Cheapest moving options for a book lover (relocation, packing, moving company)

[uptown_urbanist]

I own a LOT of books, most of them big and heavy. The last time we did a long-distance move I packed them up on boxes and they went on the truck (we used a moving company and paid by weight); while I don't know what the total percentage of weight was due to our book collection, I know it was a fairly high number. I'd like to cut costs during our next move, and beyond the obvious trimming of the collection, what have you fellow book-lovers found to be the best, cheapest way to move a lot of books across the country? I will have access to a mailing address before the actual move, so if alternative shipping methods - media mail, etc. - was cheaper I would have that option. We have more books than furniture, so this is going to have a major impact on figuring out our final moving budget. Any leads, tips, suggestions, or personal feedback would be much appreciated!

[TexasHorseLady]

When our son moved back to Austin from NYC, he was moving from a one-bedroom apartment and didn't have all that much furniture - but he had a lot of books and kitchen equipment. We explored the various possibilities, and discovered that packing everything up in boxes and sending it UPS was MUCH cheaper (as in, a third to half the cost) of using any of the various official moving options. So that's what we did. Everything that could be was packed up into boxes and shipped, via UPS, to his Dad's business. Worked like a charm.

[mawipafl]

For our long-distance moves we rented a U-Haul truck to carry the things we'd need before the moving van arrived at our new home (mattresses, coffeemaker, TV, etc) and we also transported all our books in the U-Haul (yes, we also have literally tons of books) to save on the weight. If I remember correctly, the U-Haul rental, gas, and tolls was about $800 for the 1,000-mile move. I don't know how that amount compares to shipping by UPS or by just including them in the weight with your movers.

[South Jersey Styx]

I own alot of books too. How about trying emove. com? What you do is get a truck (UHaul, Budget, whoever) and you do your own packing. You hire movers from emove.com. You figure out what you need -- 2 men for 3 hours, 4 men for 2 hours, etc. They will load your truck. You drive the truck. You then hire a different team to unload at your destination.

Might sound a little complicated but worked like a charm for me. the movers were fantastic and I saved alot of costs by doing my own packing and renting and driving the truck myself. And there is a comment list on emove.com so you can see customer's comments on a team you may want to hire. Good luck!

[FreeSpirited1]

website or go to your local office. I think you can do media mail and/or they will help you find a solution at the lowest rate.

I believe they also pick up, but you'd have to check.

Otherwise, other people's advice is great as well.

No way around it if you love your books, it's gonna cost to move 'em

[cobolt]

When my parents moved from their townhome in Chicago to a house in the suburbs, dad had two Uhaul trucks, and I kid you not, one of them was for books only. He would have books shelved three or four books deep on shelves, books in back of books, books stacked on eachother on the floor, until he built a whole housefull of shelves.

When I moved cross country, I just packed my books with the rest of my stuff and put it all in a Penske truck. I got rid of alot of books when I moved. Guess what? I still have tons of books, stacked four deep (just like dad) and I'm adding more all the time. You pay either way when you move them. I was more concerned about damage than expense.

[Jillaceae]

When we moved from Oregon to Vermont we shipped a lot of our books media mail through USPS. To be honest, I would not do it again. Even heavy boxes packed really well seemed to be a problem for them. And if you have a lot of books, your boxes will probably be pretty heavy. Every single box showed up extremely damaged, and one box showed up re-boxed with half the contents missing. And even through they were send media mail, all those pounds of books added up. If you do ship UPS, carefully catalog what is in each box and insure everything. If I were going to ship again, I would pay extra to use UPS, because their guidelines for handling boxes is a little more strict. But personally, I will never ship my books again. In the end I think it is easier to find a bunch of smaller boxes and move them in the truck.

[KathyA11]

Originally Posted by FreeSpirited1

website or go to your local office. I think you can do media mail and/or they will help you find a solution at the lowest rate.

I believe they also pick up, but you'd have to check.

They'll only pick up if you have a priority mail item in the batch.

[BenJones1234]

There are some good companies on www.world-of-relocation.com - try here?

[ranger17]

no knock against UPS or any other ground carrier, but if those are of value and due to the overall amount, i'd consider other options. I use UPS daily and have very good luck, but you're not talking a normal shipment there. The 2 best options i see are either in the back of a rental truck, or box them up, load them on a pallet(s), and have an LTL carrier haul them from point A to B. If you'd have the option of shipping from and to a biz you'd save money on a liftgate option; and perhaps shipping companies could do that for you ( ie ship from a UPS store in your home market to a UPS store in your new market ).