Removals

HugoSP

Because I have a van I keep getting asked about transporting things for people.

I don't do a lot of this because I am quite busy with other things but it is a very useful addition to my earnings.

For waste disposal you need a waste carriers licence, but for removals etc you don't.

Lets face it, how many people can honestly move a large piece of furniture without help?

Sometimes all you need is a large mpv type car, though if you have a large trailer that too can come in handy. I moved an AGA on my trailer some months ago. Admittedly it was mine but most people who would want it transported couldn't do it themselves.

misskool

It's very useful in a student town, "a man and his van" would cost us £35 p/h (with labor) so we would make sure everything was packed. You get some that just drive you from point a to point b, that's something like a taxi fare+£10.

Good extra money as most people will only be moving in the evenings/weekends anyways.

save-a-lot

Hi

My brother in law did this as a sideline and he was asked all the time to do jobs moving stuff around. A good earner.

ellou02

I've been considering this as a sideline - as i've just needed to have a sofa and bed and chair moved to the other side of the village - rang two 'man and van' adverts and was quoted £50 and £55.

Not a bad earner, as it probably only took them an hour including travel.

Does anyone else do this? I guess with a bit of marketing locally there would be plenty of work?

Would be interested in how it works out for you

save-a-lot

My B-in-L got loads of work from word-of-mouth and hardly had to advertise. He did it as a sideline and could tap on colleagues at work and their friends. There seemed to be someone always wanting something shifted

zhgctm

if you are thinking of taking this on, only offer your services to family. You wont be insured if anything gets damaged / broken. Your friends and colleagues will be livid if you damage their items, and you will be seriously out of pocket too.

Would you trust your lifelongs belongings and treasured possessions in this way? Its not worth it, leave it to the professional guys who have contents / liability insurance.

Strapped

I wondered about the insurance side too. I would imagine you'd be OK doing house clearances or disposing (legitimately) of large items but anything of value, perhaps you could be held liable if it was damaged?

geordie_joe

If you are going to do this get a stair crawling trolley.

My neighbour moved from a second floor flat and moved everything himself, just brought the works van and stair crawler home one saturday and moved the lot himself.

Double wardrobe, fridgefreezer, cooker, washing machine, beds, all down two flights of stairs on his own and didn't even break a sweat.

Refused my offers of help saying he did this for a living (he delivers IT equipment).

ellou02

I think that 'goods in transit' insurance is pretty straightforward to get hold of, and would cover the items being carried in case of breakage, etc

I am guessing that there are plenty of 'man and van' people that don't have this, but wouldn't be an ideal way to go.

welshsaver_2

Hello all, Just want to say how amazing this site is, I have saved loads with it over the past year.

I now feel I have reached a peak with my debt reductions and have decided I need to up my income to start over-paying these debts.

My first idea, is to purchase a van and use it for doing out of hour & weekend moves/handyjobs.

The initial expenditure is the van, which will be a loan, but I was wondering if anyone else had setup a similar company, and if they could comment on the costs involved.

Seems pretty striaght forward to me. Buy van, place an advert, do the work, take the money.....

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks all, and of course Martin.

[Deleted User]

Hi Welshsaver,

It does seem like an easy occupation, however my husband has set up doing this and it was a slow start.

For instance there's loads of man and van services who are all underpricing each other. This can be annoying as these services rarely have the right insurance. :mad:

If you want to go legit I would recommend insurance. Many of our customers ask for this especially on removals and collections.

We started out with word of mouth. Business cards are useful for the contact details. We then also offered our services to independant shops that sell large items.

Also you can place classified listings on eBay.

It can be easy money, but it can be hard work when doing house clearance.

HTH