Ask three movers for a price and you can easily get three very different numbers. That does not always mean someone is overcharging. It usually means the three quotes are not describing the same job.

What actually drives the price

Volume comes first. How much is there, and how many trucks and men are needed to shift it. Then distance, both between the two homes and between the truck and the front door at each end. Then difficulty: stairs, small lifts, narrow driveways, heavy marble tables and wardrobes that must be dismantled.

After that come the services you choose. Full packing, unpacking, curtain and TV removal and refitting, a handyman, storage, and out of hours work all add to the number. A quote that is much lower than the others usually leaves several of these out.

• Number of rooms and how full they are
• Packing materials and who does the packing
• Floor level, lift access and carry distance
• Distance between emirates
• Dismantle and reassembly of furniture
• Any storage before or after the move

Why the survey matters

A survey takes twenty minutes, in person or over a video call. The surveyor counts the rooms, opens the wardrobes, checks the balcony and the store room and looks at the parking. That is how you get a fixed price rather than a starting price.

Reading a quote properly

Put the quotes side by side and check five things. Is packing included or extra? Are materials included? How many men and how many hours? Is reassembly included? What cover applies if something breaks? Once you line those up, the cheapest quote often stops being the cheapest.

Also look at what happens if the job runs longer than planned. A fixed price should stay fixed unless you add work. Hourly pricing can be fine for a small flat but gets uncomfortable when a lift breaks down.

Where people waste money

Moving things they do not want is the biggest one. Booking on the last two days of the month is the second, because demand is highest then. The third is leaving packing until the mover arrives, which turns a four hour job into a full day.

Small savings add up too. Pack your own clothes and books, empty and defrost the fridge yourself, and have somebody at the new home ready to point out where things go so the crew is not standing around waiting.

A fair way to compare

Ask every mover the same question: what is the total price for this exact list of services, and what would change it? A company that answers clearly, puts it in writing and does not ask for a large cash deposit is usually the one to go with, even if it is not the lowest number on the page.

A move is one day of work that touches everything you own. It is worth a few hundred dirhams more to have the right number of trained people doing it.

Rough guide by home size

Every home is different, but as a rough shape: a studio or one bedroom flat with a small crew is a half day job. A two bedroom is a full day with three or four men. A three bedroom with packing is usually a day and a half. A villa is two days or more, sometimes with two trucks running together.

Packing normally adds around a third to a labour only price, and it is the service people are most glad they paid for. Storage, handyman work and out of hours moves are quoted separately so you can see what each one costs and decide.

Questions worth asking before you book

Ask whether the crew are the company’s own staff or day labour hired for the morning. Ask whether a supervisor stays on site the whole time. Ask what happens if the job runs into a second day. Ask for the quote in writing with the services listed line by line.

The answers tell you more about the day you are going to have than the price does. A clear written quote from a company that answers the phone is worth a great deal when thirty boxes are on a trolley in a lift.

Questions People Ask