With the price of just about everything going up these days we are all looking for ways to trim our outgoings. What we’ve put together in this article is some rock solid, practical advice, for anyone who needs to move home and is trying to keep the cost of this manoeuvre to a minimum. We don’t recommend racing to the bottom on quality and booking the cheapest man and van, we recommend ways of reducing cost without sacrificing our high standards of workmanship. The money saving tips below really will help you cut removal costs and they come from 20+ years of talking with our customers and doing our level best to provide excellent value removals for them.
Ideally, 6 months before you move, take stock of all of your belongings and have a good long think about getting rid of some of them. The less stuff you need moved, the cheaper your removal is going to be.
Here at Philip Marks Removals we, on a regular basis, do quite large removals for people who, at their new address, are really struggling to work out where on earth the 3 sideboards they brought with them are going to go in their new home. Sometimes the customer will literally say “why didn’t we get rid of 2 of these before we moved?” Of course our guys maintain a respectful silence in the face of this rhetorical question but the answer would also save money on removals.
If you’re downsizing you can really reduce removal costs here. Now some people think “okay, I’m a bit too busy to be thinking about this on the run up to our move, let’s just move all of it to our new place and then perhaps we’ll Ebay some of it away once we’re in.”
Over the years talking to customers, especially those we’ve moved 2 or 3 times, the ones who took this route always end up saying they wished they’d reduced the amount that they were trying to hold onto before removals day. It’s more difficult to declutter after moving and they would have saved money on removal costs.
Let’s dispel some myths, firstly huge bits of furniture that you may have paid a lot of money for back in the day are not worth as much second hand as you might think. Have a look on Ebay or Gumtree or wherever, second hand furniture is going for a song, especially sofas & wardrobes, people don’t want second hand sofas & wardrobes.
So in short getting rid of large items can be difficult so if you want to sell some stuff try and do it well in advance of moving out, it really is the easiest way. If you’re not bothered about trying to make money out of selling stuff and don’t mind just donating it that makes life a lot easier, the British Heart Foundation and some other charities will be only too happy to come around in a suitable vehicle with 2 men and pick your stuff up and whisk it away.
Story time :- We once had an individual phone us up to see if we could collect a sofa they’d bought on Ebay and deliver it to them in Kent. “Where is the pick up?” we asked.
“Leeds” came the reply. So that’s 2 men and a van to Leeds and back, the potential customer thought we were going to say “£50” or “£75” or some such. It’s a 500 mile round trip! The diesel alone would cost £85, plus it’s a whole days work for 2 guys.
So anyway, in order to get better removals prices have a good long look at everything and try to slim it down as best you can, before you move. Kids toys, bet there’s loads of them that the kids don’t actually play with any more? That ocean of primary coloured plastic over there in the corner, do you really want to transport that to your new home and tip all that out, over there, in the new corner? Dresses, there’s the 3 you’ve worn the last couple of summers and then there’s the other 10 you’re never going to wear because you know you look better in the 3 you always wear. Could make someone’s day finding 1 of those in the charity shop for a quid, just saying.
This is pretty obvious really. Get yourself 3 quotes, prices quoted to customers can vary widely. When you receive your removal quotes do actually read them to see exactly what you’re getting and what you’re going to be paying for.
Some companies put riders on their removals quotes stating that in the event of any delays (waiting a long time for keys to materialise for example) then they are going to start charging waiting time at such and such a rate per man &/ or vehicle(s) per hour. Check that quotations are “like for like” as a 4 or 5 hour delay could substantially increase your final charge with some removals firms.
Here at Philip Marks Removals we do not charge waiting time on removals day, if there’s a delay gaining access to your new home it makes no difference to the removal price quoted.
If you want your chosen company to do any packing for you or dismantle larger items that should be listed as a separate item on your removal quote. That way you can reduce removals costs by separating the items out and doing them yourself.
We pride ourselves on the clarity and transparency of our contracts. What we’re going to provide you with and how much we’re going to charge you for it is very clearly stated, there are no “hidden extras” making it easy to calculate removals costs and which removals quotes are competitive.
Also sometimes removal companies become fully booked, so it’s important to have a back up removal company who, hopefully, have a good value removals offer ready for you.
