How to Tip Your Movers

The No Nonsense Guide to Tipping Movers

We tip waiters and waitresses, we tip hairdressers, hotel staff, Uber and taxi drivers, but what about movers? You either forget to tip your movers, or you don’t know how much to tip them.

And you aren’t alone, Market Watch created a list of the 10 people we aren’t tipping enough, and movers don’t even make the list. Lots of people forget to tip their movers. The trick is that you have to tip your movers based on a standard OR a percentage of total price of the move. That divides it into local and long distance moving.

Local Moving Company

If you are using a local moving company in Richmond, then you tip based on total moving cost and a percentage that equates to roughly 5 percent for each mover. This usually comes out to about $15-30 per mover. It’s also a good way to measure how much time was spent moving, because that is factored into the total moving cost.

This is the standard, common amount to tip. You can tip more if you have exceptional service, or tip one mover more if you felt they had a more difficult job than the others. Your dollars are votes of confidence, so use them that way!

Long-Distance Moving Company

If you hire a long-distance moving company, then you will top your movers based on a standard. Tipping long-distance movers based on time it takes to move or a percentage would be way too expensive. Instead, use an industry standard.

If you are moving within Virginia, then the standard amount is anywhere between $15-30 per mover, which is similar to the local moving tip mentioned above. If you are moving to neighboring state, then a standard tip is between $50-100 per mover, and anything beyond that is between $100-200 per mover.

Packing Services and Supplies

Full-service movers cost considerable more than local and long-distance movers, because they are providing a full service. That means, packing, moving, transporting, unpacking, and more. So how do you tip those movers?

We think that the tip should remain about the same, at 5 percent for local moves and on a point by point basis for long-distance moving.

Tip Your Movers with Food and Drinks?

This is common, and appreciated. Movers tend to work up an appetite and get a little thirsty. All My Sons Moving & Storage teams are happy to get a little lunch on a moving day. The only thing we ask is that at no point, any alcohol is offered. We are working hard, and we are on the clock, we cannot except any alcoholic beverages.

Gatorade, waters, or even ice tea are all acceptable. In terms of foods, you can ask the moving coordinator what they would like, and they’ll be able to give you a good answer.

No matter how you tip your movers, we hope you have a great experience and that our team takes care of you!