Who tips the movers?

[Rapunzel]

Our last move took the packers a half day to pack everything up and the movers took a full day and a half to get everything out. On one hand they were a bit slow, but on the other hand our stuff almost completely filled the trailer of an 18 wheeler!!!

I ended up tipping each of the moving guys $30 and I provided cold water and lunch. I think I tipped the packers $10 each (and, provided pizza for their lunch that day).

Altogether I spent about $120 on tips (and, that doesn't count the price of the bottled water and the food).

But, our move (paid for by the military) would have easily cost over $8,000 had we paid for it ourselves. (My brother's friend who owns a moving company later said he would have estimated our move at more like $10,000!). So, $150 or so was a drop in the bucket.

Our move was over $6,000 - 10%? I don't think so!

our move was estimated at $11K, at the lower-negotiated price b/c KU uses them for all their moves. There is NO way I tipped 10%.

the packers took 2 LONG days. I provided lunch both days, beverages, and gave the truck owners a sweetheart of a deal on a 2 year old fridge. I gave the local unloaders $20 or $30 each, and the beer the previous owners left in the fridge.

[GrayMatterWife]

When my DH started residency, we abandoned most of our furniture (it was REALLY crappy...I mean...bad...leftover hand-me-downs from college, super-cheap Wal-Mart pressed fiberboard, etc.) to our church for a yard sale or donated it to GoodWill. So we didn't have too much to move. Just a big U-Haul's worth (about half of which was boxes of books). But my DH had already moved to start his residency (I waited behind with kiddo until I had a new job), and he could not come to help us pack or move (half-way across the country!).

My in-laws were awesome. My father-in-law drove the U-Haul (which broke down three times on the drive) and my mother-in-law drove her car with my car being pulled on a cartrailer attached to her car.

I didn't tip them. But I paid for all the gas, the hotel, and whatever meals they'd let me pick up.

Considering I don't think they really like me, they were really terrific about the whole thing! I owe them, but they never made me feel like it.

"Our" residency did not have our resident housing apartment ready for us which was only $250 a month and had us in a corporate apartment for 3 weeks. When we arrived to Columbus, we went to a storage unit where they unpacked us and stored for the 3 weeks. They then moved us into our apartment 3 weeks later and refused any money from us after they did. Thank God for delays as I was 7 months pregnant at the time!!1

[MDPhDWife]

So I actually have some experience on this topic Not the moving part, but my parents owned and operated a moving business my entire life. My father died 8 years ago and my mother still runs it by herself to this day. Tipping certainly isn't expected, but it is very much appreciated for a job well done. Customers often pay for lunch and provide beverages throughout the day and it's not uncommon for each person on the crew to get $10-$100. I've also seen customer who will give furniture or appliances to them for free or extremely cheap.

Hope this helps!

By the way, a residency program who picks up the tab on the move?!!? How do we score that?

FANTASTIC! By the way ... you've now totally outed yourself as our "go to" girl for moving questions. You and DCJenn could write a guide ....

[Momo]

I've also seen customer who will give furniture or appliances to them for free or extremely cheap.

I was gonna post this...that's exactly what i did! I gave a microwave, a mountain bike, and a few other things to my driver. The helpers were awful...I still provideed them w/ meals and beverages. I think Dh may have handed the driver a tip before he left our new home, maybe 50.00 or so.

We're moving tomorrow and are unsure how much to tip the movers. I think we over-tipped last time for our half-cross country move.

Ok, so our move will cost about $1200 and should take 6 hours total (within the same city) according to the moving co. There will be 1 crew leader/driver and two movers.

How much should I tip each guy? DH says $50 each guy and $75 for the driver. And DH says we should provide drinks and lunch. Is this too much for an in-city move that will only take 6 hours total?

[DCJenn]

um, WAY too much.

I'd tip 20 bucks a guy and provide water.

jenn

[MDPhDWife]

I checked with my mama on this one. According to her if you're pleased with the service, the typical rule of thumb is $5 per hour per worker. Driver doesn't necessarily get more as they are usually paid a higher rate from the employer. So according to your estimate of 6 hours, you are slightly overtipping. I also agree it's very nice of you to provide lunch and cold drinks (water is perfectly fine) but certainly not expected or frowned upon if you do not.

Hope this helps!

Okay, thanks so much for the suggestions!