Community Chat

[Elom]

For anyone who has used a moving company, what would be a proper tip for three men doing the pick up and off loading. It will be the same crew and it is long distance.

[Lilysmom]

@Elom, my circumstance was. Bit different.  Short haul move.  Delivery from storage.  We provided pizza/burgers lunch and gave each $20.  That was 12 years ago.  LM

[scatcat]

We moved across town.  Our guys worked like pack mules hauling furniture up and down stairs. We have a fairly large house. They packed up the truck one day and unloaded it the next day. We probably had 5 or 6 guys on the job between the two days. We handed the head mover $500 and asked him to split it up accordingly. We watched him do it. I would tip an appliance delivery guy $20 but the movers worked for hours

[StylishLady]

When we moved from central NY to southwest FL, it was done by two men and a moving truck. I didn't handle the financing, but DH tipped them well, especially because they didn't just drop everything in the garage and go. They put everything where we wanted it.

[hookedonq]

For my most recent move, cross country, entire household (no stairs either end) I gave the guys $100 each as they left my old house, $100 each at the new place, and meals at both.

[Kachina624]

Unless they do something extraordinarily above and beyond what's expected of them, I wouldn't tip them.  They're well-paid by their employer.

[LilacTree]

Coming from an expert at moving (over 40 times during my lifetime, thirteen of them as a child).  A lot of the times family members did the moving.  Since I relocated to SJ, it was mostly my girls' friends, and I always made them a good meal because they wouldn't take money. 

I had pretty good experiences with most other movers and always tipped them dependent on how many there were.  I had one very scary experience that I can't believe I fell for, and that was within the last six years.  I called an 800 number moving service and the guy who answered sounded like a real gentleman.  They used subcontractors depending upon the area.  What showed up was three really scary looking guys in a truck that was falling apart.  They spoke among themselves in some kind of arabic sounding language.

I was very sick that day, so fortunately, I had two girlfriends whom I called, not to move anything but just to be there with me.  The main guy was constantly trying to up the price, wanting to wrap things, etc., and I kept saying no.  It was a tiny apartment, just bedroom furniture and some living room furniture and otherwise just boxes.

They followed me to my new apartment (not this one) and I heard that truck clanging behind me and actually thought they were going to break down.  The main guy was really upset when he found out I was on the second floor and they had to take an elevator.

After they got everything in, I gave them $90 ($30 each) and he had a screaming fit.  "What am I supposed to do with this?" he yelled.  Unfortunately that was all I had other than the moving charge which was $600 which I gave him a check.  Fortunately, my one friend yelled back "look at this woman, does she look rich to you?"  They finally left, and I was never so relieved in my life!!

Three years later when I moved here with my daughter (because I needed a second bedroom), I called a local company and they were great.  And they only charged $400 for the move (same stuff, approximately same distance).  I bought pizza for them and gave them $100, and they smiled and were friendly, saying "good luck in your new home," a totally different experience.

Moral:  Don't ever call an 800 number for anything . . . you never know what you're going to get.

[Plaid Pants2]

Nothing.

$0.00

They are paid by their employer.

[Bri36]

I always tip at least $20 per mover.  If it was an especially big job or involved a lot of stairs, I would tip more. 

[faeriemoon]

We moved last year but stayed in our town.  Big house, lots of stuff, very long day for the movers.  Started at 8 am and had to bring in more movers during the day.  They had everything in by 10 pm.  There were 6 to 8 movers and we tipped them each $100.  We had also provided pizza sometime during the day.  Frankly, they didn't seem thrilled with the tip.  I thought it was fair as they didn't work for free.  The move was very expensive.