On Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:04:05 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>Janet Baraclough wrote:
>
>> I've never had to fetch the packing materials;

You do when you pack yourself, and p/u the materials right after you
sign the contract and pay your deposit... it can take weeks to pack.
>
>Like many others, we moved frequently when we were young. Just getting
>started, living in apartments and not having a lot of furniture, it was
>not a major job. Pack things up, rent a truck, get a few friends over,
>buy some beer and pizza and we were set to go. There were all short
>moves.

I've been in that position too... I've even moved everything I owned
myself in many trips... pack up my car, drive to work... unload at the
new place after work.

>Then I tried a local moving company. It wasn't that expensive.

Local moves are not very expensive, and within the same state they
don't weigh, you pay only for an estimated weight and it's typically
lowballed so they get the job. For interstate and international they
must use weigh stations.

>Our last move was to our present house and we used movers for that too.
>
>Moving a full house any distance can be quite expensive now. My brother
>and his wife moved back this way a few years ago. They had enough stuff
>to fill a large trailer.

Professional movers don't use trailers, they use air cushioned vans...
a semi trailer would bounce your furnishings into splinters.

>Their hundred mile move cost $6,000. Luckily,
>it was a work related move, so he was able to claim it on his income
>tax. He didn't tell them that it was a part time job he took after he
>retired, or that he quit the job after 6 months.

A hundred miles is considered an extremely short move... if it's
within the same state $6K sounds like a big ripoff unless they have a
full ten room McMansion. When I moved here 7 years ago Mayflower
charged me $1,600 for a full 3 bedroom houseful, a 150 mile move. I've
moved too many times, I don't ever intend to move again, the next move
will entail one wooden box.