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Should You Hire Professional Packers for Your Next Move?
By Susan Doktor MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
So you’re moving to a new home? Congratulations — but be forewarned. Successful, hassle-free moves can be months in the making. Your moving checklist may contain dozens of line items. From shopping for a reliable moving company to arranging for utility services at your new home, the demands on your time when moving can be enormous.
But what if there was a way to simplify moving and shave a significant amount of time off the moving process? Moving companies have come up with one way: most offer professional packing services. Is hiring a professional packing service the right decision for you? Could be! Let’s take a look at how professional packing services work and when it’s advisable to hire one.
Table of Contents
How do professional packers work?
Is it worth hiring a professional packer?
What are the types of professional packers?
What services do professional packers offer?
What will professional packers not move?
What is the average cost of hiring professional packers?
How to hire a professional packer
Professional Packers FAQs
How we chose the reasons to hire professional packers for your next move
How do professional packers work?
Probably a lot faster than you can! That’s one of the chief reasons to hire a professional packing service. Professional packers disrupt your home for a minimal amount of time. They bring their own packing supplies, from moving boxes to bubble wrap to packing tape, relieving you from that shopping duty. And most importantly, they have the know-how to pack your belongings more safely than you probably can.
Professional packing is a service you pay for just like any other. Most professional movers offer professional packing as an additional service you can purchase as part of a standard move. One of the benefits of purchasing professional packing services is that when your moving company packs your household goods, they’re automatically responsible for any items that get damaged in transit.
Is it worth hiring a professional packer?
When you boil it all down, here’s what you get when you hire a professional packer: efficiency and effectiveness. Professional packers can do a better job packing than the average person — they’re trained to pack and they do it day in and day out — and they can do it more quickly than you can, too. Most of all, professional packers can unburden you from one of the greatest moving stressors: getting all your stuff neatly stored in appropriate containers, labeled and ready to go on moving day. What’s that worth to you? Many consumers decide that it’s worth the fees they have to pay for the service. And they each have their own reasons.
When it’s a good idea to hire a professional packer
- When you have limited time to pack: Time is a precious commodity for everyone, really. Parents with young children, people with demanding careers and retirees who have family responsibilities or extensive travel plans can all attest to that. But sometimes the circumstances surrounding a move necessitate getting out of Dodge ultra-quickly. You’ve just sold your home and the buyers want in immediately. You got a terrific job offer with one catch: you have to be there in a week’s time. That’s when calling on a professional packer makes a lot of sense. Packing by yourself takes a lot of time you may not have.
- When you lack experience: Maybe it’s your first time moving and the task of packing, along with everything else a move portends, is just overwhelming. Or perhaps you’re anxious about whether you can pack items safely. Hiring a professional packer can help make your move more stress-free — and that can be priceless.
- When you have many fragile and expensive items: You’ve devoted your life to collecting fine art, turn-of-the-century pottery or cultural artifacts from around the world. You’d be crushed if your treasures were crushed in transit themselves. Hiring someone who knows just what materials to use and how to pack a box so items don’t shift and break along the road to your new home could be a great solution for you. You may even want to look into a specialty packing service that specializes in protecting antiques and objets d’art instead of relying on your mover’s own packers in that instance.
- When you lack strength, stamina, or balance, or if you’re physically disabled: If you’re just not up to the physical task of moving — and there can be many reasons for that — hiring professional packers is almost a necessity and certainly worth the investment. Packing involves excellent range of motion throughout your body — bending, standing, lifting, kneeling and more — so don’t put your body through unnecessary stress or risk injury trying to do it. Hire someone else to do the reaching, stretching and heavy lifting.
When it’s not necessary to hire a professional packer
- When you’re only moving a few items: Barring physical disabilities, if you’re only moving a few items, they probably won’t take you long to pack. Hiring a professional packer doesn’t make sense for the smallest moves.
- When you have budget constraints: Hiring a professional packing service can be expensive. Experts estimate that you’ll spend about $1,500 to have a 3-bedroom home packed. That can represent a significant portion of your total moving expenses. If you’re trying to move on a budget, professional packing services probably aren’t in your best financial interest.
- When you prefer to do it yourself: No rule says you have to hire a professional packer, of course. Packing your household belongings on your own comes with some advantages, too. If you have the time to pack leisurely, you can combine packing with decluttering your home, so you’re not moving items you know you’re not going to use in the future. That kind of culling can cut back on your overall moving expenses. Packing yourself also allows you to pre-organize for unpacking. No one knows as well as you do which items will belong in which room when you arrive at your destination. And of course, some people just enjoy a good puzzle and coming up with their own strategies for handling complex processes.
What are the types of professional packers?
Full-Service Packers
The packers who work with professional movers are generalists. They’ve seen it all and they’ve packed it all. They’ve packed apartments, whole houses or just a few rooms at a time. They’re trained to do the job efficiently and make quick work of a time-consuming task.
