The Pros and Cons of Professional Movers vs. DIY Moving

After deciding to move, you’ll need to decide how, and the two main routes you can choose to take are to hire professional movers or to do-it-yourself (DIY). For two different types of people, this can be an easy decision to make:

Most people, however, fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum, valuing both time-saving services and cost-efficient choices. To help you decide, here are pros and cons of each approach.

Pros of Hiring a Professional Mover

These six advantages highlight how professional moving companies can streamline the relocation experience for you.

Experience

Even if you’ve moved your household before, DIY, you’d still have limited experience when compared to a moving company. When hiring a relocation company, you’ll be contracting with professionals who have significant experience in moving households. With Suddath, this is a notable factor since we have more than a century of moving expertise. From cozy cottages to apartments on high floors to mid-sized homes and condos to large estates, there isn’t much that we haven’t moved.

Expertise

Closely related to the concept of experience, trained, skilled professional movers have the ability to efficiently manage your belongings with finesse: packing, loading, transporting, and unloading them. This can be especially important with moving bulky or delicate items, if needing to navigate down plenty of stairs, and when placing cargo in the truck in ways to prevent damage. If a situation out of the ordinary arises, movers can draw upon their experience and expertise to address the scenario.

Time Savings

As the well-tested saying goes, time is money—and, when you’re busy planning for your life in your new home, time is especially valuable. Professional movers know how to efficiently manage each step of the move while handling your household possessions with great care. Instead of inviting friends and family over a few days to have them pack your belongings (using the best of their knowledge), professional movers leverage their experience to pack in a matter of hours.

Flexibility

At Suddath, we don’t offer one size fits all, take it or leave it types of moves. Instead, you can decide what moving services you’d like us to take on. This allows you to choose the services that fit your budget and then fill in with DIY aspects to save money. For example, many people use our partial packing services—where experts pack bulky items, for example, or delicate possessions, or last-minute boxes, while you take care of the rest, DIY.

Proper Supplies, Tools, and Equipment

Professional movers have the right ones to get the job done right the first time. Although you may have access to good packing supplies and can obtain some of the tools and equipment, some items are ones that people typically don’t have at home and/or are too expensive to invest in for just one or two moves. At Suddath, we have what you’ll need, including for custom crating and other specialty moving tasks. Plus, we show up with exactly what you need the first time.

Valuation Coverage

According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations, moving companies must offer baseline valuation coverage, which differs from insurance. This coverage, included at no additional cost to the customer, protects household goods at $0.60 per pound, per item. (If any damage occurs in transit, then the customer would be compensated by the item’s weight, not value.) You may elect to obtain more coverage for optimal protection.

Cons of Professional Movers

Minor considerations can exist. For example, they include how you’ll need to choose a moving date that’s available at the moving company, but that’s also true if you decide to DIY-move and need to rent a truck. The key con of choosing to use professional movers is the cost, which can be more than a DIY move.

If looking to get a cost-efficient relocation but are open to various ways to accomplish that, consider getting a professional moving quote and comparing it to doing the move yourself. The difference may be less than you think, especially if you declutter your belongings before you move, DIY pack, and schedule a less-in-demand day—like a Monday through Thursday during the moving industry’s off-season of October through April. Demand peaks through the summer time across van lines and, since a limited number of moving slots exist, more demand with a limited supply can translate into a higher price. This can be compared to when you want to book a seat for an airline flight where the same situation takes place.

If you decide to get a quote, for a true apples to apples comparison, be sure to factor in the components listed in the Cons of DIY Moves section of this post.

Pros of DIY Moves

Cost Savings

Typically, when people decide to move DIY, it’s to save money. When you can get free or low cost labor from friends and family members  to supplement your own muscle (perhaps in exchange for pizza or a few bucks), these labor costs will be less than ones associated with professional movers. See the Cons of DIY Moves to see what costs you’ll still need to pay with this choice.

You’re in Charge

You know your own personality. The fact of being in control may matter to you as you decide what truck to rent, how to position everything inside the truck, what routes to drive, and so forth. If you drive the truck a certain distance and decide that you want to stop at a motel overnight, you can do so as long as the truck rental covers that time frame or you’re willing to pay the extra fee.

