area. We have found that some people are being quoted up to 20% more or less than our quotes.

Unfortunately, I think you are going to have to pay professionals. Just remember you will need to be out of your house by approximately 1pm which is the contract time.

Either, pack and carry everything yourself. And then, when you are so exhausted you could fall asleep on the floor, start making beds, arranging furniture and unpacking.
Or
Budget for professionals.
There is a reason house moves are thought to be as stressful as a divorce or job loss.

I’ve never hired a removals company I’ve hired a Luton van and done it myself. The last time I loaded the van up the night before except the bed, Hoover and cleaning stuff. It’s tough work but it was during Covid and only EXH did it ourselves. We moved slightly further, about 200m
ive only ever done it myself with the addition of family members where they could help

Every takes a few hours to vacate their house. If you can persuade or pay enough people to carry yous down the road, do it.

I always DIYed it using vans, trailers and friends, we even used a milk van once! But last time we moved we were lucky enough to have a friend with a removal business who gave us mates rates, and it was SO much easier. If I ever move again I will definitely get the pros in, moving is hell and they are worth every cent.

Get a dolly for big heavy stuff, self drive van or people with big cars, family members with work vans after hours

Yes, this. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you're only moving your stuff; you're also storing it for as long as it takes before you can unload it in your new house, when you likely don't have anywhere else to store it for that time.

Maybe, if you have a kind friend with a huge garage, or if you hire a storage unit; but then you're doubling the task, with two loadings and two unloadings for every item.

This is one of the few snapshot occasions where you're often luckier if you rent and can stagger your move. A lot of people can stretch to paying rent on one house for a few days whilst also paying the mortgage on a house; but far, far fewer people can afford to own two houses at the same time.

What alternatives do you think there should be?

Man and a van is far cheaper. You need 2 strong people to lift so many you hire plus one other person. The rest load up into smaller boxes that are easier to carry into van. Person you hire will stay in back of van and load it up.

My first house was literally a street away from where I was living so I carried everything (not that much) over.

When DH sold his house we drove all his stuff across the country in two hired Luton vans.

When we bought this house we moved everything ourselves with hired vans.

The difference was we have always made sure there was no chain and paid rent/double mortgages for a month to give us the time and space to do it that way.

Erm just move it yourself?

Wheelbarrow?

Having packed at the end of guide camp using a human chain, and then packing/unpacking several times while at uni and going into first flat, there was no way on earth I would ever do a DIY move again. I've managed to find the funds somehow for moving each time, or negotiated a relocation package with the new job.
It's money well spent, even if you're only moving to the next street.

Oh God this!

It is more than 25 years since we last moved and we used professional removers then.

But 3 years ago DD bought a flat about 15 miles away and was moving there from home. At first DH glibly said "Oh hire a van. I'll drive it and we will help". However, as I began to realise how much stuff she actually had, and bearing in mind DH and I are in our 60s now, I put my foot down. Well TBH I said hire a firm and we will pay.

So, so glad. Her flat was on the second floor. Even the removal men had a little difficulty negotiating the stairs with the 3 seater sofa and, if that hadn't defeated us, I think the dozens of boxes of books would have finished us off.

I don’t see how you can try to negotiate the cost just because it’s a short distance - you’re still paying for the same amount of labour and a van for the day? Surely it’s not very unusual to be moving only a short distance?

A cart on wheels?

Removals are so much better than a load of friends helping. They are insured for one, can pack the van in the best way, dismantle and put furniture together again etc and take a huge amount of stress and pressure of you on moving day. Having moved several times, would never do it myself, they are worth their weight in gold.

Horses or well trained dogs 😂
Also in stitches at the human chain suggestion - passing a sofa around like pass the parcel. (I would never do that as I only have 2 friends)

We had the luxury of time on our side moving with no chain on either end so could do the ferrying on a friend's open truck. We also got lucky on a nice day in summer so no issue with our possessions being affected by the weather. It also helped that we were upsizing and had an avaliable downstairs room to put things in for sorting later. Oh and DS was a young enough baby not to have too much stuff by that point.

When friend moved a longer distance they also did DIY, but for the stress and shunting up and down with time and milage costs, that was definitely a false economy.

Declutter before packing time too. Don't pack what won't serve you in your new life/ home. (DM never did fully unpack from her move nearly 40 years ago, so that was a waste of lugging those boxes around!)

With a time pressure it's worth having professional help and you can try and see if such a local move can have the reduced milage and transport time taken into account.

I've moved 5 times in 5 years, 3 with movers and twice without because I was a cocky fucker who thought I could do it myself with a friend or two. Its fucking gruelling, takes HOURS longer then you think it will because professionals do it in in one load with a big truck not multiple, they can get furniture up and down far easier then I could because they know what they're doing.

We moved to a second floor apartment and worked out we had each gone up and down the stairs 83 times in one day doing it ourselves.

Never again. I will spend that money now without a second thought. Not a single second thought

Get quotes on www.shiply.com.

It's like an eBay for small or large removals. They keep the costs down by combining jobs. You accept the quote you like best after reviewing costs and reading customer feedback.

We moved five minutes’ drive away, from one side of our little town to the other. We hired a self-drive van for 2 days, the day before completion and day of. The first load went a few miles away to my parents’ garage on the day before moving day; the second we moved on moving day into the garage of our new home. This meant we could clean thoroughly (and in fact replace all the upstairs carpets, too) before we had to unpack into the new house. Much easier than trying to move all our stuff to re carpet after we’d moved everything in. I couldn’t imagine just moving all our things straight into a home we hadn’t cleaned throughly ourselves, even if it superficially looked clean.

We moved within the same village and hired a van and did loads of trips. It was absolutely horrendous and by the end of the day I’d have paid every penny I had to a removal firm to do it for me. Feel free to learn from my error 😁