Moving Yourself vs. Hiring the Pros
Why One is Better than the Other (Most of the Time!)
If you ask 10 people what the cheapest way to move is—9 out of them 10 will probably tell you the same thing: it’s cheaper to move yourself.
Would they be right? In a way, yes they would.
And in another way—no they wouldn’t. Not at all.
Because, in the end, a whole lot depends on perspective.
The U-Haul moving trucks always promise you rock bottom prices—say, $20 for 4 hours or $60 for 3 days. And of course, that’s the thing that sticks in your mind—that you can rent a truck and do your whole move for less than the cost of a pair of running shoes. You pull out your driver’s license, plunk a few $20 bills down on the counter—and BOOM!—you’re halfway there! In your mind’s eye, you see yourself sitting on your sofa post-move, good as gold, without a drop of sweat on your brow, sipping a cold one and watching the Sunday afternoon football game. Am I right? (Of course, I’m right, because I’ve had the same vision).
Relaxing after your dream move – finished by noon!
Now, if you’re moving around the corner, or one street over, that image in your mind’s eye may be fairly close to the truth. Indeed, if you’re moving to the other side of town—or even across the county—a DIY move can make real financial sense.
But here’s the thing: there’s a REASON the big moving companies remain in business. In fact, there’s a whole bunch of reasons—and they’re good ones too.
Why Professional Moving Companies Exist!
Professional movers in action!
In the end, a moving company is kind of like a fairy godmother who waves a magic wand and—just like that—makes your life a whole lot simpler.
Remember, movers don’t just drive your stuff from Point A to Point B. They handle the entire moving process: they pack, load, transport, unload, and distribute your household possessions. They’ll move your 350-pound sofa down four flights of very narrow and unforgiving stairs without complaint (or with minimal complaint). They’ll put the cap back on the toothpaste and roll up the welcome mat if you want them to.
Whatever your request (in the context of moving of course), IT SHALL BE YOURS!
Obviously, you pay a premium for these kinds of services, but you also get a whole lot in return. After you arrange for someone to take the burden of moving off your shoulders, all of the stress and worry that you’ve been living with for weeks, and more likely months immediately dissipates. You’re reborn. All of the fatigue and emotional suffering that’s part of any planned DIY move, much of it related to lack of sleep, is cast to the winds immediately, never to be thought of again.
For many, they’re able to sleep soundly for the first time in a long time, secure in the knowledge that whatever price they’re paying, it’s less anxiety-inducing than the prospect of handling an enormous, logistically challenging move themselves.
Read Here: The 10 Best State Economies for 2024
How Professional Movers Can Save You a Bundle
if (and Only if) You Do This One Thing
Young couple pondering moving costs
Cost, in the context of a big move, is actually a much more nuanced factor than many people realize.
For example, if you work a flexible schedule—and millions of us do these days—paying for someone to handle your move can be an enormous “win-win.”
Why? Because all of the time and energy that you would have had to spend on your move—maybe the time that you’ve already set aside for your move—you can instead devote to catching up on work, getting ahead of the game a bit, and, in short, doing more of the stuff you’re good at and that makes you money!
Here’s a quick example: as a writer, I’m always on my keyboard. When it comes to buying groceries, I know it’s cheaper if I get up, walk to the supermarket three blocks away, grab what I want, and walk back. Clean and simple right? It’s cheaper if I do it myself than if I pay someone to do it for me.
But the reality is actually a bit more complicated.
Over time I’ve learned that it just works better if I pay someone to buy my groceries and then spend that time being productive at work. I pay a bit more upfront, sure—but it’s also far more convenient and I avoid the hassle of standing in a supermarket line for much of the afternoon. I then get it all back by working hard (i.e., doing what I do best) and letting the professional shoppers, who probably know the supermarkets inside and out, do what they do best. Everyone wins.
Grocery delivery!
When you move yourself—using U-Haul, Penske, Ryder, Hertz, or any other truck or van rental company—you absolutely save on the front end, but your productivity and earnings tend to drop at the same time because you’re forced to dedicate so much time to packing the china, boxing your books, and covering the furniture in bubble wrap, to say nothing of the endless hours you have to spend simply putting together your route.
In short, moving yourself—whether we’re talking packing, stacking, driving, unloading, or organizing—is one of the biggest time-sucks ever invented. It absolutely consumes your life.
The misery of moving: a near-universal human experience
When you hire someone to do all of that for you, you not only save time, but you can make that time pay. And let’s face it: most of us—unless we’re professional movers ourselves—just aren’t very good at moving. We hate it. We haven’t had the practice.
Read Here: How to get Trustworthy Long Distance Movers
Movers, by contrast, have moved a lot.
They’ve seen and experienced everything and are intimidated by nothing. They have gigabytes of specialized knowledge locked away in their noggins telling them how to deal with every imaginable situation, and they have packing methods, handling techniques, safety protocols, and all sorts of other practices that have been refined over time.
They know all the logistics, all the quickest routes, and all the tricks to get your stuff where it needs to go, on time and on budget. Whatever route you’re traveling, they’ve taken it a million times before, meaning not a moment is wasted.
