What a moving quote is for
A quote is a firm price. Once your customer accepts it, that is the number — so it needs an expiration date, a defined scope, and clear terms on what falls outside it.
For moving companys selling to homeowners, renters, and offices, the quote is usually the only thing the customer compares side by side against two competitors. It is doing sales work whether you designed it to or not.
The unit that trips this trade up: Local moves price hourly with a crew size; long distance prices by weight or volume. Never quote one like the other.
What every moving quote must have
- An expiration date, so the price does not follow you around forever
- A scope specific enough that both of you can tell what is excluded
- Deposit and payment terms stated before the work is scheduled
- A named change-order process for anything discovered after approval
- Your license or registration number where the trade requires it
What moving companys bill for
These are the lines that show up on most moving quotes, with the unit each is normally priced in. Ranges are illustrative planning figures, not market data — your own costs, region, and margin decide the real number.
| Line item | Unit | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Local move — 2-person crew | hour | $110–$220 |
| Local move — 3-person crew | hour | $150–$300 |
| Truck / travel fee | each | $75–$250 |
| Packing service | hour | $50–$110 |
| Packing materials | each | $2–$60 |
| Piano or safe handling | each | $250–$900 |
| Stair or long-carry surcharge | flight | $50–$150 |
| Storage | month | $100–$400 |
Typical deposit convention: Deposit to reserve the date, balance on completion.
Moving quote example
A realistic job, priced line by line, with the arithmetic shown the way a customer sees it:
| Description | Qty | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-person crew — 6 hrs | 6 | $195.00 | $1,170.00 |
| Truck and travel fee | 1 | $145.00 | $145.00 |
| Packing materials — boxes, paper, tape | 1 | $185.00 | $185.00 |
| Stair carry — 2 flights | 2 | $85.00 | $170.00 |
| Subtotal | $1,670.00 | ||
| Total | $1,670.00 | ||
Notice that every assumption is a line rather than a conversation. That is the whole difference between a quote that holds up and one that gets renegotiated in a driveway.
Three mistakes that cost moving companys money
Hourly quotes with no estimated range
'$195 an hour' with no hour estimate is not a quote. Give an estimated range with what drives it, or the customer's budget is a number they invented.
Valuation coverage assumed to be insurance
Released-value protection is not insurance and customers do not know that. State the coverage level in writing.
Access unknown at both ends
Elevators, reservations, and parking permits change the day. Confirm both addresses on the document.
How to send a moving quote in about a minute
A template is only half the job — the quote still has to reach the customer in a form they can act on. With SendQuoteNow you add the customer, add your line items, and hit send. Your customer gets a branded PDF plus a link where they approve or decline with one click, and you get an email the moment they do.
- Your branding, not ours — your logo, business name, contact details, and terms on every document.
- From your phone — build and send the quote before you leave the customer's property.
- One-click approval — no login or account needed on your customer's side.
- Automatic math — subtotal, tax, and discounts calculated as you type.
- Quote → invoice — convert accepted work into an invoice without retyping it.