What the price of a move is actually made of

Price comes from time and space

A move sells two things: hours and cubic metres. Almost everything that pushes the price up pushes up one or the other. Once you see where the hours go, it also becomes obvious why two apartments of identical size can cost different amounts to move.

Below are the factors that genuinely move the number.

How much there is, and how much room it takes

The volume of the load decides the size of the van and whether one trip is enough or two are needed. A second trip means a second round journey, and that shows up on the invoice far more clearly than a few extra boxes.

Sofas, beds, large wardrobes and anything that does not fold flat are the space eaters. Ten boxes of books take up less room than one corner sofa.

Floor, lift and carrying distance

This is where estimates usually go wrong.

A fourth-floor apartment with no lift is several times the work of a ground-floor one. And having a lift is not the end of the question. The question is whether the sofa fits in the lift. In older inner-city buildings the lift is often small enough that the large furniture goes down the stairs regardless.

The carry from the van to the door is measured in metres and then multiplied by dozens of return trips. Ten metres and eighty metres are different prices. That is why reserving a parking space for the van is worth the trouble: temporary use of the street area needs a permit from the city, and it often pays for itself in hours saved.

A narrow stairwell, a spiral staircase, a low cellar door and a cramped yard are all in the same category. Mention them up front.

Distance and driving time

Within the Helsinki capital region, kilometres are rarely the problem. The clock is. A move that puts the van on Ring I (Kehä I) in the afternoon rush burns hours in which nothing happens.

Over longer distances, driving time in both directions comes into it, and possibly the return journey of the vehicle and crew.

Timing

Demand in Finland is extremely uneven. Tenancies change over at the turn of the month, which makes the last working days of one month and the first of the next the busiest days of the year. Summer is busier than November.

If your date can flex, flex it. A weekday in the middle of the month is in practice always freer than the 31st.

Packing, unpacking and assembly

Packing is work that can be done by you or bought in, and it is usually the single biggest choice affecting the price. The same applies to unpacking at the other end, and to dismantling and reassembling furniture.

A partial split works perfectly well: pack your own clothes and books, hand over the kitchen. The kitchen is nearly always the room where the hours disappear.

Special items and extra work

A piano, a safe, a large aquarium, gym equipment and very heavy stone tabletops need their own plan and sometimes their own equipment. Mention them at the outset, not on the day.

In the same category: storage between two homes, end-of-tenancy cleaning, and waste that has to be taken away.

Two ways of pricing

Quotes come in two shapes: charged by the hour, or a fixed price for the whole job. Neither is automatically cheaper. They shift the risk in different directions.

For hourly pricing, ask: at what moment does the clock start and when does it stop, how many workers does the rate include, is the vehicle charged separately, and is there a minimum charge?

For fixed pricing, ask: what exactly does the price include, and what triggers an extra charge? The usual triggers are more belongings than estimated, a floor or carrying distance that turned out different from what was reported, and waiting time, typically for keys.

What to put in a quote request

Missing information does not make a quote cheaper. It makes it imprecise, and imprecision gets corrected on moving day.

Include at least this:

• the floor at both addresses and whether there is a lift, plus whether the sofa fits in it
• the carrying distance from the van to the door, and whether the van can park close by
• the size of the home and the number of rooms
• a rough box count and a list of the large furniture
• special items: piano, safe, heavy or oversized pieces
• whether you are packing yourself, and which rooms you would hand over
• whether furniture needs dismantling or reassembling
• whether storage is needed between the two homes
• the moving date, and whether it can move
• waste to be removed and large items being thrown out

Quotes are only comparable if they were written from the same information.

Costs that are not on the mover's invoice

The total cost of a move is bigger than any one invoice. Budget mentally for:

• boxes, tape and padding
• waste station charges for a large load
• the street permit fee and the rental of the traffic signs
• interim storage, if you need it
• the deposit on the new apartment, which is payable before the deposit on the old one comes back
• overlapping rent, if the two tenancies cross over
• cleaning products and the end-of-tenancy clean
• contract opening fees, where they apply

How to compare quotes

Ask for everything in writing. A verbal estimate over the phone is not a quote.

Run each one through five checks:

1. Does the price include VAT? Prices to consumers in Finland are stated inclusive of VAT, and comparing a price excluding VAT against one including it is the most common mistake made here.
2. What work the price covers, and what it does not.
3. How work beyond the estimated time is charged.
4. What the cancellation and rescheduling terms are if the date changes.
5. What happens if something is damaged, and what insurance applies. Ask this directly and ask for the answer in writing.

The lowest total is not comparable if it covers a different job from the others.

Tax and receipts

Keep the invoices, and ask for an itemised invoice that separates the labour from everything else. Note that an ordinary moving service does not qualify for Finland's household tax deduction (kotitalousvähennys): the deduction covers work done in the home, such as move-out cleaning. Its conditions and limits are set in tax legislation and change from year to year, so check your own situation on vero.fi.

How to bring the number down

Cut down before you pack, not on the floor of the new apartment. Anything you do not take is something nobody has to carry.

Beyond that the options are these: pack the rooms you have time for yourself; move the date away from the turn of the month if you can; reserve a parking space as close to the door as possible; take the large furniture apart in advance; and be there in person, so nobody is waiting on a decision.

Once you have the details together you can request a quote. The more precisely you describe the floors, the carrying distance and the volume, the closer the quote lands to the final invoice.