Me and my wifewill be moving into new apartment we bought just ~10drive away.
Sakai came and checked things out and after the usual spiel of “this is just for you” discounts, quoted us 140,000yen. I’ve never actually used a moving company before so this might be considered the norm terms of price…theyd did say that certain rules with the street preventsthem from using 1 big truck and needs 2-3 small trucks which is why its so expensive….along with a recycle fee…however..
We have very little stuff. A small fridge, washing machine, dryer and wooden dresser are the only heavy lifting stuff. Stuff that me and my wife could lift when rearranging the room.
Basically, I know me and a couple of friends could rent a small truck to carry the heavy stuff and the rest is easily done through a few trips back to the old apartment. True, it’ll take a lot longer but well worth putting in the effort if it mean saving even half the costs.
Am I just being stingy because im not accepting of the steep price (was expect ~4万 not over 10万)? Or am I overlooking some major costs, like “insurance against building damages from bumps” or walking things up 10 stories because it wont fit in the elevator? Granted, the price will probably drop a bit (~110,000?) if we keep the amount of boxes we need down (easily doable).
22 comments
rent a kei truck from 2525 for around 5000 yen for 24h and haul all the stuff yourself if you’ve got time.
I have heard that moving companies basically expect you to haggle them down. Not sure if that’s true, but one time I worked with one and they started the price negotiations with “how much are you expecting to pay?” which tells me they have some flexibility, and also they want to pull shenanigans anywhere they can get away with it.
I’ve moved between nearby apartments without trucks before though. It’s pretty doable if you have time. Stairs become a big issue if you’re moving things yourself, but if you have people who can lift who help, maybe that’s negotiable. Might want to try and scope out what kind of stairwells/narrow corners you would need to maneuver your small-but-still-large appliances around. Oh, and the trick moving companies use- wrap an old blanket around things to protect them and wherever you’re moving to/from.
You can buy a dolly or cart from your local DIY shop or Costco if you need one, but also your town may have a shop that rents out things like that. I was able to rent a heavy-duty 4-wheel cart that easily fit my washing machine and had big, chunky wheels to handle rolling it down the street. I don’t remember the price, but it wasn’t that much. Certainly less than 10万. I know people who rented kei trucks for moves as well and as long as you or someone you know has a license, it’s apparently quite easy.
If it didn’t fit in my car, I always rented a truck (or borrowed from a friend). Few thousand yen for a truck, few thousand yen for pizzas and beer for friends that helped out – and returning the favour when needed, of course.
A moving company for Tokyo to Sendai was 140,000.
When I rented a 1 way van plus gas and highway tolls, and moved everything myself it was 60,000
You can try posting on kakaku and they will bid their offers. I moved within Kobe, but first 0123 Art came and offered 150k, lol.
We went with a third company for 80k. There’s a plenty of room for negotiations
You can probably get a few companies to come at the same time to give you an estimate.
In my experience, kuroneko had a good moving division. Pack up your stuff in their boxes and they shipped a truckload for about 40,000.
They might be asking for more to pack up the stuff for you.
I was in a similar situation a few months ago. Moved to a new apartment less than 10 mins drive away. I moved everything in 3 consecutive evenings because I was too lazy to do it in one go. I used careco and rented one of these big 7 seater vans. Not sure if careco is an option where you live but as other pointed you can rent a kei truck cheaply and do it. I hope you don’t end up wasting 140k for this.
When we moved we just got a quote for the big stuff because moving fridges and sofas around is hassle, you can easily scratch the floor or the paint work so if you look at it in that way, the cost of repairs/time/hassle could justify the price you pay.
Yamato moving service
Not many people know this, but many things are negotiable in Japan. Call other moving companies and try to negotiate with them for a cheaper price.
To add to all this, if you can move on a weekday you can pretty much name your price.
My wife and I had 3 moving companies come in on one day, took their bids and then played them off each other to get a good price.
I’d honestly recommend using a moving company if you can do this and get a price you’re willing to pay. Maybe make one price in your head before going in and see if any company can match it. It really was a lifesaver and nice to have someone else handling it.
First of all whatever they quote you first, you can always get lower than that. They quote something super high because some people will move and have their costs paid by their company, therefore they don’t care and will accept the first price.
I think the first quote I got was something similar to you, but in the end I paid maybe ¥80,000?
Of course it will be cheaper to rent a van and move it with yourself and friends, but of course that’s going to be a lot of hassle. The other thing you really have to worry about is having any type of damage to the apartments (old and new). If you make any scratch on the floor, walls or in the elevator, in the hallways, you will have to pay.
Professional movers are amazing, they lay down all the plastic and padding, carry everything for you, and set it all up at the new place. Well worth it in my opinion.
Last time I moved, we got an estimate from 0123 (good service before). Bought a new A/C and washer too, all very friendly.
When he slid the calculator with the estimate on it to us, with a straight face, I told him to lose a zero, and we had a deal.
He laughed. I didn’t.
I didn’t beat him down that far, but about halfway, plus a lot of bonus features (trash disposal, cleaning, etc.)
So do haggle, if you use them.
try facebook moving foreigners services ? I moved 1k apartment for 25k 4y ago.
Yes, you should do it yourself, especially if you have friends who are willing to help you for a couple hours. You can rent a van or small truck for 12000 yen for the whole day, and buy a dolly for 6000 yen if you can’t borrow one.
The reason to pay for movers is the full service. They do all the fundamental stuff – dungarees, gloves, rolling out a tarp to slide stuff across the floor, moving things on dollies, having 2-3 guys work together to carry heavy things, etc. If that is all revolutionary to you, then maybe you want full service.
I didn’t read it coz it’s long….I just wanna say, if you aren’t moving far, get a removal company. Doesnt cost much and they are great. My wife negotiated them down big time. It’s a competitive game. Apartment to a house about 50g. 6, years ago though.
Is the estimated net volume written on the quotation?
Don’t forget the biggest benefit of hiring a company against moving yourself: If something breaks, they will come up for it.
Before you put the move on yourself, I would call around. Negotiate. 140,000 is very high. We moved a few times and to benchmark it I would say 60,000-ish is what you should be paying based on your description. That’s with a pro mover, not some franchised guy with a kei truck (I’ve done that too to save money and it didn’t go well).
The thing is – moving sucks. Moving in small places sucks more. And doing this with your wife – unless she is 100% on board – is going to end up stressful with at least 1 “this was your idea” during the day. Yeah…I’ll pay to avoid all that.
I did move one time with my wife to a weekly mansion, after we had already shipped a bunch of stuff to America. Even that was 3 trips in a small car and sucked.
Get a second estimate, seems expensive
I rented an utility van with no seats apart from the front ones. It was like 9,000 en for like 12 hours or something. You can definitely find it cheaper at other rental car places though.
If they said “2-3 small trucks” it sounds like your problem is more the quantity of small things? But you can probably get somethign cheaper.
I would say “moving is stressful and tiring as-is”, but if it’s looking like half a paycheck, you might be able to justify handling it mostly yourself.
One “safe” option might be hiring a moving company _just_ for the big things, and then doing all the boxes yourself. Something to make it a small truck delivery. But it’s really dependent on the amount of stuff.