Move my furniture
March 20, 2014 6:55 PM   Subscribe

I need advice on moving some furniture across country.

I'm in charge of disbursing the final possessions of my parents estate. I need to move a small amount furniture (mostly chairs, dressers, a secretary etc) from storage in the Bay Area in California to New Mexico and Chicago. I can't rent a truck and haul it myself. These are items that have significance for the family so we don't want to sell them (or see them reduced to kindling by the movers).

I'm interested in experiences, recommendations and advice on how to accomplish this without costing a fortune or having a shipping nightmare. As an added rub, I don't live in CA so I'd like to take care of as much as I can long distance.
posted by jabo to Travel & Transportation (2 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
What is a small amount in this context? About the amount needed to furnish a studio apartment, a 1 bedroom apartment, or even smaller than that?

Since they are going to two different places if this is truly ten chairs two dressers and a secretary I'd strongly consider using Greyhound freight. Wrap the heck out of them (double boxed, etc.) and be sure they're under their weight limit, which is currently capped at 100 lbs, then take them to your local greyhound station. They ship portal to portal - so you will drop off your package then pick it up at the nearest greyhound freight station.

I've had pretty good luck with this. I recently shipped a 100+ lb dresser from SoCal to New England for $250. In the heyday of Greyhound Freight I shipped couches from coast to coast for less than $200, but the weight limit has gone down and prices have gone up.

I'd also suggest scouring craigslist rideshare for people driving to the destinations you want (or through them). If you find the right people you could get a bunch of stuff moved that way. Personally, I vastly prefer ridesharing with things rather than people - you don't have to agree on when to stop, what to listen to, and whether they can shell peanuts in your front seat.

If you have more stuff (on the order of a studio apartment) you should consider Relocubes. Fantastic little things, 6x8x8ish and they cost around $1700 to move things across the country. They deliver the cube, you pack it, they pick it up and they deliver it to your place. We did a cross-country move this way and were very happy.

Regardless - if you like it, pack it well. Buy a bunch of used moving blankets (again, craigslist is your friend) and several rolls of packing tape and pad it very, very well.
posted by arnicae at 8:04 PM on March 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: In my business uShip is an up and coming name. It seems to be the eBay of transport. Including the funny caps in the name strangely.
posted by Folk at 4:30 PM on March 21, 2014


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