If you’ve already started shopping around for a long distance move, by now you figured out that its not a cheap service. Probably much more expensive than expected, especially if you’re talking to a legitimate vanline. Long distance moving is not for everybody, and sometimes it makes more sense to start over, especially if you’re on a tight budget. Continue to read below to see if the price tag is even worth moving your stuff.
It really depends on the value of your items.
Long distance moves start around $1,800, even if you’re moving a studio apartment to a bordering state. Anything lower than that is a red flag (The industry is notorious for bait and switch quotes). The cost of long distance moving makes people second guess if it really makes sense to continue holding onto their possessions, rather than welcoming a fresh start in a new town. After all, they’re just possessions, and most possessions are replaceable. Most of the time, it’s not even worth moving. I guess it boils down to the overall value of your items and the personal attachment you have to them. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense to pay thousands of dollars to ship Ikea furniture across the country. (No offense to Ikea, we think their cafeteria is great)
Moving Cost Breakdown
So let’s do a quick analysis. Let’s say you have a 1 bedroom apartment. There’s a living room, bedroom, and a kitchen totaling anywhere between 250-400 cubic feet. (Cubic feet is the three dimensional volume used to to determine the amount of truck space your items will occupy)
Depending on your taste for interior design and kitchen gadgets, that space can be furnished for either $1000, or $10,000. Depending on the distance traveled, moving that amount of furniture and boxes will cost roughly $2,500-$3,500. So it really only makes sense to use a professional long distance moving service if you have high value furniture, or items that you have a strong emotional connection with. Otherwise, you can always go on Facebook marketplace and buy a used lazy boy recliner in your new state. Ironically, I have adapted more of a minimalist mindset and travel as lightly as possible. This allows me to declutter and start fresh every time I move. That being said, I don’t have a large family household.
Watch the “Is it Even Worth Moving” Video Above:
Video Transcript
Hey guys, it’s Simon Green with the USMPO, and today I want to discuss really quickly about the topic: Is it worth moving long distance? Well, it really all depends on how much is the total value of your goods and how important they are to you. Let’s take a studio or one-bedroom apartment, for example. I happen to be in my little Studio here, working from home today. I have a couch, a table, two chairs, a surfboard, a bicycle, a whiteboard. The total monetary value of these items in this room is probably right around $2,000 to $3,000, and the total price of a move of something like this, a studio apartment, is going to be around $2,500, depending on how far you’re moving. Let’s take Miami to New York, for example. The rough price to move this amount of furniture, about a studio’s worth, with a legitimate company from Miami to New York, is going to be about $2,500 to $3,000. Then we have to figure out, is it really worth moving?
Now, for me, it is because this surfboard, this bicycle, and the records that I have here hold a lot of sentimental value. But if I didn’t have these things that I really held true to my heart, if I had Ikea furniture that is very disposable, no offense Ikea, or you know, Walmart things that are just I can go buy over there, sell it quickly, I have no emotional attachment to it, or they don’t have a very high monetary value, I wouldn’t even recommend paying a company. There’s just so much hassle that’s involved with the coordination and logistics of it that you’re better off just starting fresh, sell your stuff, declutter, minimalize, and, you know, buy new furniture when you get over there. You can go thrifting. That’s what I would recommend. So before gathering your quotes, just do a quick assessment of the total value of your goods, and that should be step one in gathering quotes for long-distance moves. Again, this is Simon Green with the USMPO. To get connected with me, enter your moving details here, and either me, or a member of our team will reach out.