Why do I want the removers to do the packing?

[biser]

Not me, I need advice to give to DC.
What is the benefit in getting the removers to do the packing? If all they do is wrap drawers, complete with contents, in clingfilm then what are you paying for? What else do they do?

Worth every penny.

they pack everything in a couple of hours instead of it taking you a couple of weeks to do it yourself

We’re in the process of moving and the four companies who’ve given me quotes have all said that they will have a team of six people packing for two days before the move, the moving day itself, and then delivering the remaining stuff the next day. Their service includes wrapping and packing everything, including two large sheds and the cellar, dismantling and reassembling furniture. we last moved 35 years ago and used family and friends, but I remember the day as being horrendously stressful, and as another poster said, everyone was getting in each other’s way. Nothing was labelled properly, things were piled up Im random rooms in tje new house, and we couldn’t find things for months. The quotes Ive received have been eye watering but we’ve got a very full five bedroom house and Im not prepared to even consider doing anything apart from packing my most precious ornaments and jewellery myself.

I saw that there would be six adults but it wasn’t clear what they would all be doing. They could all just end up getting in each other’s way and on each other’s nerves.

Never mind the DC, if the OP is one of the other four adults she needs to know exactly what her role will be and then deciding if she’s up to it.

My packers took down curtains put up new place put the cooker in .kids went from one house to school returned new house n everything put away only one box of crap not unpacked it was stress free etc money well spent

The biggest thing in the situation you describe is conserving energy.

Six adults to clean as the packers (who really do clear a house like locusts) clear a room at a time is brilliant, and unpacking is also a job that requires energy - you’ll land at thr new house with six cleaners, and then six unpackers. Not six people who are exhausted from packing up a house earlier in the day.

Mine dismantled 3 beds in about half an hour (there were 6 of them) and rebuilt them all in the new house in a similar amount of time. It really was amazing.

The money goes on the speed and efficiency with which they will problem solve. All the awkward things or stuff that you want to use right up until the day. House plants, anglepoise lamp, toaster, clothes airer, the vacuum cleaner, the garden tools. Should you pack that in a box or is it too big? What the hell can you pack it with? How do you pack this item so it won't spill? Or this one so it won't damage something else, or get damaged itself?

I've never used packers, and making all those decisions, again and again, for days on end while you get through it all, is exhausting and time consuming. Our last move, I had some random very last bits left which the removers threw in a box for me. The speed and efficiency with which they just made things disappear was quite startling. I had complete decision fatigue by that point.

The repetitive stuff (clothes, books, crockery) is very easy. The awkward stuff is very VERY hard. Does a microwave go in a box? The baking trays are too big for the other kitchen boxes, what else to pack them with? How do you pack a saw? Is a box full of cushions too light, should you save them for packing around other things as padding? How many books makes a box too heavy? Where to pack the remote control so you'll remember?

You can solve these problems yourself, but professionals have solved them so many times that they know the best answers and they aren't even problems any more.

Now, by the time I've mulled over all this and hit send you've probably answered saying you've already convinced them.... 🤣

This is why I prefer to do the packing myself. I don’t want any old junk packed and moved to my new house.

I start early, try to do a box or two a day. I start with things I want to keep, but aren’t day to day items that I regularly need. Before anything goes in a box, I decide whether I really need it, or if it needs to go in the rubbish or charity shop pile. I then stack all the boxes up in the garage ready for moving day.

Each to their own, some people think the packing service is great. However doing it myself is my preference.

Hells bells they are worth every penny. They swarm all over the house and get the whole place packed in a fraction of the time it would take the residents. They do it every day so are far far quicker. They come with all the materials, boxes, tape wrapping paper etc. super organised as well.
Our remover arrived at 9am and had a 3 bed with lounge and diner packed and ready to load by 11.30. It was incredible. It also got shipped 11,000 miles and nothing was damaged or broken.
I’ve packed up a one bed flat once and it took days.

Only thing to remember , they pack everything. EVERYTHING. Full kitchen bins etc

So I’m thinking you are a parent and the children want to pack themselves. You are being roped in and now thinking it might be a tough gig…
can you offer to pay as a gift?
just be warned packers drink a lot of tea. I spent my day making tea.
And My packers didn’t unpack. Put all the boxes in the right room and reassembled the furniture.

They'll need to have everything except a few essentials packed BEFORE completion day. Not a hope to pack it all on the day.

I don't think even a quick and decluttered home owner is going to be even half as quick as a professional.
Just get the packing done. Stop arguing.

They can do it themselves. I did a large 4 bed house on my own (and with a lot of stuff in it too). It too me a week todo it as I needed to declutter at the same time. If you have tidy, clutter free cupboards, packers are great. However, if you need to sort through your things fist, it’s not a great idea.

Just let them make their own decision.

