Your moving date has arrived. You are happy with your moving company, and everything went well when you reserved the crew. You made sure that everything is well organized, schools for kids, you changed the pediatrician and the dentist, and visited your new place. Maybe you even labeled and marked the boxes.
Once your moving crew arrives, you will be there to supervise the move. Movers are well trained and they really do an amazing job by wrapping, protecting and making sure everything arrives in one piece at the delivery. If you decide that your movers will pack boxes for you, in that case you can just sit and sip coffee. And of course, enjoy your move.
Once you reserve your company, you will get a quote that would include movers, truck, fuel, or any specific item fees. The quote will be guaranteed and all-inclusive with no additional costs and surprises on the moving day.
But once the move is finished, the most important question is ‘’What to do about the tip?’’
Put yourself in their shoes first. If you worked the whole day, you would love it if someone showed appreciation. That is how they feel too. Especially if you have business with reliable movers such as Dallas Movers Pro, showing your movers that they did a good job would be amazing.
Should you, when and how much to tip your moving crew?
Are you obliged to tip your movers?
Absolutely not. You are not obliged to anything by any means. Tipping movers is different from tipping waiters in bars, tipping your barber, or your make up artist. The industry of moving is a bit different, and maybe you think you already paid enough or over your budget when paying for the move. Which is totally fine. But have one thing in mind, rarely anyone in the service industry works as hard as movers do. You understand that they are not getting all the money you have given for your move and that they do all the heavy lifting, special handling, hoisting and other physically demanding things.
Giving your crew a tip just shows that you understand the extra effort they have put in doing your move. They don’t expect a tip, but when they get one, they really appreciate it.
How much to tip your moving crew?
In the moving industry, a standard for tipping is somewhere between 10-20 percent of the total amount of move, but if the move is less than $400, it would be nice to tip your movers around 20 percent. Tipping is moving industry specific because it is not mandatory. At the end of the day it is completely up to you how much you would tip your movers.
Depending on your move type, it is different how you can tip your movers with local move and with long distance move.
Local move tipping
There are no two same moves so it is different how you will tip your movers depending on their type of service, amount of work and hours spent on your move.
General rule is to tip around 5$ per hour per mover + the driver, usually everyone forgets them.
For example, if you need just a labor move to move within the same building versus moving a four bedroom house with two garages and a patio, tipping movers would not be the same since moving a big house sometimes takes a full day or even two days.
Also, the tip must reflect the level of service given and the level of difficulty involved. If there is anything specific such as pool table moving or hoisting, consider that when tipping at the end.
Long distance move tipping
Long distance move can be a bit tricky because the main question can be whether to tip your movers at the pickup or at the delivery. Well the answer is – on both ends. With long distance moves, for example moving from Los Angeles-Dallas, you will not be getting the same pickup and delivery crew since moving companies have different crews in different cities.
Generally, you can tip your long distance movers per your feelings since it would be too much to tip them of the total move percentage, knowing that long distance moves cost much more. You can also go by this calculation:
- 4 hours or less – $20 per mover
- 8 hour move – $40 per mover
- 12 hour or more – $60+ per mover
What can influence how much you tip your crew?
The first thing you should think about before tipping is your own budget. After that, your level of satisfaction with how the move was handled. But there are other things you should think about as well.
You did not have the time to pack and organize before the move and you decided to let the movers do full packing service. This will take a lot of time and energy. Packing each and every single item, making sure everything is safely wrapped, packing fragile items and then packing valuables such as pictures, flat screen TV, this can be one of the reasons to tip more.
You don’t know where your smaller items are so movers have to go around the apartment with you, ask you questions and make sure they know everything that is going to go. This will take a lot of time.
Working under severe weather conditions. We do know that moving season (aka summer) is much more expensive, but if movers are working on heavy rain or a blizzard, or even in extremely high temperatures, this would be a nice reason to give an extra tip.
If the move lasts much longer than expected – and not because of your movers. If you are moving from a big house or office into a much bigger one, this would probably take a lot of time, maybe even late at night and tipping your crew will make them really appreciate it.
Long carry– this can be one of the main factors for a bigger tip. Not movers will only do the heavy lifting in the apartment, wrapping and making sure your items are safe, but also they will have to carry these furniture items and walk. This can be extremely exhausting for movers.
Heavy items – Yes, movers are trained to do your move, but still, moving a piano is not an easy job, and it is the same with china cabinets and other large items. You can show your appreciation with a little bit over the tip you were planning to give.
Should movers accept food and drinks from you?
Having in mind that average move lasts between 3-12 hours, movers will probably get hungry and thirsty during this period. Of course, they can take breaks and go and have lunch and coffee, but if you feel like making lunch, making them coffee, or giving them drinks, that would be totally fine, as long as you are on the same page with your crew. At the end of the day you can always order pizza, burgers and soda since this is a cheaper but good option.
Can you choose not to tip your movers?
Of course. We know moving is an extremely difficult process that takes a lot of time and organization, but accidents and mistakes always can happen. If you, for whatever reason think you had a bad experience with your moving company, don’t be afraid to tip nothing.
Also, have this in mind when you decide whether to tip or not:
- If your movers are very slow and the job takes forever
- If they were rude for any reason
- If they were late
- If they request giving them food and drinks and you have nothing prepared
- If they did damage to your belongings
- If they openly ask for the tip at the end of the move
When and how to tip?
If your movers are moving you locally, if you have a labor and office move within the same city, you can tip your movers at any point.
You can tip your movers at the end of the move, once everything is finished. If you see that they did a good job and you are happy with their service, you can tip them before you go separate ways. It would be best to tip each mover individually , simply to avoid one mover taking everything to himself, since you don’t know whether or not he will split it with his crew. This would also be the way of showing that you appreciate their individual effort.
You can tip your movers at the beginning of the move, making sure they will take care of everything, wrap and protect everything double or just give extra strength. Beware, this can be a bit tricky, and if you are not happy with the job done, you can’t take your tip back.
You can also tip in another form
It would be nice if you leave a nice review once the move is finished, and if possible, mention the name of movers that handled your move. That is how you can make sure that their bosses see their effort and they maybe get some bonuses for their service.
You can also, as mentioned above, order pizza, drinks and show movers they did a really good job.
Can you tip via card?
Having in mind we all use cards and that, nowadays, most people don’t even use cash at all, it can happen that once the move is done, you realize that you have nothing except your card in your wallet.
What you can do is call your salesperson and check with them if there is an option to use your card for tipping and what would be their policy on that. But, since the move is not something that happens last minute, make sure you have cash on you once the movers arrive.
Your move may be crazy and you may have spent months organizing, but having a good moving crew will really make your life better and they will be able to appreciate whatever you decide to do when it comes to their tips.
Call Dallas Movers Pro
If you are in need of packers and movers and you are not sure whether to call moving companies or not, consider calling us. Our crews are specialized in doing labor moves, office, residential and apartment moves. You can always call us and get a free quote for your move.
If you decide that we will be a part of your moving experience, we will make sure to make it stress free and exceptional. Also, check our website for any additional information.