Movers etiquette

[TooPatient]

I know tipping depends on where you are and all sorts of stuff. Plus is technically optional. That said, I have no idea what is reasonable to tip movers and they will be here in 7 hours... Help!

Estimate for the move (to storage) is $1,800. That is for a crew of three. Split level house so almost everything means stairs. Two china cabinets, two couches, one love seat, treadmill, exercise bike, and about 60 boxes of books. Plus a dozen boxes of glass, DVDs, etc. Estimate is about 4-5 hours.


ETA: forgot sideboard, dining table & chairs, and 15 or so bookcases.

 

[dk168]

I tend to tip sufficient amount for a decent pub meal for a day's work, around 20 GBP mark per person.

For a short duration, like the household rubbish removal I had early this morning which was their first job of the day, I tipped them sufficient amount for breakfast like a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea, and they were evidently very pleased with that.

DK

 

[caf]

As long as they do a good job, I would tip $25-50 each.

 

[missy]

Gosh this is a question that is dependent on different things. Location and difficulty of move and professionalism and expertise of the movers too. IIRC we tipped our movers $100 each back in March 2011. We had 4 movers. They were great. It was an expensive move but aren't they all. We are in the tristate area and things are expensive here so YMMV @TooPatient as to what is usual and customary to tip in your area. We were moving only about 25 miles away.

Good luck with your move @TooPatient!

 

[TooPatient]

I was surprised to see the range of answers in my local FB group. At the bottom end was a woman who would hand the lead guy $50 and tell the three to split it. At the upper end was someone who said take 15% of the estimate and divide equally to the three. Most clustered around what is about 7-10% divided by the three.

The movers did great. They helped me box the last of the books and we're extremely mindful of keeping my furries safe (including leaving the dog room until last and shutting all doors so I could securely transfer them outside) and minimizing disruption to DH as he was working. I am definitely tipping towards the upper end of the area and look forward to having them do the rest of the move when the time comes.

 

[caf]

I’m so glad this worked out well for you!

 

[Karl_K]

Good...$100 and tell them to split it.
Exellent..$200 and tell them to split it

 

[TooPatient]

I’m so glad this worked out well for you!

One big step done, a bunch more to go! I pick up the new kitchen flooring tomorrow. Hoping I like it since I bought without seeing.... One way or another, I want this house listed November 1. Even if that means stripping paint myself

 

[yssie]

We did $150 each - four movers. They were fantastic. They were careful about wrapping things, they did a great job of labelling boxes and actually sorting things reasonably, they were as efficient as one could ask for...

But the part that got them that tip - we had four cats at that time. I got three upstairs, but Alex was having none of it - he hid in the coat closet downstairs and attempted to take my hand off every time I tried to move him. They'd brought a stereo and started playing something loudly, and apparently scared Alex silly - one guy heard scuffling in the closet, peeked in, saw him huddled there, and turned the volume way down and asked if I had any classical music CDs - because that's what they always played at PetSmart right?

 

[ringbling17]

We did $400 for the first movers (out of the house) and we bought them coffee, donuts and lunch/beverages. We did $300 for the move in and we bought them lunch, snacks and drinks.
We weren’t as happy with the movers (same guys) the 2nd time BC they charged us another $1800 more saying that our furniture weight was underestimated.
We had the estimator come to our house twice before picking this company so we were shocked it was so much more.