Packing Service - Worth it? Ballpark Figure Cost-wise?

[fialor]

Hello Lovely Ladies.
We have sold and are hoping for a moving date in 2 months. We are considering a packing service. Have you used one before and is it worth it? What were your costs like?
We are a 5 bed minimalist house, moving about a half mile out.
Thanks for your comments.

100% worth it

Loads of online sites that give you quotes.

Best Thing In The World Ever. Have used packing services twice, would never move without it again

Yes absolutely a life safer. If I remember correctly the packing part was no more than £200-300 as compared to the moving aspect which was over a grand or so. We moved from 4 to 5 bedroom with 2 kids so quite a lot of stuff. Definitely worth it and not much in the grand scheme of moving house/conveyancing/stamp duty etc.

Best thing ever. £250 very well spent for me, but I was 8 months pregnant when I moved

Oh yes. Tbh, I've never had to pay for it (moves for company work so they foot the bill), but whatever it costs is worth it. Even better if they unpack it the other end for you AND dispose of the packing/wrapping materials.

In 1986 I moved as a single woman from a 2 ed flat to a 3 bed house. I packed. Never ever again at any cost. Most recently had a 4 bed hse packed, some stuff collected from storage was about £2500 with a reputable firm. Sw Lon to Surrey.

Compared to the removals cost itself, the packing service is usually very reasonable (think we paid £250ish 2 years ago) and worth it!

Worth every penny - as a proportion of the overall cost it is not expensive.

I'd always "moved" myself until the last house move when due to work etc I realised DH and just didn't have the time to spend packing everything up.

It was a revelation and tbh I wish I'd done it before.

By the time you've acquired all the packing things you need (and you never seem to have enough) the cost difference is less than you might imagine.

The game changer for me was all the special packing solutions they had - big jiffy backs for pictures/large mirrors (and even sofas). Clothes rails that made moving wardrobe contents easy, padded boxes for electrical items, like TV's, record players etc.

Everything was properly marked and colour referenced with a map of our new home so we knew were every box/item was to be moved to.

A team came to the house and accomplished in a day what would have taken us weeks.

Unlike our moves, because of all the special packing nothing got damaged or broken.

Once in the new house the unpacking was so quick and the benefit was they took all the packaging away (so ethically better as it was being reused).

It stopped the problem of still having boxes to unpack 6 months after the move which I'm sure most people have experienced!

The only downside I can think of is that because we weren't used to our new home we did end up with some things in rooms we later had to move as they didn't "work" there - but frankly that was a pretty minor issue and easily resolved.

If I move again there is no way I'd do it myself again

Thank you, thank you, thank you all!

I am sold - I had horrible visions of having to pay over a grand to have someone else pack for me.
I am now completely sold on the packing plus I think I will include unpacking as well (have boxes reused by them, save the environment etc etc ).

Off to get real quotes as well now. Ohh!! this is so exciting!

Absolutely! We paid £875 for moving, packing and reassembly of wardrobes. Best money ever spent!!

Make sure you have a real good clear out first tho - they pack EVERYTHING.

Anything that has to stay like window keys, appliance manuals make sure those are in a special box and probably safer to hid in your car or something.

A similar story to Miaow. DH insisted that we pack and move everything ourselves. I ended up buying all the boxes and doing all the packing. Not quite sure how that happened. We hired a van that wasn't big enough because DH wanted to save money. Unrelated, but I developed a condition which meant that I couldn't see properly out of one eye for a week (which coincided with moving day).

Our buyer (a family friend) said we could have a couple of days to move as they weren't in a rush. Then they changed their minds on the day and wanted us out by late afternoon.

We were only saved by my BIL who happened to have the day off and helped us.

It may have been the worst day of my life. I will never forget or completely forgive DH for that move. I'm in the forever house now but if I did ever move again I would only agree if we got the whole packing and moving service and I would pay any price.

We did our own unpacking of boxes - the movers took the wardrobe boxes straight after moving and came back the following week for the rest of the boxes.

Just curious, when do they usually come and pack for you? Is it the day you move or before? If you have to be out of your house by a certain time then will they have managed to pack everything and load up a van in that time?

Yep all v easy and they will usually unpack to a surface so I have always had the kitchen unpacked before they leave!

5rivers7hills you made me laugh out really loudly. I am in the office and I got some really weird questioning looks!

I will bear that in mind and take anything that is to stay to one side or at least pack it before we have the movers come in to pack.

And we are having a huge tidy out before they turn up. We have tried to be ruthless over the last few months as we were planning on moving. But still have tonnes to get rid off, including the size 10 clothes that I think I may one day be able to fit into!

Our last move we obviously did ourselves and it was alright - though not as big a house; we seem to have expanded. I cannot wait to go and have a cup of coffee while the movers "help" with the packing.

Did any of you have any issues with broken items when you used the packers to unpack as well?

Broken should be covered by their insurance but you sometimes have to pay extra for insurance.

Definitely worth it. Best money I've ever spent. Do it.

This is an interesting thread, thanks for posting it fialor

We're in the same position and I was wondering about the packing option too. The company a friend used came in the day before completion and packed everything and loaded it onto the lorry. Then this went into secure storage over night. Effectively they just left them with camp beds and tea making facilities! But it makes for a calmer completion day. My friend said it was really good and they were able to clean the house they were moving from at leisure in the morning of completion with none of the usual panic. I really like this idea.

yoga our neighbours moved and did just that, lorry stored everything overnight and they cleaned the house the next morning and handed over the keys at lunchtime.

I'm moving next week and mine are charging £380 plus vat so £450 ish. I've had them before and my god it's worth every penny. I'd never pack myself again!

In terms of timing we sold our house before we moved into the new one and stayed with family for 4 weeks.

They came in the day we wanted to move out.

Unless your house is huge, either book the day before or the day of the move - depending on when your buyers are due to be in.

I'd moved from a 4 story large town house and they packed that up in a working day and took into storage.

They will come and assess anyway I would expect.

I'd be tempted to book the day before, spend the night in a hotel and meet them the next day to unpack at the new house.

Definitely be ruthless on clearing out before though. We hired a skip a week before packing specifically just to jettison things we didn't want that could not be re-cycled. We also put items on the drive (old kids toys mainly like mini bikes etc) saying free to a good home - local free cycle!!