You asked three movers for a price and got three numbers that do not agree. One says $400. One says $595. One wants to see the apartment first. The easy move is to circle the lowest number and book it.
Before you do, look at what each number is pricing. When you compare moving quotes in NYC, the bottom line is the last thing to read, not the first. Two quotes can describe two different moves: one priced from your real list, your real stairs and your real furniture, and one priced from a guess that gets corrected on move day, on the clock, while half your things are already on the truck.
Here is how to compare moving quotes line by line, the three things that blow up a cheap quote, and the questions that bring them out before you book.
The short version:
- Flat or hourly? A flat rate prices the job. An hourly rate prices the clock, and nobody can see the clock yet.
- Priced from what list? A quote is only as good as the inventory behind it.
- Stairs in or out? How many flights, at both ends.
- Special handling? Disassembly, TV mounts, the window AC. In the quote, or on the day?
- Still not sure? Email us the other quote. We will compare it apples to apples.
Why two NYC moving quotes for the same move can be hundreds apart
Most of the gap is not one mover being greedy and the other being generous. It is two movers pricing two different jobs.
- One priced the job, the other priced an hour. “2 movers at $130 an hour” is not a price. It is a rate times a number nobody knows yet.
- They worked from different lists. “One bedroom, about 20 boxes” and “one bedroom, 35 boxes, a dresser, a bookcase and a bike” are two different moves.
- One left the hard parts for move day. Stairs, long carries and furniture that has to come apart do not disappear because a quote left them out. They show up later, at a price you never got to compare.
So the first job when you compare moving quotes is to make sure they describe the same move. Then the cheaper number actually means something.
Flat rate or hourly: the first line to check when you compare moving quotes
A flat rate is one number for the whole job, set before move day from your inventory, your building access and the distance. If the day runs long because the freight elevator is slow, that is the mover’s problem, not yours.
An hourly quote is a rate, a minimum and a guess at the hours. The rate is the only part that is fixed. Everything that makes a NYC move slow lands on the clock: stairs, a busy freight elevator, a truck that has to park half a block away, the dresser that will not fit until the legs come off.
Flat rate is standard for everything we do. Hourly only makes sense when the whole job happens in one place: moving furniture around inside your apartment, moving to another unit in the same building, or loading a truck you rented. For those jobs we will quote you both ways, hourly and flat, and you pick. Sometimes the flat number still comes in lower.
If one of your quotes is hourly, check four things on it:
- The minimum. Many NYC hourly movers bill two to four hours, however short the job turns out to be.
- Travel time. Is the drive from their depot billed? Both ways?
- When the clock starts and stops. At your door, or when the truck leaves their lot?
- The crew size. A rate for two movers and a rate for three are different prices. Make sure every quote sends the same crew.
For what flat rates look like across apartment sizes, see our guide to what movers cost in NYC.
A worked example: the same one-bedroom, two quotes
Here is how a gap like that plays out. The numbers are an illustration built from typical NYC hourly rates, not any company’s real quote.
The move: a one-bedroom on the third floor of a walk-up, going to an elevator building in the next neighborhood. Nothing has to come apart.
- Quote A, hourly: 2 movers and a truck, $130 an hour, 3-hour minimum, “about 3 to 4 hours.” On paper: $390 to $520.
- Quote B, flat: $595, priced from a full list, with the three flights and the wrapping in the number.
Here is Quote A on move day:
| Line | On the quote | On move day |
|---|---|---|
| Hours on the job | 3 to 4 | 5 (three flights, 30 boxes instead of 15, a bookcase and a bike nobody listed) |
| Travel time | Not mentioned | 1 hour, billed |
| Materials | Not mentioned | $50 (shrink wrap, tape, a mattress bag) |
| Total | $390 to $520 | $830 |
Quote B: $595 on the quote, $595 on the day.
The hourly mover did not lie. It priced a different move: fewer boxes, no flights, no drive. The flat quote priced the move you actually have. That is the whole reason to compare moving quotes line by line. And if Quote A’s list had been right and both buildings had elevators, Quote A might have been the better deal.
How to compare moving quotes in NYC: the 3 lines that blow up on move day
When someone sends us a cheaper quote to look at, the same three things are missing almost every time.
1. The stairs
A fourth-floor walk-up is a different job from an elevator building, and a quote that does not say how many flights, at both ends, has not priced them. The stoop counts as a flight. So does the half flight up to the elevator in a lot of prewar buildings.
