To pack when paying for packers?

[MarianneVos]

I'm moving next week and for the first time in paying for packers rather than doing it myself.

Should I just leave the house as it is and let them have at it, or is there stuff I should pack myself?

I was thinking to pack anything delicate I'd hate to get broken (mug with baby DC footprints).

Paperwork is in a locked filing cabinet so should be fine?

What do I do about drawers and cupboards that are a real mishmash of stuff. Should I sort into containers first or something? Or just leave as is?

What about bedding -pack all our stuff from our final night into a suitcase or something?

Any advice appreciated! Obviously I want to do as little as possible (I have a newborn and two toddlers) but equally don't want lots of stuff getting lost or damaged.

I used to pack...
My clothes.
Private items.
Anything awkward like completed lego models.
Stuff for a few days around the move

I'd also keep back the hoover and cleaning stuff.

With fragile items like plates, ornaments etc, they were insured if they packed but not if we packed, so I left it to them. They definitely knew what they were doing

In 7 moves, the majority international, we had less than 10 broken items total!

I’d at least pack a selection of stuff for yourself as if you were going on a self catering holiday. That way, when you get there, you will have easy access suitcases with your basic clothes and personal things for the next week, and also a box with kettle, toaster, tea, a few mugs etc so when you get there you can make a cup of tea or have a snack without waiting for box #132 to emerge from the van.

And I’d organise things - yes, perhaps box up the most precious (in retrospect, the packers were better at this than I was but you don’t know this for sure). They pack like a cloud of efficient locusts, so make sure you’ve moved things into the right place first!

I have moved twice in the last year (finally settled now though) and have used a packing service both times. The first time I did pack up stuff which I knew would not be unpacked til I got to the final house as we rented for a year (if that makes sense), so I knew in the rental stage there would be things I would not use and unpack there. This was nice china/glass etc.

However, they pack EVERYTHING. Literally everything. Be warned about this, they will literally pack empty bottles - for instance I had 3 method bathroom cleaner bottles, all with perhaps a third in, obviously if I was packing I would decant into one bottle, but they just pack it all up. There is LOADS and LOADS of packing paper and I ended up with a bag of scrunched up paper that was literally the size of a garden shed (the bag was from the removal company, it was huge).

The first move was very stressful and I just sat in the kitchen chatting to them whilst they packed up around me. I couldn't get involved as emotionally I did not want to leave the house and I just had to sit kind of rocking in a chair drinking tea whilst they did it.

I will say, for the additional cost it is the best money I ever spent. You can easily get rid of the empty boxes on facebook marketplace or gumtree when you have unpacked.

I’d pack sentimental and personal things myself.

And as pp says, a separate box of things you’ll need immediately.

And as others have said, make up a box to put in your car with items you will need immediately. Kettle, milk, bread etc, hoover, cleaning stuff, dog food, cat food (if relevant) food for kids etc. My first move I had a boiling water tap in the kitchen, whilst I knew I wouldn't have one in the rental kitchen I bought a kettle. I didn't keep it in my car and it took me about 19 boxes to find it.. Not great when you are gasping for a cuppa!

We moved in the summer and I focussed on sorting. Given you’re paying them to pack use this week to get rid of anything you don’t want at the new place. Be ruthless- charity shop and Facebook market place stuff you don’t need or want. Agree that they use a lot of paper and will pack stuff that you would have chucked or amalgamated so try to do that this week.
I had a big 64 litre plastic box open on the worktop on moving day that I told them not to take which had bits I needed for kids- bottles, capsule kitchen stuff, snacks, tea, coffee etc which I took with me in the car. Ditto a suitcase with overnight stuff so that if we hadn’t unpacked much by bedtime we had all the crucial stuff. Good luck!

You don't have to sort out drawers or cupboards if you don't want to but be aware that they will pack everything exactly as it is so if it is in a mess now, it will come out an even bigger mess at the other end! And you probably won't have an immediately obvious drawer or cupboard to put it back into! I always use moving as an opportunity to sort things out, get rid of things which are broken or send usable stuff to the charity shop, sell it et cetera.

Otherwise it is entirely up to you how much you pack in advance, I have moved a lot and now only do personal items, clothes that I need immediately, jewellery and a couple of boxes of things that I need to be able to get my hands on as soon as we arrive at a new place.

Designate a "Do Not Touch" area in the house for things for the things like your overnight bag to go in. (A bathroom is good for this as there usually isn't much to pack!) Leave access for the toilet though!

When we moved to Oz I still packed things like jewellery, personal items, crystal glasses etc. Breakables for sure.

We pack our valuables as had issues with stuff being nicked before.
Anything you pack make sure you mark the boxes so you can verify they are all present when the movers unload at the new place.
Valuables did include especially fragile momentos of sentimental value as well.

Bedding we simply strip the beds and put into large black bin bags if moving door to door.

If you’re not moving door to door, then typically we’d move out to a hotel the day before and bedding would go into moving boxes done by the packers. I’d usually wash & dry it that same day before.

Paperwork may need to come out of the filing cabinet. It depends on how heavy it is full and whether it’s construction is strong enough to move while full. Use your best judgement. Often paperwork can be a valuable as well….I have a plastic document tote that I keep the most important bits in like birth certificates , diplomas, passports, and so on. I usually take this in my car if going door to door or put in my carry on if moving internationally.

