Tipping for furniture movers?

[spiritedaway]

I'm just curious for those who have moved, how much, if any, do you tip your furniture movers?

I recently ordered some furniture for my move and part of the delivery has been completed. There were some heavy furniture pieces (beds, sofa, a dresser) that required delivery & assembly. It looked like back laboring work. The folks were professional and courteous, so I think tipping is appropriate. I just don't know how much is proper (standard).

Any tips? :)

[nikorock28]

I never thought of tipping furniture movers before, but if you feel so inclined I'm sure a simple $10 would be more than sufficient.

[TinyDancer]

I have tipped movers $10-20. . . more if they actually moved all my household goods.

[spiritedaway]

Usually, I have some idea on how much to tip, but this is slightly different in the sense that there is no separate "delivery fee" charged (due to amount purchased) and that the two guys have already spent over an hour with various furniture assembly, so it's not an usual stop-and-drop delivery.

Thank you both for the timely feedback!

[beeblebrox]

If it's actually moving from one place to another, I tip about $50 a person, so for a four man crew, that's about $200 and some extra beers too. If it's furniture delivery, I would say that $10-20 is fair.

[Jabberwocky]

I never thought it was necessary. Normally I offered them like soda and food. however, now that you mention it, it's probably a good idea to tip them like a 20.

[Screen Name]

Last time I had movers they were out of shape and looked like criminals, like the shirtless tatood guys on Cops. They got winded pretty easy, once it got the the point where I was doing most of the work I asked them how much to finish and how much to have them unload the truck on the sidewalk and let me finish. I ended up unloading on the sidwalk and paid them for their time but they were "dead weight" if I kept them on the payroll.

My move coming up next week I have done everything small, appliances, clothes, general "stuff" etc... The movers are basically coming to take the couch, TV, Tables, and beds- just the big stuff, that's all that's left. They are charging an estimated $950, I will offer beers and water but I cannot afford to throw a tip in. If I hired the guys direct it's one thing but I know I will be doing a fair amount of the work helping them and their company has set a fairly high rate so I will hope the company gives them a good cut.

[wordsmith]

I've never hired anybody to move my furniture. I've always just done it myself with the help of family.

I have had a mattress delivered when it didn't fit in my car, but I didn't tip the guys who delivered it. There was already a delivery fee, they weren't doing me a favor or anything.

[Screen Name]

I've never hired anybody to move my furniture. I've always just done it myself with the help of family.

I have had a mattress delivered when it didn't fit in my car, but I didn't tip the guys who delivered it. There was already a delivery fee, they weren't doing me a favor or anything.


I never had movers in the past, I moved a lot of times with my mom back in the day and I'd just get a Uhaul and my buddies to help. Now that I live in the city I need to pull permits for moving trucks and without a moving company these are a bit of a pain to get. The other thing is, now that I am older most of my buddies are just too busy to actually get their asses in here and they are too unreliable to depend on. I need my stuff out next week, I have a lot of buddies that have offered to help but I know when next Saturday rolls around they very well might be hungover or doing something else. Again, living in the city most people would think you'd have friends dying to hang out and sleeping on the couch but actually most of my friends from the suburbs view coming to the city as a hassle, not to mention they need to pay for parking. For me it's just easier this time to get movers, it's really too important to get it done right. I also think all my moves in the past might have spent my chances to get help for moving, although they have offered to help I feel like I already had my friends help me a lot in the past and there's always 1 or 2 that don't show up, with 62 stairs and permits to pull I can't afford to have someone not show up this time.

[FishOutOfWater]

I used movers for the first time a week ago, and I tipped both of them $20. I'm moving from one one-bedroom to another, so I guess more would be appropriate for a bigger place with more furniture.

[Screen Name]

We just got through our move... the company charged us a little more than the estimate, a few charges we didn't expect, but they worked hard so we tipped the 3 guys $20 each, total of $60 tip, and had a bunch of gatoraid and water for them, offered to buy pizzas and offered beers but they said it would make them sleepy...

[spiritedaway]

Ha! I almost forgot about this thread.

The two guys worked really hard and there were plenty to carry and assemble, so I think we ended up tipping $50 for the both of them + water/soda.

[nateb66]

I didn't tip the kids who brought my bedroom set in to my house (they didn't assemble it, guess that wasn't part of the "free" delivery)

I would maybe consider tipping movers, but if they are charging me $1k (I don't have a lot of stuff) then f#!@ that!

[steph78]

My husband's company paid for our move last year - and they not only moved our stuff, they PACKED it for us. We had an 8-week old baby and no time to deal with this stuff so I did pretty much no packing, these guys did everything from individually wrapping each piece of our china to taking our pictures off the wall and wrapping them before putting them in the truck to drive to another state. It took two full days to pack and unload the truck, and one day to unload the truck and put stuff in our new house (different crews of guys on each end).

I gave each person on the packing end $50 plus bought them all lunch both days, and I provided bottled drinks for them. They worked hard and did a good job, and were very friendly and professional. The guys on the unloading end weren't as great in my opinion and it took them less than a full day to do their job so I only tipped them $20 each and i don't think I bought lunch, they took a break and got their own.

[killertatertots]

Unless there is a problem with service, I always tip movers. I ussually just round up the cost. Like, if a move costs 275$ I give 300$ even.

[killertatertots]

P.S- I always provide snacks and drinks for jobs of any significant length.