Personal Satisfaction

Closely related to being in control of your entire move, you may feel a sense of accomplishment when you do it yourself. You’ve tackled the challenges and gone the extra mile, and that can feel good.

Cons of DIY Moves

Finding Help

Getting friends and family members to provide the labor for your DIY move can sound wonderful in theory but can be more challenging in practice when the time comes. People may have the best intentions when they commit to help, but then they get busy, they pull a back muscle, or they need to leave early to help with a project around their own house or to pick up their kids from a school event.

Less Experience

The people who are willing and available to help with your DIY move will pack items less efficiently than professional movers. That’s just the nature of the game. Perhaps, too, they’ll damage valuable possessions in the process. Even if they don’t cause any damage to them while packing or transporting them to the truck, if the packing was less than optimal or the belongings were placed in the truck in a less than optimal way, the items can get damaged in transit.

No Valuation Coverage

Unlike a relocation with professional movers, if any items get damaged in transit, they won’t be protected by valuation coverage. If you get insurance from your agent to protect them, be sure to add those costs into your comparison with professional moving quotes.

More Time Consuming

A DIY move will naturally be less efficient than a professional one, simply because of the reduced amount of moving experience and expertise. If going this route, plan more time for the move preparation, packing, loading, and the move itself, adding in some wiggle room on top of that.

Liability

Let’s say that a friend helps you to move, perhaps assisting you in moving a heavy piece of furniture. If he gets hurt, are you liable for the medical care for his injuries? Only a court could say for sure, but a quick glance at legal websites online raises some concerning points. If, for example, you give your friend some money to help, would a court consider him an employee for the day? If so, what responsibility do you have for medical costs? And, even if you aren’t legally liable, but your friend feels that you should pay for his care, that can harm your friendship.

The severity of the injury and the state where it occurred can play a role in liability. Some legal websites suggest that, if you have your friend sign a waiver before helping you, it could (potentially) reduce your liability.

Physical Limitations

If you and/or the people who will help you to move are healthy and strong, a DIY relocation would have one less factor to consider than if people have health limitations.

Reserving a Rental Truck

Unless you own a vehicle of sufficient size to relocate your possessions, you’ll need to secure one. (If deciding to borrow a vehicle from a friend, look into potential issues of liability if the truck gets damaged.)

If renting a vehicle, you’ll probably need to book early if you want one for a weekend move or for a move during the peak moving season of May through September. Other issues you’ll need to address include:

Gasoline Costs

As you already know by simply driving to work or school, running errands, and otherwise living your daily life, gasoline costs add up.

Obtaining Supplies, Tools, and Equipment

Suddath always uses the best packing supplies available today. When DIY-ing your move, you’ll need to find ones of enough quality to protect your possessions during your move. This ranges from boxes to bubble wrap, packing paper, tape, markers, and so forth. To save time and frustration at your destination point, it will make sense to organize how you pack and label your boxes. To protect your hands, get quality gloves. To protect your furniture, get appropriate pads or blankets.

Make sure you have the proper tools to dissemble and then reassemble furniture (the right sizes of screwdrivers, wrenches, and so forth). Then, buy, rent, or borrow dollies or hand trucks to load up your belongings, safely using tie downs to keep them protected. Before you use the tie downs, check them for wear and tear and then use them properly. Obtain and use ramps to transport belongings from your home to the truck, and create a plan to also have them at your destination point.

As part of this process, give yourself enough time to get the supplies, tools, and equipment you need from a variety of sources. If cost savings is your goal, include enough time to compare prices.

Making Your Decision Between Professional Movers and a DIY Move

Although a DIY move eliminates some costs associated with professional movers, as this overview shows, DIY moves also come with their own types of costs. By requesting a quote from Suddath, you can compare the two options. At Suddath, you choose options from our flexible menu of professional services, allowing you to decide what to pay for: nothing more and nothing less.

Your move’s distance and complexity can make a difference. Moving DIY can be much easier with a local move across town than one across the country and smoother with fewer possessions than a relocation with a piano, delicate collections, large antique furniture, and so forth.

Reach Out to Suddath for a Smooth Professional Move

If you’re planning to relocate—locally, long distance, or even internationally—Suddath has the experience, expertise, and flexibility you need for a seamless move. Connect with us today!