On an hourly quote, stairs show up as time. On some quotes they show up as a per-flight fee added at the end. On a flat quote they are part of the number before anyone shows up, which is how we price them. If you compare moving quotes and only one of them mentions flights, that tells you which one priced your building. Here is what a walk-up move really costs, and if you are not sure what you are dealing with, our walk-up map shows where the stairs are, neighborhood by neighborhood.
2. An inventory list that is not accurate
The list is the quote. “One bedroom, about 20 boxes” is a guess, and every item the guess missed costs money on move day: time on an hourly clock, or an add-on on a flat rate. The usual misses are the closet that holds 15 more boxes than anyone counted, the storage cage in the basement, the bike, the balcony furniture and the second TV.
Here is the honest part: a flat rate is only as good as the list behind it, ours included. If we price 20 boxes and find 35, the job changed and the price changes with it, and we tell you before we do the work, not after. That is exactly why we ask for photos or a listing link up front. With a link, we can see the apartment, the building and the stairs in seconds, and the list stops being a guess.
3. Special handling fees
Some items need more than carrying: a bed or a wardrobe that has to come apart, a wall-mounted TV, a window air conditioner, a piano, a home gym, an oversized mirror. Some quotes name these items with a price. Cheap ones tend to leave them for the day, when you have no other mover to call.
When you compare moving quotes, ask for every special item to be named on each one, with its price. Ours are spelled out in what costs extra, and what does not: taking down a window AC is $80, and the TV box is free up to 65 inches. If a big piece has to come apart to get out the door, here is how we measure before move day.
Before you compare moving quotes on price, ask these 7 questions
Send these to every mover on your list. The answers turn three numbers into three quotes you can actually compare.
- Is this a flat rate or an hourly rate? If hourly, what is the minimum, and is travel time billed?
- What inventory is this priced from? Can I see the list?
- How many flights did you price, at the old place and the new one?
- Which of my items count as special handling, and what does each one cost?
- Are shrink wrap, moving blankets and mattress bags included?
- What changes the price on move day, and how will I hear about it before the work happens?
- Will you handle the certificate of insurance my building asks for? (What a COI is.)
A mover who answers all seven in writing is giving you a quote. A mover who will only give you an hourly rate is giving you a rate, and you cannot compare moving quotes when one of them is only a rate.
The Better Business Bureau gives the same advice in fewer words: get at least three written estimates, and be careful with any estimate that looks too good to be true (BBB tip on hiring a mover).
Got two quotes that do not match? Send us the other one.
This is the easiest way to compare moving quotes, and we would rather you did it than guessed. Email the other company’s official written quote to info@magicalmovingnyc.com, with your list or a listing link and a few photos. It has to be the real document they sent you, not a number someone said on the phone, because the line items are the whole comparison. We price the same list, the same stairs and the same items, and we show you, line by line, where the two quotes differ. Apples to apples.
If the other quote covers the same job for less, we will tell you. If it is missing the stairs, half your boxes and the wardrobe, you will see that too, before move day instead of on it.
Comparing moving quotes: FAQ
Is the cheapest moving quote a bad sign?
Not by itself. It is a sign to check what it includes. A low number that covers the same list, the same stairs and the same special items is a good deal. A low number that covers less is a different move.
Flat rate or hourly: which is better in NYC?
For a move between two addresses, a flat rate, because NYC moves run long for reasons nobody controls: elevators, parking, stairs. Hourly can make sense for a job in one place, like rearranging inside an apartment or loading a truck you rented. We quote those both ways, so you can pick.
Why does the mover need my inventory?
Because the inventory is the price. The more accurate the list, the less can change on move day. Photos or a listing link make it accurate in seconds.
Can a flat-rate price change on move day?
Only if the job changes: more items than the list, stairs nobody mentioned, a piece that has to come apart. Almost anything can still be added on the day, but adding it up front is better, because the crew arrives ready and nothing surprises you.
Do you charge extra for stairs?
Stairs are priced into your flat rate before move day, so there is no stair fee waiting for you at the end.
Get a quote you can compare
Send us both addresses, your move date and your list or a listing link, and email the other company’s written quote to info@magicalmovingnyc.com if you have one. We will send back one flat number, in writing, with the stairs, the list and the special items spelled out, so you can compare moving quotes on the same terms.
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Magical Moving & Storage. USDOT 4144902, MC 1589978, NYSDOT 42311. (212) 933-9959.