Supply and demand is one of those factors that’s always in play for any business. The 6 week summer holiday for children of school age is when most people want to move. Makes sense, parents don't want to worry about the move disrupting their child’s education. Also employers are used to booking some annual leave in this period so people can do that and allocate some of it to getting the new place straightened out. So firstly, if you can avoid moving during the summer holidays that decision will almost certainly result in you reducing removal costs.
Secondly, lots of people want to move on a Friday. Again, this makes sense, gives them the weekend to get sorted out. If you can veer away from Friday this again will almost definitely open the door to good value removals. If you can arrange to move on a Tuesday or a Wednesday then you might just hit the cheapest day.
Thirdly, the end of the month is always busier than the beginning of the month. People get paid at, or near, the end of the month. Also people are trying to get their move completed before a particular month expires because their mortgage deal or rental deal resets at the end of the month and they’re worried about price increases. So if you can arrange your move nearer the start of any particular month that is highly likely to result in more competitive removal prices.
We can’t speak for all removal companies but our competitive removal quotations accommodate customers who are early in their process and haven't fixed their removal day yet. We do discount our removal prices based on our diary but not on “far off” dates. On the other hand if you were talking to us on a Thursday we’d be likely to give you a discount on the following Tuesday or Wednesday.
Assuming that you want to do your own packing for your house/ flat removal you’re going to need some packing materials. Here at Philip Marks Removals we can offer you a great deal on decent twin-walled cardboard boxes that won’t collapse when stacked. Three sizes are available, you buy however many you want, we deliver them to you. Here’s the really great part: after your removal is completed and you’ve unpacked everything, we will buy the boxes back off you at the same price that you initially paid for them. That’s right, you get free boxes for your removal, as many as you like!
There’s a couple of caveats (there always are, right?)
We continually reuse our boxes provided they haven’t deteriorated significantly. This means that some (or all) of the boxes that we provide for you will look used, maybe have someone else’s writing on them etc etc. When we pack boxes we mark the destination room on the TAPE which seals the top of the box.
This scheme is only applicable to people who are moving within the Kent area, obviously if you’re moving to Scotland we’re not going to be able to come back to collect a bunch of boxes. (Although if you are moving quite a distance away, if you are planning to come back to Kent to visit friends or family, then we are open to you dropping all your boxes back to us within office hours Monday to Friday. Your refund would be processed within a week of you doing this.)
We can also provide you with tape, bubble wrap and wrapping paper, these items are not returnable. The prices on all these items are very reasonable, we’re not really trying to run a packing materials retail outlet, we sell at a little above cost just to cover ourselves and of course we deliver this stuff to you so you don’t have to go driving around trying to source it all yourself.
Additionally, if you do take this route then you can give yourself a pat on the back green wise. As our boxes are very good quality they last a long time, some of them might get used 4 times or more, so as well as saving yourself money a forest somewhere is eternally in your debt!
Our box deal does also apply if you don’t want to pack yourself and you wish to use our packing service. In that case you’ll be paying the upfront cost of the boxes along with the day rate for however many of our people you’ve got in to do your packing and once you’ve unpacked give us a call and we’ll collect the boxes and refund you as per above.
One other thing about boxes (you never knew there was so much to them eh?)
It’s amazing how many people think that it’s going to be a “really good idea” to go to their nearest large supermarket and try to get some free boxes for their house/ flat removal! This is not a good idea.
Firstly, supermarkets don’t have huge mounds of boxes laying around any more, they get them into their compactor/ baler as fast as possible because they don’t want to waste space. They want their cardboard baled up and off-site quickly, they want it recycled and out of the way. They also don’t want non-employees hanging around crew/ colleague areas wasting the time of said crew/ colleagues in a hunt for boxes.
Secondly, supermarket boxes aren’t any good. Our boxes have a strong twin wall corrugation so we can stack them high in our removal lorry. Old crisp boxes are thin, they are designed to get the crisps to the store, at minimal cost, with minimal additional weight hence they are weak and prone to falling apart.
Thirdly, they’ll all be different sizes which makes it difficult for the team to stack them in the vehicle, if everything’s higgledy piggledy it makes it more likely that items are going to get damaged in transit.
So to summarise, it’s a really good idea to use top quality boxes for your removal. It’s a really bad idea to use rubbishy old boxes from a shop. In the long run they won’t be the best choice for good value removals. Use our box deal if you want high grade boxes for your belongings and don’t want to have to pay for them, it’s as simple as that!
