How to find the best moving rates

Moving isn’t cheap. The relocation of one’s whole life can cost quite a bit. Especially when you factor in all the costs that come in addition to the move itself. That is why it is no wonder that people would be interested to find the best moving rates for their relocation. After all, most people don’t have an unlimited budget. Therefore they will look for ways to decrease the impact a move can have on their personal finances. Precisely that idea was what motivated us to write this article. We aim here to help you find the best moving rates, as well as explore some options on how you can lower the general costs of your move. So, without further ado, here is how you can find the best moving rates!

How to find the best moving rates

Research

When it comes to finding the best moving rates, one thing you really can’t do without is research. First of all, you should look up moving rates with various companies to get an idea just how much you can expect your move to cost. One thing that will surely help you in this is looking up free moving estimates. They can usually be found on moving sites and they let you estimate the move by yourself. While not 100% accurate, these will help you get a general idea of how much your move would cost.

The other part of the research is comparing moving company prices. You should start by making a list of moving companies that could service your move. Then, list them by the cost. Keep in mind though, we are looking for the best moving rates here, not lowest. While you might be tempted to go for the lowest cost, you should first look at the services on offer. Maybe you need specialized moving, like artwork or antique furniture moving. While these will add to the cost of your move, hiring professionals for this type of move will save you the loss of money on potential damages. As you can see, the idea here is to find the best moving rates for your needs, not necessarily the absolutely lowest.

Negotiate

Another neat trick you can try is to negotiate with your moving company. Say you have your eyes set on a certain mover. Their services look great and they have good reviews. Maybe you’ve even heard about them from a friend. However, they are a bit more pricy than some other companies. Well, that is no reason to forget about them. What you can always do is contact the moving company and try to negotiate lower prices. In general, business will be willing to lower their price a bit in order to get the whole job. Just be reasonable and don’t try to lower it too much or they just might back out.

Time the move right

One thing that will surely help you lower the moving cost is to ask yourself “when is the cheapest time to relocate?”. If you have enough time to plan out the move accordingly, you should avoid times that are the busiest for the movers. Those would be weekends, holidays and the start and end of the month. Naturally, that means that during those periods you won’t be able to find the best moving rates. However, if you move at a different time, you might find that the moving rates are lower.

How to lower moving rates

While trying to find the best moving rates and the best possible service to go with them, you might discover you are just a little bit short for the price a reputable moving company is offering. This is no cause for despair. There are a few tricks you can employ to actually lower your costs of moving, that just might help you hire the right movers that you have your eyes set upon. So, let us tell you a bit more about these.

De-clutter

One of the things that are always smart to do when moving is de-cluttering. It involves taking a look t your belongings and deciding what you might not want to take with you in the move. Maybe you don’t use some of these items anymore. Maybe some of them won’t fit in your new home. There are many reasons to de-clutter your household. Whatever they may be, de-cluttering will impact the cost of your move in two ways. First of all, you will have fewer items to pack. This will directly affect your moving rates. Secondly, provided they are in good condition, you could sell your excess items. Then you can use the money to cover a part of the moving rates.

Get your own packing supplies

Another thing that you can do to lower your moving rates is to find your own packing supplies. Moving companies will charge you for the packing supplies. That is why finding your own boxes and other packing supplies usually make it into household packing tips.

What’s even better about getting your own packing supplies is that you can find them for free! First of all, you can check for boxes and other packing supplies with local stores. Liquor stores are bound to have strong boxes they won’t use anymore. On the other hand, large store chains might have bigger boxes and other packing supplies that you could get for free. Finally, there are websites where you can find free packing supplies. Not only will this lower the cost of your move, but it might just help you afford that right moving company that is a perfect fit for your needs.

What not to give up in order to find the best moving rates

As we have mentioned before, the point of this article is to help you find the best moving rates. While this might be synonymous with the lowest moving rates for most people, this isn’t exactly the case. The idea is to find the best moving rates without compromising your move. Therefore it is very important that you don’t give up certain qualities of your moving company of choice in order to find lower moving rates. First of all, check if the moving company has all the necessary licenses. These will mean that they have filled out the requirements by the US Department of Transportation ensuring a certain quality of your move.

Secondly, do not go for shady moving companies just because they might offer a better deal. In the long run, it might be more costly to hire bad movers that will damage or misplace your items or perform a bad move. The quality of the move simply must be considered when looking for the best moving rates. Just remember, you’re trying to find the best mix of quality of service and price here.

Taking on the task of finding the best moving rates

After reading through our article, we are certain you are equipped to tackle finding the best moving rates for your move. Just approach it rationally and do your research. Once you find the right moving company for your budget, the real adventure will begin. However, if you’ve done everything right, it should go down smoothly. So, keep your wits about you and good luck!