I don't think if anything you pack yourself is damaged they will accept liability / or cover for insurance.

We had packers (best thing we did when I saw the work they did and the access to bubble wrap, boxes etc.) but personal item (passports, credit card statements etc. I put in the car)

I packed my underwear into a small suitcase. The buggers emptied the suitcase into a box, then packed the empty bag into another box.

I would pack sentimental/private items and seal the box. We have moved a lot and have had so much damage from movers.

My routine is the same each time (mostly international moves)

de-clutter, get rid of anything I dont need anymore, more stuff just to stuff in another draw/cupboard at the other end, be practical about it.

Any important documents wills/passports/insurance etc I aways have in a separate file in the 'special box' more of that below. Also jewellery

Pack a suitcase with a couple of days clothes/towels/toiletry bag packing cubes are great for this for each member of the family, they can just pick theirs out
Also pack a set of bedding and make the bed/s as soon as you can, you will want to flop into it later so do it first. Find that bedding box thats been packed, first with duvets/pillows etc if you cannot put in say the car..

Tea towels/dishcloth/washing up stuff/cleaners/toilet roll/kettle/cups/some basic food all in the special box, other things like remotes for tv etc. so they dont get lost in one of the many other boxes.

The special box either goes in the car or we carry they separately.

They will be very quick and its amazing how fast they can pack your stuff away, just make sure you have emptied the kitchen bin/s and dont have any dirty dishes (they will be packed as they are!) and cleaned out the fridge and got rid of any leftovers so no spillages.

God knows how many times I have done this and only had a couple of items broken, but did have a lot of wine that went...missing, claimed and refunded, and a rug that was badly creased (but had been in storage) that was replaced.

Its the best way to move having someone else do it!

Should add as well, I always pack underwear in packing cubes, just dont like the thought of some random bloke handling my smalls!

And try and just keep out of their way as much as possible

Def put all the stuff you dont want packed in your car before they arrive. Include your handbag and car keys. They pack everything that isnt screwed to the wall and they move like greased lightening, so dont think ‘oh Ill do the sheets and tea things when they are packing the loving room…they will have people in every room simultaneously

I’ve always packed my jewellery, my craft stuff and sentimental, but precious to me stuff, plus clothes I’m wearing on moving day in a safe place, otherwise they get packed.

Id also make sure cleaning materials and the tea box were easily accessible.

We packed a box of things we did not want to get broken as they were irreplaceable ie had sentimental value like the cup you mention. It didn't matter they weren't insured as they couldn't be replaced anyway, it was more important that they definitely arrived in one piece! We moved that box ourselves.

Anything you don't want them to move had to be VERY clearly marked.

And don't forget not pack the hoover if you want to give the place a once over after they've gone.

We have done three international moves and each time have just left them to it. We pack passports and stuff that we need to travel with and everything else the packers do.

They definitely do not insure anything which they have not packed.

Any important documents wills/passports/insurance etc I aways have in a separate file in the 'special box' more of that below. Also jewellery

Definitely split out important documents. The worst case of someone not doing that during an international move was someone who'd had the packers in to box up items for storage and for shipping by sea. They'd kept their passports on their bookshelf, the packers had just picked up chunks of books, passports included.

For a domestic move passports may not be crucial but there may be a need for ID documents and if you're unlucky, insurance.

Packers are amazing! But yes they will pack absolutely everything they see if you don’t tell them otherwise…Kitchen bin all the way to the USA I’m looking at you!

I’ve always had a room where I don’t want them to pack anything and have basically thrown stuff in there that I’m transporting myself (we’ve moved internationally though so there was usually a few days between packing and actually leaving and then potentially months before our stuff arrived at the other end)

I’d pack enough stuff for you and the kids for a couple of nights in a suitcase. And then a box with basic kitchen and bathroom stuff and general essentials for the first night. If you will need the bedding that night then I’d probably put it in the car or somewhere where they can’t pack it, or make sure it stays with the beds if they’re being re assembled.

Messy drawers etc they will just decant into a box probably. Or maybe even just leave it in the drawer. So it depends how much you want messy stuff in your new house!

Packers are amazing though!

We’ve never had packers before and luckily not moved for a long time. Getting older now and starting to worry about the next move. This thread is so helpful.

I agree to pack things that are either precious, sentimental or private. They won't complain if you've packed other things, but they might not also give you any boxes beforehand, as they're expecting to do everything.

Keep anything you want to hand, whether it's some packed boxes, first night kit, cleaning products and hoover, etc, in the back of your car until they're done.

As PP have said, they do pack EVERYTHING! I've heard of stories of people opening boxes a few weeks later only to find a full nappy bag that hadn't made it to the bin on move day!

Removers will take the boxes back too, but they don't count them, so keep a few in the loft for future use and take the others back or arrange for them to be collected.

I packed personal stuff and anything that was irreplaceable, the irreplaceable things travelled in the car with me. Everything else they packed including the hanging items

They won’t insure for damages caused by poor packing, but if the entire box goes missing or in an obvious case where they are at fault- ie we had a box we packed run over by a forklift after falling off the crate they didn’t wrap properly when being loaded into the shipping container at the seaport.

Then yes for missing in transit or damage that is clearly their fault the insurance will still pay out.

But internationally you have to have a complete inventory of each box, recent proof of high value items, customs forms, etc, so it’s a much more formal process.