Updated
The four things that set the price
Volume comes first. Not bedrooms — volume. Two apartments with the same floor plan can differ by half a truck depending on whether there is a storeroom, a home gym, a dining set for ten and a balcony full of furniture.
Access comes second, and it is the one most people underestimate. A ground-floor villa with a driveway is a different job to a fifteenth-floor apartment with a shared service lift and a two-hour permitted window. Access sets crew size, and crew size sets price.
Packing is third. A move-only quote assumes you have boxed everything yourself, correctly, in advance. A full pack adds a packing crew and materials. Fragile-only packing sits between the two.
Distance is fourth, and usually the smallest factor inside the UAE. Dubai to Sharjah adds fuel and an hour; Dubai to Abu Dhabi adds tolls and a couple of hours. Neither costs as much as an extra crew member for a day.
What changes the price upwards
Certain items genuinely cost more to handle, and any honest quote will name them rather than absorb them and then argue on the day.
- No service lift, or a lift too small for large furniture: stair carries need more crew
- Pianos, safes, large marble tops, chandeliers and oversized art needing crates
- Fitted wardrobes and bespoke joinery that must be dismantled and rebuilt
- Two addresses at one end: a partial delivery to storage or a second property
- Very tight permitted hours forcing a two-day plan instead of one
- Month-end and last-weekend dates, when demand across the city peaks
What brings the price down
Flexibility on the date is the cheapest saving available. Mid-month, mid-week moves are easier to crew and easier to schedule around building access.
Reducing volume is the second. Every item you do not move is money you do not spend twice: once to move it, once to store it. Ask yourself honestly whether the spare mattress or the third coffee table is making the trip.
Packing some of it yourself helps, provided it is done properly and finished before the crew arrives. Half-packed rooms cost more than unpacked rooms, because the crew has to sort before it can lift.
How to compare quotes fairly
Insist that every quote is written and itemised. It should state crew size, vehicle size, whether packing and materials are included, dismantling and reassembly, protection, insurance, and what happens if the day runs long.
Be suspicious of an hourly rate with no cap. It transfers all the risk of a slow lift and a blocked loading bay to you. A fixed written price for an agreed scope puts that risk where it belongs — with the company that planned the day.
Also check who is doing the work. Some quotes are sold by one company and delivered by whichever crew is available that morning. Ask whether the crew is in-house, whether they are insured, and who supervises the job.
A realistic way to think about your own move
Instead of hunting for an average figure, describe your move accurately once and get comparable prices. Count rooms, list heavy or fragile items, note the floor and lift at both ends, decide who is packing, and fix your date range.
A twenty-minute video survey will produce a more accurate price than an hour of phone estimates, because the surveyor can see the sofa, the lift and the storeroom you forgot to mention.
Our own quotes are fixed and written for the scope agreed at survey. If the scope changes — you add a room, or a second delivery address — we re-quote in writing before we start, not halfway through the afternoon.