Are Professional Packing Services Worth It? What’s Included and What Do They Cost?
Packing is often one of the most time-consuming parts of moving home. Even after you have sorted through your belongings, you still need to find suitable boxes, protect fragile items, label everything and make sure it is ready before the removals team arrives.
Professional packing services can take much of that work off your hands. But are they worth paying for, what will the team actually pack, and how much should you expect the service to cost?
What is a professional packing service?
A professional packing service is an additional service offered alongside your home removal. Instead of packing everything yourself, an experienced team comes to your property and prepares your belongings for the move.
United Movers provides a full packing service in Coventry and Warwickshire, covering everyday household belongings as well as fragile, valuable and unusually shaped items.
The packing can be arranged before your moving day or, for smaller properties, may sometimes be completed on the day of the move. The appropriate schedule will depend on the size of your home, how much needs packing and the complexity of the move.
What does a full packing service include?
A full house packing service is designed to prepare practically everything in your home for transportation.
The packing team will bring the necessary materials and work systematically through the property. Everyday belongings such as books, toys, clothing, linen, lamps, kitchen equipment and decorative items can all be packed into suitable boxes or crates.
Fragile belongings such as glassware, china, ornaments and electronics require additional care. Larger items that will not fit safely into a standard box, including mirrors, pictures and statues, can be wrapped and protected individually.
Boxes are then labelled or organised according to the room they belong in. This helps the removals team place them in the correct rooms at the new property and makes unpacking considerably easier.
A typical full packing service may include:
- Suitable removal boxes, wrapping materials and tape
- Packing of general household belongings
- Additional protection for fragile items
- Individual wrapping for mirrors, pictures and awkward objects
- Protection for furniture where required
- Labelling and sorting boxes by room
If there are valuable, sentimental or particularly delicate items in your home, discuss them with the removal company before packing begins. This gives the team an opportunity to plan the safest way to protect and transport them.
Do professional packers pack everything?
A full packing service covers most household belongings, but there will usually be some items you need to deal with personally.
Important documents, medication, jewellery, keys and anything you will need immediately should be kept separately. You should also prepare an essentials bag containing items such as toiletries, chargers, a change of clothes and basic refreshments.
Removal companies may be unable to carry certain hazardous or restricted materials. These can include flammable liquids, gas cylinders, paint, chemicals and some types of fuel. Check what can and cannot be transported before packing day so that nothing causes a last-minute delay.
It is also sensible to remove anything you no longer want before the packers arrive. Professional packers work efficiently, but they cannot necessarily tell whether an item is meant to move with you or be discarded.
Can you pay for help with only part of the packing?
You do not necessarily need to book a full packing service.
A partial packing service can be a useful compromise if you are happy to pack straightforward belongings but want professional help with the more difficult areas. For example, you might pack clothing, books and linen yourself while asking the removal team to handle the kitchen, artwork, mirrors and other fragile items.
This approach can reduce the amount of work you have to do while keeping the cost lower than a complete packing service.
If you decide to pack most of the property yourself, United Movers can also provide high-quality packing supplies, including double-walled removal boxes, packing paper, bubble wrap, export wrap and tape.
How much do professional packing services cost?
There is no single fixed price for a professional packing service. The cost depends on how much needs packing, the materials required and the amount of time the team will need at the property.
The main factors affecting the price include the size of the property, the quantity of belongings, whether you require full or partial packing, the number of fragile or specialist items, the materials required, access to the property and how much notice is available before the move.
A lightly furnished flat will naturally cost less to pack than a large family home containing several years’ worth of belongings. Similarly, packing a few fragile items will cost less than asking the team to prepare the entire property.
Online price ranges can provide a broad indication, but they cannot account accurately for the contents of an individual home. The most reliable approach is to request a quotation based on your property and ask for the packing element to be shown separately. You can then compare the cost of a removal with and without professional packing.
Is a professional packing service worth it?
For many households, the answer depends more on time and circumstances than on the size of the property.
Professional packing can be especially worthwhile when you are working full-time, caring for children, helping an older relative move or dealing with a short period between exchanging contracts and completing. It can also be valuable if you have a large amount of fragile glassware, artwork, electronics or other belongings that need careful preparation.
There is also the physical side of packing to consider. Filling and moving boxes involves repeated lifting, bending and carrying. Anyone with limited mobility or an existing injury may find that professional help makes the move much more manageable.
Even when you have enough time to pack, experience makes a difference. Professional packers understand how to distribute weight, choose suitable boxes and protect belongings so that they can be loaded safely.
However, the service will not be essential for everyone. If you have relatively few possessions, plenty of time and no concerns about packing fragile items, doing it yourself may be the more economical choice.
How much time can a packing service save?
Packing an entire home usually takes longer than people expect. It is rarely just a matter of putting possessions into boxes. Items need to be sorted, wrapped, packed securely and labelled, while furniture and awkward objects may need separate protection.
A professional team can divide the work between several experienced packers and complete it far more quickly than one person working around their usual commitments.
This can be particularly helpful when your moving date is approaching and other tasks still need attention, such as updating addresses, arranging utilities, cleaning the property and preparing for the handover.
If you are organising the wider move, our complete moving house checklist can help you plan what needs doing and when.
How should you prepare for professional packers?
Although the team will handle the physical packing, a little preparation will help everything run smoothly.
Decide which belongings are moving with you and remove anything you intend to sell, donate or dispose of. Set aside the documents, valuables and essentials you want to keep with you, and clearly identify anything that must not be packed.
It is also helpful to tell the team about any items requiring special attention. If certain boxes will need to be opened first at the new property, mention this so that they can be labelled accordingly.
You do not need to organise every cupboard before the packers arrive, but clear instructions will make the process quicker and prevent essential items from disappearing into a sealed box.
Combining packing with your house removal
Booking the packing and removal through the same company can make the process easier to coordinate. The team preparing your belongings understands how they will be loaded, transported and placed in the new property.
United Movers provides house removal services for moves within Coventry and Warwickshire as well as relocations throughout the UK. Packing can be incorporated into the wider moving plan so that the timings, materials and transport requirements are considered together.
If there is a delay between leaving your current property and moving into the next one, secure storage facilities can also be included as part of the arrangement.
Professional packing services in Coventry
Professional packing is not simply about saving yourself a few hours with a roll of tape. It can reduce the pressure before moving day, provide better protection for difficult belongings and ensure the property is ready when the removals team arrives.
Whether it is worth the cost depends on your available time, budget, property size and the belongings being moved. If a full service is more than you need, ask about professional help with only the rooms or items that concern you most.
United Movers offers full and partial packing support as part of its removal services in Coventry, Warwickshire and across the UK.
Ask United Movers for a packing quote
To discuss your move and receive a tailored quotation, contact the United Movers team. Tell us what you need help packing, and the team will be in touch to discuss the most suitable option.