Moving Costs
Why Three Movers Quote Three Wildly Different Prices
When three quotes for the same house differ by threefold, they are not pricing the same job. Here is how to work out what each one actually includes.
Getting three quotes is the standard advice and it is good advice. What nobody explains is what to do when they come back at ₹18,000, ₹31,000 and ₹52,000 for the same 2BHK — because at that spread, the three companies are not quoting the same job.
The four things that most often differ
1. Whether anyone actually looked
The lowest quote is very often the one given over the phone. It is not a price; it is a number chosen to win a booking, with the real figure arriving once the goods are on the truck. Any quote given without a survey should be mentally discounted to zero.
2. What "packing" means
One quote may include full professional packing with materials. Another may assume you pack, and charge materials at actual. A third may include packing but not unpacking. These are genuinely different services and the price difference is real work, not margin.
3. Dedicated vehicle or shared
On a long route this is the single biggest variable. A dedicated truck to Bengaluru versus a share of one can differ by 40%, and the trade is speed: five or six days against eight to fourteen. A quote that does not say which you are getting is incomplete.
4. Insurance level
"Insurance included" usually means basic transit protection with a per-item cap that can be surprisingly low. Declared-value cover on a full household adds a real amount to a quote. The cheaper quote is not always worse here — but you should know which you are buying.
How to compare properly
Put the three quotes side by side and check each against the same seven lines:
| Line | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | Size, and dedicated or shared |
| Crew | Number of people, and whether they are the company's own |
| Packing | Full, partial or none — and whether materials are capped |
| Unpacking | Included or extra |
| Dismantle / reassemble | Both, or only the first |
| Insurance | Basic with cap, or declared value |
| Tax | Inclusive or exclusive of 18% GST |
By the time you have filled that table, the three quotes usually stop looking so different — and the one that could not fill it in has answered a different question.
When the cheapest quote is a warning
A quote well below the other two is not a bargain to be seized. It is a question to be asked. The pattern that causes real harm in this industry is: very low quote, pressure to pay an advance, goods collected, price triples with your possessions as leverage.
The specific things to be wary of are a quote far below the others, pressure to decide today, payment requested to a personal account, and refusal to put terms in writing. One of those is worth a pause. Two together is worth walking away.
When the most expensive quote is right
Sometimes it is. A quote that is higher because it includes full packing, declared-value cover on a household with real antiques, and a dedicated vehicle on a fixed date is pricing a different and better job. The mistake is not paying more — it is paying more without knowing what for.
The one question that does most of the work
Ask all three: "Is this the final amount I will pay if nothing about my move changes?" The answers will separate them faster than any spreadsheet.