How to Tip Your Movers
By Relocation.com Staff
The move is over.
Your movers are packing up their things preparing to leave.
You feel awkward: Should you tip?
If so, how much should you tip?
As in most service industries these days, it's become customary to tip your movers; it's somewhat analogous to the restaurant industry, where the wait staff depends on tips to supplement not-so-great wages. "I know from talking with crews over the years that a tip is always appreciated," says Charlie Morris, a certified moving consultant at Relocation.com. "None of the people on the moving crew are getting paid all that well."
But that doesn't mean it's any easier to figure out how much to give.
Depending on the type of move, there can be a number of people involved in your move: packing crew, loading crew, unloading crew, and unpacking crew. In addition, you will have a driver/supervisor.
This large cast of players can make tipping very confusing.
Generally, the driver/supervisor is the go-to person on your move for any problems or concerns that you may have. You will probably want to compensate this person more than the others because he will probably be involved from the beginning to the end and will be the person most responsible for your move's success.
If you tip the packing or loading crew at origin, tell the driver/supervisor that you will take care of them at the other end, or you may want to give some at both origin and destination. Either way is acceptable.
Each of the other crews should be tipped at the end of the service they are performing. For example, the packing crew when they are finished before the loading, the loading crew at origin, and the unloading crew at destination. How do you know if the loading crew will be at the same as the unloading crew at your new home? Just ask the driver/supervisor.
The amount that you tip is personal. People generally give different amounts, depending on the size of the move, the weather they had to endure, and the quality of the service you received. "I would recommend a tip of no less than $20 per person and perhaps, as much, as $100 to $150.00 or more if the job is fairly large and the crew is the same at both origin and destination," says Relocation.com's Morris.
You may want to think about the tip as a percentage of your overall move costs. If your tip is in the 5%-10% range, you will probably find that the crew will be quite pleased. But it's up to you. Morris says that you should bear in mind in the size of the move, not necessarily the distance of the move: the loading/unloading difficulty is same whether the move's 100 miles or 1,000 miles. (Although for a long-distance move, you might want to tip the driver a bit more.)
You don't have to show your appreciation in purely monetary ways.
Have water or cold drinks available. Should your move take several hours, you may want to make arrangements for sandwiches, pizza, etc. It is not always easy for a moving crew to leave the job to get lunch, especially if that would require that they drive the truck to do so. Before doing this, discuss it with the driver/supervisor.
Along with tipping and cold drinks, remember to be warm and generous in your praise for their hard work and the challenges of their job. This common courtesy and respect can mean far more than money in the end.
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