In short, they’re likely to do a much better job in their sleep than we’re likely to do wide awake after 10 hours of sleep and a pot of black coffee. That’s just the reality. They’re as likely to screw up a move as we are to do it perfectly (that likelihood being “not very”).
Your iPhone isn’t going to be enough!
Read Here: The best small cities in the US to move to
Professional Movers and the 10,000-hour Principle
Which reminds me… Most of us not only value our own health and that of our friends and family members, we value our personal possessions. We like them—that’s why we have them and keep them. We don’t want them damaged.
Moving is often very tricky business, and no matter how careful we are, we’re almost certain to break something important along the way, while that “something” is typically a mirror, a vase, or a box of drinking glasses, it can often be…ourselves.
Tricks of the trade: movers’ experience is their greatest asset
Professional movers, as professionals, have a lot of experience – thousands upon thousands of hours – protecting household goods from harm. They’re also darn good at protecting themselves. They know moving can be dangerous work, and they take appropriate precautions, relying heavily on their strength and experience. They’re experts in their field.
So hiring pros means no dropped baby pianos, no damaged paintings, no misplaced cats, and no dents in the wall—but it also means no broken bones, no torn Achilles, and no pulledbacks. It means people like you and I not taking risks with our health and safety. These are all solid selling points, without a doubt, and really just another way of saying “the pros know best.”
How U-Haul Gets You (and Makes its Money)
U-Haul always gets you in the end!
And now we get to the real kicker.
U-Haul is only superficially cheap. If you’re traveling any distance at all, the miles—and the fuel charges—really add up.
This is where U-Haul really nails you. And taxes and various fees, many of them hidden, push the final tab up even higher.
U-Haul hates local moves: they want you to drive as far as possible, burning as much fuel as possible. Interstate moves excite them. Cross-country moves make them positively giddy. In fact, the joke on social media is that it’s cheaper to use Uber or Lyft than it is to use U-Haul, and that’s not necessarily wrong.
This is why, if you’re moving a significant distance—across the country for example—professional long-distance movers are almost always the better choice.
Something else to bear in mind when you use a U-Haul: the cost of re-fueling YOU! (as well as any hotel or motel charges if you’re headed cross-country). After all, you can’t do it all in one shot, right? You’re going to need refueling—and rest. The travel website thetravel.com suggests that, if fuel charges are NOT included, and you drive 5-8 hours per day to get from one coast to the other, you’re likely to spend $1000-1500 on basic meals and (very basic) accommodation over the course of your trip. Hiring a moving company obviously renders all of these costs, and many, many others, entirely moot.
I personally recall a family DIYing their entire cross-country move–and it was a big one.
They were relying on one of U-Haul’s competitors. They started in the highest of high spirits, full of vim and vigor. (We knew this because they posted the entire thing on social media). By the time they arrived, however – and this is before they actually started unloading the truck – they were exhausted, stressed out of their minds, and had injuries to boot. One pulled his back, and the other tore her ACL.
I HAVE seen DIY moves that went well—and that were low-cost overall—but these were almost always very, very short journeys: across town or across the county. And even in those cases, the self-movers were dead tired before they’d even finished loading their truck. Just getting the furniture out the door was incredibly taxing for them.
All too frequently, movers who insist on handling everything themselves underestimate the amount of exertion that moving requires. Truly, it’s a great way to get a good night’s sleep–if you don’t drop anything on your foot!
Read Here: 8 Packing Tips your will remember for life
Some Additional Thoughts
So while the pros are more expensive at the front end, a DIY move can cost a ton at the back end—especially if you’re moving a significant distance while also managing family responsibilities and all of the headache and stress that come with moving. As usual, it’s the little things: they just add up.
But even though the pro movers will lighten your wallet a little bit, remember that there are still ways to score a great deal from them. Most movers are willing to haggle a bit on price, especially if you present them with competitive offers from their industry rivals. So work on your negotiating skills and don’t hesitate to contact a bunch of different moving companies and get them to issue you a quote.
Again, don’t even hesitate to ask—it’s something they do all day, every day.
Also, head on over to our Moving Cost Estimator to get a general feel for what’s a reasonable amount to pay for your move. The No. 1 professional moving company in the country, International Van Lines, offers an online, AI-based moving cost calculator that will deliver a reliable quote in seconds.
Now, it’s certainly true that when you hire a professional mover, you give up a bit of control. That’s the flip side of the “no stress” argument: you’re no longer involved as much as you were. For some people, this is unacceptable. They want to be involved. They find being out of the loop more stressful than a complete hands-on approach!
For people like these (not “control freaks”— let’s call them “control fans”), U-Haul or another vehicle rental service may be the way to go.
But there’s another option too—a sort of hybrid approach—one that many people find works best for them, and that involves handling all the packing and pre-moving themselves, after which they let the moving company take care of only the very final stages of the process, i.e., loading the stuff into the truck or van. Many moving companies will offer you significant discounts if you make THEIR work—the actual moving part—as quick and painless as possible.
