Whether choosing furniture for a new house or workplace or selling furniture pieces, the final step is shipping. Essentially, you want to be confident that your goods will arrive safe and secure. So, it’s important to choose a good shipping company. However, choosing the right furniture delivery service may be challenging with the wide range of options.
You can ship furniture in many ways, from white-glove moving to online shipping services; every alternative has its benefits and pitfalls. The final choice is up to you. But before booking any service, you should pay attention to the key factors when picking a furniture delivery service.
Availability and shipment visibility
In today’s dynamic world, the ability to track your shipment is no longer optional. A good furniture shipping service has to provide visibility into the shipping process. Make sure to ask your shipping provider whether they offer freight tracking so that you can be confident about the delivery from the start to the finish. Additionally, your moving service should always be in touch with you. Availability is crucial when you ship expensive and damage-sensitive shipments.
The shipping cost of furniture
Shipping cost is the main concern for shippers when choosing a shipping partner. In fact, the final price can differ depending on the carrier you pick; however, there are several factors that play a big role in defining shipping costs. Those factors are weight, dimensions, fragility, stackability, and more. Good furniture delivery services offer a shipping calculator that lets you define the approximate quote online without paying for anything in advance.
Furniture Shipping Liability and insurance
Often overlooked by shippers, goods protection is a critical factor that lets you avoid stress. Most services and carriers who move furniture can offer you a minimum liability, but it will not save you in case of freight loss or damage. There’s a big difference between liability and insurance. Freight insurance ensures you have your goods covered no matter what. Ultimately, delivery services should align you with this information. In a nutshell, shipping furniture can be easy and convenient. The key to successfully moving your goods is a reliable shipping partner. Make sure to choose rationally, and everything will go well!
How To Prepare Your Furniture for Shipping
Furniture is one of the most expensive items in our home. So it makes sense that we want to keep them as safe as possible during transit. If you are in the process of moving home or selling your old furniture, there are things you must do to keep your items safe. Let’s talk about the best ways to prepare your furniture for shipment:
Dressers
Packing up dressers can be hard since these tend to be bulky and heavy. That’s why you’re making use of LTL services in the first place.
But how exactly do you prepare a bulky dresser for shipping? Well, there are two ways you can do that:
- Removing the drawers
If you’re looking for a way to lighten your dressers, then removing the drawers before shipping them out is a great option to try out. The drawback here is that you will need to secure the contents of the drawers. This can mean more time spent packing items instead of moving. You will also need to make sure that all the drawers arrive at their destination complete and intact.
- Shipping with the drawers intact
If you hate packing, then this option is for you. Here, you’ll pack up the entire dressers along with their drawers and contents. You can also opt to remove the items from the drawers to make the dresser much lighter.
Sofa
Packing sofas can be tricky as they come in many different shapes and sizes. Our best advice is to take apart any removable parts and store them in labeled boxes. Then take your cushions and throw pillows, and use spare sheets or bags to protect them from dirt and damage during the move.
Wrap the rest of the sofa with a large bagged seat cushion to protect the body during the move. You can also secure the throw pillows, cushions, and other parts by draping your sofa with some shrink wrap and using packaging tape to hold it down.
Book Cases
Bookcases are far easier to ship out than you think. Simply remove all the books and store those in labeled boxes. Next, you will stack the shelves and secure them with each other using shrink wrap and packaging tape. Then, put your shelves inside boxes and secure them with packaging tape. Once your shelves are inside boxes, secure these boxes together using some shrink wrap and packaging tape.
China Cabinet
Most people own at least one China cabinet. Now, whether they use it to store fine China doesn’t matter. We’re here to pack everything right. To safely move your China cabinet, you will need to remove the contents and wrap them with bubble wrap. Store them in secure boxes. The cabinet itself should be completely covered in moving blankets and wrapped in cling wrap to stop the doors from swinging open during shipping.
Clocks
If you have a grandfather clock that you want to take with you to your new home, here’s how to pack it:
First, remove the access panel to prevent it from falling off during the trip.
Next, insert 2” square styrofoam blocks in each pulley, if your clock has cables holding the weights.
If your clock has chains, you can secure these together using twist ties. Wrap them with newspaper then place them in a secure box to prevent them from moving around too much.
Un-hook the pendulum and wrap it with a spare cloth or bubble wrap.
Now, you can take the rest of the clock and cover it with a moving sheet.
Dining Set
When it comes to moving your dining room set, there are a few things you have to do:
Firstly, remove all the removable parts. These could be the legs of your table, chairs, etc.
Protect your table’s legs by putting socks over them. Do the same for your chairs.
Use furniture blankets to protect the rest of your blankets and chairs.
If you have a glass table top, you can protect it using a moving sheet, moving pads, and wrapping it with shrink wrap.
Don’t forget to seal everything up with packaging tape.
Taking a few extra steps to protect your furniture will save you from a lot of stress in the long run. Not to mention money.
So grab those moving sheets, packaging tape, and cling wrap. It’s time to start packing!
Ship furniture with GoShip!
GoShip offers an affordable and reliable furniture delivery service. Our professional experience and network of LTL shipping companies provide you with options that are cost-effective, time-saving, and easy to use.