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I found the PODS to be about in line with the truck rental (when you figure in that I didn't pay for gas, mileage), and I had the PODS for a week. That allowed me time to do it on my schedule... As far as a moving company, I shopped around and was quoted a LOT more than the PODS. Granted I had to pack/unpack myself (you just walk in and out of the POD, no ramps), but the savings was well worth it!
I have seen in previous threads here that some have not been happy with the PODS prices. I wonder if proximity to one of their central warehouses makes a price difference? Thinking aloud here because we definately got the best deal with PODS.
Also, it depends how much movers are costing in your area. We were moving a 1600sf 3bd/2ba home and as I said, we got quotes from several movers. One even gave me a ballpark over the phone of $12,000...no thanks! I'll hitch the stuff to my car before I pay that much.
Anyhow, we didn't buy boxes (try craigslist or freecycle for free ones) and we used just ONE POD...that might be the difference in price as well. We decided to not move any of the our less than desirable furniture.
It IS an advantage to have the POD at your house so you can pack it at your leisure. We hired the laborers, moved in all the heavy stuff and then took a few days to pack all the crevices.
ONE TIP: put all your clothing, linens in garbage bags. I had all our stuff in blue tubs and we realized it took up too much space so I unpacked it all and put in garbage bags. We gained HALF of our space back and were able to fill in all the nooks/crannies from floor to ceiling (which is better for stability anyhow).
Whatever you decide, as everyone has said, check and double check your price quotes, read the fine print and good luck!!
Lauren
Thanks everybody for all the great info! I have gotten quotes from ABF and Allied and those are almost 3x the price of a POD. Also PODS allow you to take up to a month to load and unload your POD which I think is fantastic. I really don't trust the Uhaul/Penske trucks as I am from a small town and don't find them to be in very good condition. I think I will go with PODS! Thanks again for all the info I really appreciate it!
Thanks everybody for all the great info! I have gotten quotes from ABF and Allied and those are almost 3x the price of a POD. Also PODS allow you to take up to a month to load and unload your POD which I think is fantastic. I really don't trust the Uhaul/Penske trucks as I am from a small town and don't find them to be in very good condition. I think I will go with PODS! Thanks again for all the info I really appreciate it!
If that was the case, I hope it's correct, but I urge you to verify and double-verify that the PODS quote is apples to apples. The prices really shouldn't be that disparate, but if they are, then more power to ya! Just don't want to get things delivered and get a bill that's double what you planned.
be sure you know the difference between packing and loading. packing is very expensive and i bet that 7 to 10K included expensive packing. Loading and unloading is relatively inexpensive. Those numbers using 7-10K versus pods quote just seem very off to me. maybe I missed something. We just paid over 6K to have an ENTIRE truck loaded to the gills from Atlanta to NC. We moved from a 6,000 sq ft house to a 4700 sq ft house and we even gave away truck loads of stuff to charity. How I regret those stupid years of consuming wildly....
I just priced out PODS. We are moving within the county but we don't have a new house yet so we will be storing our stuff for a month, perhaps two. With PODS, I would need two of them for all my stuff. Then I have to pay storage for the 2nd month (or any part of a 2nd month) and a "re-delivery" fee to our new house. I called one of the moving companies listed on their website as I will need manpower to load my POD and it was XX for 1 POD and then the same amount again if you have 2!!! So when all was said and done, it was going to cost me about $1500 more than some of the better estimates I have received from moving companies. But like I said, this is for a local move!
The male half of no kudzu found out that doing PODS was $1,200 vs approx $700 (and my time) using a 17' U-Haul for our upcoming move from Fayetteville, GA to Chapel Hill. Heck, I'll drive all day for $500.00. But, the real deal-breaker was that PODS would require 5 business days for delivery (a 410 mile trip). We are leaving here on the 21st, arriving there on the 21st and will unload on the 22nd. It would be the next Friday or following Monday before the PODS would be delivered.
If you needed to store the POD, no big deal. If you need the contents ASAP, forget it.
I used PODS to move from Huntsville, AL to Austin, TX. We used 3 large PODS and the bill, everything included, was $2151. My cheapest moving company quote was $8700 plus packing. I moved a 4-2-2 1800 sq ft house with a 700 sq ft storage buiding.
The PODS price was far and away the lowest cost option for me and it was delivered 5 days after pickup at my front door. I had the opportunity to unload at my leisure and on my schedule. I did not have to meet anyone at any inconvenient time for delivery. I could have spent a few hundred more and gotten someone else to pack for me, but I preferred to take my time and do that myself.
There were only a few things I did not pack well enough to survive the transport in perfect condition. Compare that to an $8600 damage settlement from the last moving company that provided turnkey service from packing to unpacking. Their settlement was almost as much as my company paid them to move me.
be sure you know the difference between packing and loading. packing is very expensive and i bet that 7 to 10K included expensive packing. Loading and unloading is relatively inexpensive. Those numbers using 7-10K versus pods quote just seem very off to me. maybe I missed something. We just paid over 6K to have an ENTIRE truck loaded to the gills from Atlanta to NC. We moved from a 6,000 sq ft house to a 4700 sq ft house and we even gave away truck loads of stuff to charity. How I regret those stupid years of consuming wildly....
Maybe the difference is where you live? The lowest quote I got of $7k did NOT include packing. We lived in NJ....seems like moving costs are different in GA.
Again, 1 POD for a 1600sf home (we also donated alot of stuff before moving and my dh is a master packer), we paid about $300 at drop off of the POD. Then about $200/month in NJ storage and when we moved to NC, we had the POD moved to storage in Raleigh (no cost to us) and then upon delivery (4 months later) we paid another $1,100. That was it. I have the receipts. Add to that the laborers we hired (2 guys for 4 hours at $270) twice.
Lauren
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