If you are the person who originally assembled things like your double or king sized bed, or wardrobes then consider disassembly of these items yourself. If the removals firm has to do it then they are going to be charging you for this service. This can be a fairly significant cost as jobs like this are relatively skilled, so you need to ask yourself the question “do I want to pay for 2 men to come in here and take apart these 2 beds and these 2 wardrobes or am I feeling confident to handle this task on my own?”
If you can do it yourself you’re definitely going to save yourself a significant amount of money moving house. If you choose to do this make sure you do it a few days in advance of your removals day. Stuck bolts and brackets you are having difficulty getting to can get irritating fast, so don’t try and do it all 1 or 2 days before removals day, give yourself plenty of time so you can have tea breaks and not get frustrated.
Annoyance leads to yanking things apart and that leads to damage and that means greater difficulty when it’s time to reassemble. Bent that door/drawer bracket during disassembly? Now it’s not lining up properly during reassembly? Oops!
Do remove handles from drawers and doors. It’s tempting to leave them on but then when the removals team are trying to tie all this stuff off on the lorry, even though they are covering it all with blankets, there’s a risk that a projecting handle could damage something that it has come into contact with. Doors and panels want to be totally free of bits sticking out, now once they’re blanket covered and tied off on the lorry they’ll be nice and safe.
During disassembly take lots of photos as you go. These will prove invaluable when it comes to reassembly.
There seems to be near universal agreement that the best thing to do with fittings and fixtures is pop them in a sandwich bag and tape them to some part of the item you’ve just taken apart.
Don’t do this! If that bag falls off or gets ripped open on the removals lorry you’re going to lose some important bits. One idea is to, by all means pop them in a sandwich bag, with a note telling you which bunch of bolts belong to which item, but then put that bag inside a clearly marked, sturdy box. Including in the box the tools you used to do the job might be a good idea too, then you’re not hunting for them when you want to get stuck into the reassembly phase.
If you decide that you want to bundle various bits of your now flat packed item together don’t do this with parcel tape. Parcel tape is a nightmare to get off of stuff and it can damage surfaces. Best thing to do with fittings and fixtures is to secure them tight to the larger parts of dismantled furniture with cling film. Cling film is easy to remove at your new home too and it won’t damage any surfaces.
Here at Philip Marks Removals we do plenty of moves for people who don’t want to do all this and want us to disassemble/ reassemble large items and we follow the above advice to the letter. It works really well for us and we’re sure it’ll do the same for you and save money on removals too.
If you are the person who originally assembled things like your double or king sized bed, or wardrobes then consider disassembly of these items yourself. If the removals firm has to do it then they are going to be charging you for this service. This can be a fairly significant cost as jobs like this are relatively skilled, so you need to ask yourself the question “do I want to pay for 2 men to come in here and take apart these 2 beds and these 2 wardrobes or am I feeling confident to handle this task on my own?”
If you can do it yourself you’re definitely going to save yourself a significant amount of money. If you choose to do this make sure you do it a few days in advance of your removals day. Stuck bolts and brackets you are having difficulty getting to can get irritating fast, so don’t try and do it all 1 or 2 days before removals day, give yourself plenty of time so you can have tea breaks and not get frustrated.
Annoyance leads to yanking things apart and that leads to damage and that means greater difficulty when it’s time to reassemble. Bent that door/drawer bracket during disassembly? Now it’s not lining up properly during reassembly? Oops!
Do remove handles from drawers and doors. It’s tempting to leave them on but then when the removals team are trying to tie all this stuff off on the lorry, even though they are covering it all with blankets, there’s a risk that a projecting handle could damage something that it has come into contact with. Doors and panels want to be totally free of bits sticking out, now once they’re blanket covered and tied off on the lorry they’ll be nice and safe.
During disassembly take lots of photos as you go. These will prove invaluable when it comes to reassembly.
I can assure you that if you are able to follow the 5 steps outlined above then you are definitely going to be paying less money and enjoy below average removals costs. I hope you’ve found this article informative and useful, good luck on your move and best wishes for your new life in your new home!
Call us in office hours and we’ll organise a free removal quotation with no obligation!
