METCALF MOVING BLOG

Pros and Cons of Self-Packing

People always ask how to save money on their move.  The best way is to move less stuff – that is obvious.  The second best way to save money is to do the packing yourself.  Of course, as with anything, there are pros and cons to this.

The one big “pro” is that it will save money.

Packing is very labor-intensive and it can take a 3-person crew a full day or two to pack up an average home.  That translates into a lot of man-hours.

However, there are some “cons” to consider, too.

First, all those man-hours that you would have been paying for, you will now have to provide yourself.  And remember that it will probably take you 3 days to do what a 3-person crew could do in one.  Maybe longer when you consider your time to drive down to pick up packing materials.

Second, you will still have to find boxes, packing paper, tape, and other related packing material.

Third, remember that a mover is only liable for damage done to an item that you have packed IF they damage the box that it is in.  This is because there is really no way to know exactly how the item was packed and what, if any, padding was used.

Finally, movers are pretty experienced at packing all sorts of items and can probably do it better than you can (no offense intended!).

So, you will need to weigh the benefits against the cost and decide what is best for your situation.

Your mover can do all of the packing for you, just some of it, or you can do it all yourself.

One of our moving consultants can meet with you and give you a detailed estimate so you will be able to understand what the cost of packing would be.