But while these packing generalists certainly have the skill to pack up your TV and clothing, they may not have the moving experience it takes to handle certain fragile, unwieldy or high-value items. So you may want to look beyond your moving company’s expertise and hire a specialty packing service. Specialty packers may give you greater peace of mind if you own a lot of valuable items.
Specialty Packing Services
Specialty packers aren’t generalists. And you don’t need them to pack everything you’re transporting. But you may want to bring in a specialist if your home contains — well, a lot of specialty items. Do you have an extensive collection of fine wines? Large paintings that need crating? Delicate antique furniture? You may want to consider hiring a company that has built its business and reputation on packing those items safely for movers. Such companies are bonded and insured to the proper extent for handling irreplaceable items.
What services do professional packers offer?
Professional packing isn’t complicated. The service can be described in a few simple steps:
Packing all or some of your belongings according to what you’ve contracted for. Your packer will place all of your belongings into suitable moving boxes. Depending on which items you choose to have professionally packed, this will likely involve wrapping some items prior to boxing. Clothing and other soft goods won’t need wrapping, but china, glassware, and other fragile items will.
Labeling each box with its contents. Proper labeling of boxes can mean the difference between a smooth unpacking process and a chaotic one. If you hire a professional packing service, you can rely on your own memory of what went in which box. Labeling by destination room, or, in some cases, by category of item, can make those boxes a lot less mysterious when it comes time to unpack.
Disassembly and reassembly of large items. Removing dining room table legs and bed frames are typically disassembled before they’re loaded onto a moving truck. It’s a space-saving measure. Your packers will take this step in advance of your movers arriving at your doorstep to help the loading process go more quickly.
What will professional packers not move?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has specific rules that dictate the materials that can’t be loaded into a moving truck. So your packer won’t pack anything that conflicts with those rules. Items prohibited from truck transport generally include highly flammable or explosive items such as gasoline, motor oil, fireworks, and oxygen and propane tanks. Plants, live animals and perishable foods are also prohibited. So are some household and garden chemicals.
What is the average cost of hiring professional packers?
Fees vary depending on the company you hire to pack your belongings. Specialty packers generally charge more than the packing generalists a moving company will send to pack your belongings.
The cost of packing your belongings is usually based on an hourly rate. Prices will vary depending on whether you want your packers to pack just a few items or pack up your entire household. Packing up a large home costs more than packing up a studio apartment. In addition to paying by the hour for services, you’ll also be responsible for paying for boxes, packing paper and other cushioning materials, and other moving supplies.
The cost of packing up your home may depend on where you live. On average, packing services cost between $50 and $80. That fee usually covers a couple of packers who’ll work in tandem to make the job go more quickly.
The cost of packing services should be listed on the moving quote you receive from your moving company. Read your estimate carefully to make sure that packing fees are spelled out in full detail.
How to hire a professional packer
Start the process by researching several moving companies online. Take note of those companies that include packing in their list of available services. We recommend you then investigate each company’s reputation by consulting the Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot and FMCSA websites.
Once you’ve found a few reputable movers, it’s time to request a moving quote from each one. Remember that the cost of packing services isn’t the only factor your estimate will be based on. Look for the best overall deal you can find, including the cost of packing.
Professional Packers FAQs
Is unpacking included when hiring professional packers?
No, unpacking is a separate service. If you'd like help unpacking your items at your new location, you must request this service specifically. The cost of both services will be listed in the free quote your mover supplies.
How do professional packers charge?
Moving companies and specialty packers charge by the hour. The cost of packing your home will depend largely on the number of rooms in your home and how full of stuff they are. If you have a lot of fragile items, it will take packers more time to complete the job and you can expect the service to cost more.
How long does a professional packer take to pack a full home?
Again, that depends on how much stuff you have and how you define "full home." Packing up a one-bedroom apartment may take less than half a day, while packing up a five-bedroom home can take 12 hours. Packing a cluttered home will definitely take longer than packing a home with very spare decor. Packrats beware: the time to declutter is before your packers arrive. Otherwise, you'll be saddled with a hefty bill for packing services.
Is it better to pack yourself rather than hire a professional packer?
That depends on your circumstances. Packing services aren't necessary for everyone. But if you don't have the time, skill or physical ability to pack on your own (or with free help from friends and family), hiring a professional packer makes sense. But if you're working under tight budget constraints, hiring a professional packer may be simply out of your financial reach. Of course, if you have oodles of dough, you may want to hire a professional packer for the pure convenience of doing so.
How we chose the reasons to hire professional packers for your next move
We’ve reviewed the best moving companies in the US, from local to long-distance moving providers, and provided tips on how to choose a moving company. We understand how they work. So we relied on our decades-long experience of reporting the moving industry and providing tips on how to choose a moving company. We also took consumers’ needs and circumstances into account. For some people and under certain circumstances, hiring a professional packer is pretty much mandatory while, for others, it’s just a convenient option. We looked into the costs of hiring professional packers, the tasks they will and will not perform, and how long the service takes to give you a detailed account of what it’s like to have your home packed by professionals.
