What's the best option for a tiny move in the SF Bay Area?

September 8, 2016 10:24 AM

I have to move some stuff to a new (furnished) place on short notice, but I'm thinking that hiring movers would be overkill. Can't drive, so can't rent a truck, and my friend who could do it has to go out of town on the move-in date - what other options do I have?

Like it says on the tin - I'm moving into a new furnished apartment soon, but I don't have a whole bunch of stuff to move. A month ago, I hired movers to handle my move out of my old apartment, and my furniture and other bulky stuff (well, at least the stuff I didn't sell or donate) ended up in my parents' house. Thankfully, I won't have to move those things this time around, but I have stuff like clothes, books, and kitchen things that need moving, although it's not a whole lot of stuff. I can't imagine that it'd be worth hiring full-fledged movers again to handle this kind of move, but unless I'm missing something, it doesn't seem like there are any 'micro-move' services out there.

So, what options do I have? What's out there for a small local move like this? We're talking about 40 miles and around ~10 boxes worth of stuff that could easily fit into the back of a pickup or van. I can handle the loading and unloading myself - just not the transportation. Also, I have to pull this off next Friday/Saturday, though, which may or may not complicate things.

Thanks, guys!!!

posted by un petit cadeau to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

In the days before Zipcar et al. I used to hire "man with a van" people on Craigslist to help me pick up furniture I'd bought from thrift stores or Craigslist.
posted by enn at 10:28 AM on September 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

Craigslist? Task Rabbit? There used to be flyers around town for "Dan, a man and his van"

Have you looked at One Big Man & One Big Truck?
posted by janey47 at 10:28 AM on September 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

This company might be a good option. I think that they do small scale moves.
posted by Hanuman1960 at 10:29 AM on September 8, 2016

Perfect TaskRabbit task.

Also: Post on any community facebook groups or listservs and see if anyone will help you out? For example, I see a lot of this type of thing posted on the "Bay Area Queer Exchange" facebook page.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 10:33 AM on September 8, 2016

Since SF is ground-zero for the app/on demand economy, so I suppose you could try one of those. I googled "uber for trucks" and the initial hits are for GoShare, BuddyTruk, and Pikkup. Presumably the benefit of these apps is the drivers have been vetted in some way, but I expect they'd be the same cost/ slightly more expensive than hiring a guy flat-rate from Craigslist. But maybe more accountability? I haven't used them, so I can't recommend one.
posted by bluecore at 10:34 AM on September 8, 2016

I have used Uber for this before. Be sure to give the driver a good tip to wait while you unload!
posted by lovelygirl at 10:36 AM on September 8, 2016

I've done this and just ordered a bix taxi.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 10:43 AM on September 8, 2016

When I was moving and researching movers I found a LOT of small scale local moving companies- in fact i found way more companies that do local moves only who would be perfectly scaled for this job than interstate movers. That being said this was in a different city so it may not apply but I'm just mentioning it in case you haven't looked already.
posted by bleep at 11:51 AM on September 8, 2016

A friend of mine recently recommended Lugg. Looks like they're targeting exactly this kind of small scale, short timeframe move.
posted by 4rtemis at 3:00 PM on September 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

Jay's Small Moves does what it says on the tin. (My girlfriend used them when we moved in together and they were great.)
posted by asterix at 3:49 PM on September 8, 2016