How much to tip movers?

I think that's towards the high end of the range and provided they give exceptional service. $50 per person plus some extra for foreman sounds better to me.

I just moved and I asked the company manager what to tip. He said to tip $5 to $10 per man per hour. So you can imagine he is asking on the high end. I would go for $5/6 per hour per man which is a significant add on to their hourly wage. If they worked 8 hours (you don't tip for lunch hour) it would be less than what you are suggesting. I wouldn't tip more than !5% total for good service. You are already paying a good price for a service.

Here's another twist on the question - my mom will be moving from NY to CA - do you tip the guys who pick the furniture up, or do you tip the group that actually delivers to the new address. Or, maybe you tip a smaller amount on both ends? Any feedback is appreciated.

fwiw, here's a roundup from 2005: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/451321.html

Concurring with RE Junkie assuming this isn't a walk up on either end?

"I think that's towards the high end of the range and provided they give exceptional service. $50 per person plus some extra for foreman sounds better to me."

In an elevator building.

In a walkup, $100 per man.

We had a one-day move, 4 people, between two elevator buildings. We gave them $40 each + paid for lunch and snacks (Gatorades and drinks mid-afternoon).

"(Gatorades and drinks mid-afternoon)"

Very unhealthy. Were you trying to poison them on purpose?

How do you even know what drinks they were? Maybe they were sidecars, which have lemon juice, which has Vitamin C.

Or is your issue more with the mid-afternoon part? That's usually after noon, so it's fine ... they'd have awakened for the day by then.

Oh now I feel we didn't tip well enough on our move into storage a couple weeks ago. We gave the foreman $200 for a move from a walkup 1 bedroom 2 flights up to a storage facility on the ground floor. It was a 4 man crew and they were great. We bought morning drinks, bottled water, 3 pizza lunch wtih sodas.

20-25% is correct.

wow, look who is stingy ... so worried about saving on that lunch hour too ... certainly wouldn't want apt23 to spend an extra $24.

apt23
about 5 months ago
ignore this person
report abuse I just moved and I asked the company manager what to tip. He said to tip $5 to $10 per man per hour. So you can imagine he is asking on the high end. I would go for $5/6 per hour per man which is a significant add on to their hourly wage. If they worked 8 hours (you don't tip for lunch hour) it would be less than what you are suggesting. I wouldn't tip more than !5% total for good service. You are already paying a good price for a service.

I tipped 20% which came out to about $300 for four guys to split. They packed and moved in one day. Elevator buildings. Did I overtip?

15% to 20% for local move and 5% to 10% on a long distance move.
Good Luck.

I am a mover in NYC. Most of this advice is pretty accurate. What the mover told apt 23 - 5-10 dollars per hour per man - is definitely the most accurate. While you may be paying $120-180 an hour for the job, most movers in NYC are paid $12 an hour or less, some as low as $8, so tips are clearly meant to be part of the pay package. Good movers are professionals who will be able to advise you on almost every aspect of your move. $20 is the absolute minimum.

Another thing to think about is that, if the job is short, the rate of gratuity should go up - 3 hours is less than a half day and if you are only picking up $15 bucks, you're going to go broke. I'd recommend: small move (0-4 hours) - $20-30, medium move (4-7 hours) - $30-50, large move (8-12 hours) - $50-75, and very large move - $80 . Tip higher for professionalism and especially if a mover goes above and beyond - takes some time off the clock, helps you argue down the building mgmt., hoists furniture through the window, etc.

It's best to tip your movers based on the time they spend on the move. A good rule of thumb is to tip between $15 and $25 per person for moves requiring up to 4 hours of time. If it takes longer to move than 4 hours, you should tip between $35 and $45 per person. While hiring movers few things should be considered in mind. First of all, the working quality of the movers. Gathering reviews about them from the internet or from friends,etc. My friend has recently moved to a new place, professional help from the NYC moving company, their work was excellent. John was so happy that he tipped them with a very good amount. They provided the best quality work for proper handling of all the items and also helped for labelling and packing unpacking all the items.