Read Here: Top 10 move-in tips
This sort of hybrid approach lets those who love control exercise their obsessional tendencies. They can box, tape, and stack to their heart’s content, making sure that everything is in its proper place. But then, once that part is done, they can let the pros take over. The other great thing about this option is that the cost falls somewhere between a low-end DIY job and a full-service long-distance move (where the movers empty drawers, put the cat in its carrier, lock the doors, and turn out the lights).
Conclusion
In the end, the approach to moving that’s best for you really comes down to personal circumstances and personal temperament, as well as factors like finances and physical (and emotional) fortitude. On the whole, if you’re moving more than 50 miles away, go with a pro, and then use the time savings in the most productive, lucrative manner possible, ideally by focusing on projects and working to expand your own business (if you’re a business person).
In other words, use the additional time you have productively, doing what you do best while letting the movers do what they do best. Make the time count, and you’ll ultimately come out ahead.
When it comes to picking the right moving company for you, do your research, refine your negotiating skills, and don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and get as many competitive quotes as you can. You’ll thank yourself in the end.
International Van Lines (IVL)
The World’s Best International Moving Company
International Van Lines (IVL) is the world’s premier long-distance and international moving company. The IVL advantage? Simple. We’ve got the infrastructure, the personnel, and the experience. No other mover can match what we do.
Whether you’re moving to the other side of the neighborhood or the other side of the planet, we guarantee a smooth, predictable, and stress-free moving experience. Believe us when we say: you’ll never regret not using U-Haul.
We also guarantee that your personal possessions will arrive on time, on budget, and in pristine condition.
Based in Coral Springs, Florida, but now serving over 180 different countries worldwide, IVL’s reputation for excellence continues to grow. Over the past 25 years, we’ve mastered every aspect of full-service door-to-door relocation. No other long-distance mover does it better.
IVL relies on the following transport methods: air freight, ocean freight, and our enormous and growing fleet of high-end moving vans and trucks.
We also offer our customers a wide variety of storage services (see below), so whatever your plans may be upon arrival at your new home, we’ve got you covered.
Click Here for Your Free Long-Distance Moving Quote Today!
IVL founder and CEO Josh Morales
To get your free long-distance moving quote online, and for easy access to all the moving info you’ll ever need, head on over to our free instant quote generator. Or if you’d like to speak to us directly, call us at (877) 647-1336. Our team is ready to assist you with all your long-distance moving needs.
Click Here for Your Free Long-Distance Moving Quote Today!
Our Services
As a full-service mover, IVL offers comprehensive services that are door-to-door and encompass every aspect of the moving process. Here’s a brief overview of what we offer our customers:
- Comprehensive packing and unpacking services**
- Furniture assembly and disassembly.
- Personalized services for high-value and/or fragile items, including art and antiques and important documents.
- Transport via ocean and/or air freight, as well as via our fleet of high-end moving trucks and vans.
- Debris pickup.
- Vehicle transport, domestic or international.
- Varied storage services (short-term, long-term, standard, climate-controlled).
- Full customs clearance management.
- Insurance coverage provides basic moving protection; full value protection available for purchase.
- Full corporate and military relocation services. We specialize in corporate moves.
- Live audio-video chat and customer service 24/7.
- Easy shipment tracking with the help of real-time data processing.
**Note:
As noted above, if you want to save money by doing some packing yourself, IVL can direct you to providers of packing supplies, including boxes, plastic wrap, paper, tape, and anything else you might need to keep your items safe in transit. Pre-packing is a great way to save and help IVL get your stuff to its destination ASAP.
How Much Does IVL Charge?
IVL team members at company HQ in Coral Springs, FL
Take a few minutes to check out our online moving cost calculator to get a better feel for what your move is likely to cost. When requesting a moving quote from IVL, be sure to provide your move details in full, including the destination zip code, to ensure the most accurate quote possible.
Also, feel free to contact IVL directly for a much more detailed quote based on your specific circumstances. Understanding the actual cost of moving is crucial to avoiding confusion and disappointment. Sometimes, rough estimates may differ slightly from the final bill you receive.
In all circumstances, however—from charges and fees to logistics and tracking—IVL is fully transparent with you, the customer. At the end of the day, it’s your opinion that matters to us—no one else’s.
For Your Free Long-Distance Moving Quote, Click Here!
Is There Anything Else I Should Know?
An IVL team member at work!
Partnerships
To promote the speed and efficiency of your move, IVL, like many movers, may choose to partner with one or more local moving services at certain points of the moving process—the final stages in particular.
Fees and Charges
There is also a 25 percent deposit required to reserve a moving date. This is refundable in the event of cancellation. The balance is then split into two separate payments: 50 percent on moving day, and the remainder upon delivery. The deposit can be made using a credit card, check, or ACH.
Given the complex and time-consuming logistical arrangements that international moves require, deposits and fees collected for any overseas move are not refundable.
Is IVL Fully Licensed?
Yes. Per federal requirements regarding proper licensing, IVL is licensed by DOT, FMC and AMSA (the latter having been recently absorbed by ATA).
For Your Free Long-Distance Moving Quote Click Here! Or Contact IVL Directly at (877) 647-1336