If it's young people moving from a small rented flat into their first home, then maybe it's not worth it. But if you're moving with several years of accumulated stuff or anything you value - art, antiques, nice houseplants, I think it's WELL worth it. They pack so quickly & efficiently, wrap everything very carefully and moreover take responsibility for damage or breakage (if you pack yourself, generally you wouldn't have this level of insurance cover for boxed items).

Don't underestimate how long it take to pack and unpack yourself, especially when you're also working full time or caring for children. How many evenings and weekends are you prepared to give over to it and how long are you willing to live in a packing-in-progress kind of house? Moving house is such an expensive business anyway, what's another few hundred pounds for a much less stressful experience?

Can I ask how much the quotes are? My in-laws are planning to move and their house sounds like yours.

My understanding is that the OP's DC and their partner have roped in four friends to help on the day. There will be 5 adults times one day.
They will NOT get it done in that time because all the packing needs to be done before the day of the move and it will be dragged out over days and days during which time one adult will be doing normal childcare and the other normal household stuff as well.
Unless the other four adults are spending every evening for a month at the property....

@Doris86 you said yourself it takes days. When DM moved it took packers a morning. They were so efficient and had the added issue of having to separate items between 3 different destinations, DM’s new home, my house and storage unit. And it was all done without any problems or stress, which when you are in your 80s is worth every penny.

Obviously it’s a good idea to declutter before moving and we put post it notes on things we didn’t want packing (on a similar thread a poster recommended putting things in the bath you don’t want packing). Packers can be so much quicker as they are experts at it (used much more packing material than we would have done so no breakages) but they also don’t have the emotional attachment to items so don’t get distracted

When we last moved, as I posted last night, we had the packers and it was a dream.
But when we arrived at our new place, it transpired that they had only paid for removals to clear the house, they had opted to do the garage/sheds/outside themselves. No packing service.

We went to collect the keys at 1pm - they weren't there. The wife had disappeared and was off having a breakdown somewhere apparently, and (of course) they weren't ready. The estate agent told us to just go to house - it was chaos. The husband was desperately trying to pack a very full garage of stuff into a trailer on his motorbike and a few other adults were wandering around with brooms and plants - they actually said to us "oh, are you moving in today?" and we were like "YES!"
The house was FILTHY. We had 3 young DC (one a babe in arms) and our super-organised removals van and needed to move in. At about 4pm, our removals just started unpacking around the family and kind of just booted them out.
We let the husband come and empty the garage over the weekend, and the wife turned up and took her plant pots and garden stuff, and emptied the sheds...
That's why you pay for a packing service.

We used to get removals paid for by DH’s work including full pack, I hated it, we always asked them to drop the boxes off in advance and let us pack. I don’t know why exactly, but I guess I just didn’t like the thought of people going through our drawers and cupboards etc!

I believe there was technically an impact to insurance if something was broken, I guess they could claim they didn’t pack it and we may not have packed to their standards.

This.
You know worker ants? It’s like that.

I don't understand what you're not getting OP - presumably there is a kitchen where your DD lives now. Has she packed all the pots, pans, cutlery, crockery, food, kitchen gadgets into boxes already? The packers will do all of this on the day. It's not just about clingfilming drawers. What about all the stuff in the kitchen drawers - presumably the kitchen drawers aren't going to the new house?

They must own shoes/coats/books. Have you packed these?

The day we moved in to our house the husband had put his foot through the ceiling in what was a spare bedroom on moving out day. He did pay for a builder to come and rectify it within a couple of days. I assume they were in a bit of a rush to get out.

My friend is moving next week, she has declutterred in a spectacular way and has already packed the entire contents of her sitting room and dining room quite a bit of kitchen and bedroom stuff and she has also got rid of her old sofa. There is nothing in the loft or shed now. There isn’t a huge amount to move, she is downsizing a bit. To achieve this she started sorting stuff out about six months ago, she works FT. She inspired me to declutter our loft and so far we have got rid of about 20 large crates of stuff. Unless you are a devoted minimalist it is amazing how long it all takes plus quite often people are paying to move stuff they really don’t need.

We paid for packers when we moved and it was worth it, we have retired now and when we move in a couple of years we will have the time to pack stuff ourselves. After this ruthless ongoing declutter it will be fine but we will pack over probably a month.

I have packed and moved myself a few times and it is hard work. You never have enough boxes as it is only with experience you realise that you can’t pack a lot of heavy stuff in one box.

Are they moving the boxes themselves as well? How are they going to wrap and protect TVs, pictures, mirrors etc. Yes you can get all the packing material but you need to understand what is best for certain items and how to protect them.

@sittingonabeach It takes 5 or 10 minutes a day. Not whole days. And it includes decluttering at the same. As you said declutterring is something everyone has to do anyway in advance of the movers coming. I prefer to do it at the same time as packing, and sorting everything into keep, charity shop and rubbish boxes.Then it’s easy to see what I have got left to go through.

As I said earlier, each to fheir own and different fhings work for different people.