Big Apple Moving has been moving New Yorkers since 1979. “Full service” is the version where you do not pack anything: we bring the boxes, pack the apartment, move it, unpack it at the other end and take the empty cartons away. This page is what that includes, what it costs, and the part nobody explains – who is liable for a broken plate depends on who put it in the box.
What “Full Service” Actually Means
The phrase is used loosely. Some companies mean “we will carry your boxes”. Here it means every part of the move is ours, and the only thing you do is decide where the sofa goes.
It is normally two days rather than one, because the packing is a separate visit from the move.
A Survey Before Anything Is Quoted
We look at the apartment, in person or on video, and count what is actually there. Full service is the one product where an inaccurate inventory is expensive, because the packing crew is sized off it.
All the Materials, Delivered
Cartons, paper, bubble wrap, tape, wardrobe boxes, dish barrels, mattress bags. Typically $100 to $400 depending on the size of the home. You do not buy or collect anything.
The Packing, Room by Room
A dedicated packing crew, usually the day before the move rather than on the morning of it. Every carton is labelled by room and by contents.
Disassembly, Wrapping and the Move Itself
Beds, tables and shelving come apart, everything with a finish gets blanket-wrapped, floors and door jambs get protected at both ends.
Unpacking on Arrival
Cartons opened, contents out and placed, boxes and used material taken away with us. This is the step most people skip and then regret, and it is already inside the price on this page.
One Point of Contact
Same coordinator from the survey to the last carton. On a full service move there are two crews and two days, so someone has to own the join.
What it does not include. We do not move hazardous or flammable materials, perishable food, plants, pets, or cash, jewellery and documents – take those yourself. Wall-mounted equipment stays on the wall until the manufacturer removes it. Anything already broken we will tell you about at the survey rather than on the day.
What Does a Full Service Move Cost in NYC?
Most pages answer this with “it depends”. It does depend, but not so much that we cannot give you the range, so here it is.
| Home size | Packing | Move day | Full service, all in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $300 – $550 | $400 – $700 | $800 – $1,650 |
| 1 bedroom | $450 – $800 | $600 – $1,100 | $1,150 – $2,300 |
| 2 bedrooms | $700 – $1,300 | $1,000 – $1,800 | $1,800 – $3,500 |
| 3 bedrooms | $1,100 – $2,000 | $1,700 – $2,800 | $2,900 – $5,200 |
| 4+ bedrooms | $1,700 – $3,000 | $2,500 – $4,500 | $4,300 – $7,900 |
The all-in column includes $100 to $400 of materials. These are market-rate estimates for a local move within New York City, not guaranteed quotes.
Three things that table tells you.
The packing is about half the bill. That is the honest reason full service costs roughly double a move you pack yourself. You are not paying a premium for the same job – you are buying a second crew for a second day.
Published national averages do not apply here. You will read that a full service local move for a two or three-bedroom home runs $1,200 to $2,800. That is a national figure. Our two-bedroom range starts at $1,800 because New York is not the national average, and a company quoting you national numbers for a Manhattan walk-up is going to revise them later.
Stairs and elevators move it more than square footage does. A two-bedroom fourth-floor walk-up can cost more than a three-bedroom with a service elevator at both ends. Tell us the floors at the quote stage, not on the day.
If you would rather the number be fixed before the day instead of estimated, our flat fee movers page explains how we price it in advance.
Who Packed the Box Decides Who Pays for What Is In It
This is the part of a full service move that actually matters, and almost no moving company website will tell you.
Federal law requires interstate movers to offer two levels of liability. The free default is called Released Value Protection, and it covers your belongings at 60 cents per pound, per item. Not per dollar of value – per pound of weight.
The FMCSA publishes its own worked example: a 55-inch television that costs $1,500 to replace and weighs 51 lb is covered for $30.60.
Full Service, Partial, or Just the Muscle?
Full service is not the right answer for everyone and we would rather put you on the cheaper product than sell you this one.
Here is the honest comparison, with a two-bedroom apartment as the reference point.
| What you buy | You do | We do | 2-bed guide price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full service | Nothing | Materials, packing, move, unpacking, disposal | $1,800 – $3,500 |
| Partial pack | Clothes, books, everything unbreakable | Kitchen, glass, art, electronics, then the move | $1,300 – $2,500 |
| Move only | All the packing | The move day | $1,000 – $1,800 |
| Labour only | The packing and the truck | Loading and unloading | $270 – $360 minimum |
Partial packing is the one most people should buy and almost nobody asks for. The kitchen and the breakables are where the risk and the hours are; the wardrobes and the bookshelves are not. Letting us do the first and doing the second yourself takes several hundred dollars off a two-bedroom without changing the risk profile much.
Move only suits you if you have time and a small amount of fragile material. Our hourly movers page has the crew rates.
Labour only, where you have your own truck or a container, is on the same page. Two movers without a truck run $90 to $120 an hour.
White Glove Moving in New York
White glove is a step beyond full service and the phrase gets abused, so here is what we mean by it.
Custom Crating, Not Cartons
Anything that cannot travel in a stock box gets a crate built to its dimensions. Art, mirrors, stone tops, cabinetry. Covered on our fine art movers page.
Placement, Not Delivery
Furniture is reassembled and placed where you want it, art is hung, beds are made up if you ask. The move ends with a home you can sleep in, not a room of boxes.
A Named Crew and a Written Condition Report
The same people from pack to placement, and a photographed condition record of every high-value piece before it moves.
Out of Hours Where the Building Demands It
Many Manhattan co-ops and condos will only release a freight elevator early morning or at a weekend. We quote around your building’s rules, not ours.
White glove sits at the top of the ranges in the cost table rather than being a separate product. Tell us what needs it and we will price that part specifically.
What a Full Service Move Actually Looks Like
Almost every full service move is two days, and the single most useful thing to understand is that the packing is a separate visit.
If your new place is not ready between the two, our storage holds everything in between rather than the load sitting on a truck overnight.
Where We Run Full Service Moves
Full service across the five boroughs and the surrounding counties.
Manhattan
Co-op and condo rules, certificates of insurance and tight elevator windows.
Brooklyn
Brownstone stair carries and walk-ups, where the packing day earns its keep.
Queens
Houses and two-family homes, usually easier access and lower hours.
The Bronx
Apartment buildings and family homes across the borough.
Staten Island
Mostly houses, driveways and garages rather than elevators.
Westchester
Larger homes where full service and storage are often booked together.
Nassau
Long Island houses, with packing usually running a full day.
Suffolk
Further out on the Island, planned around travel time each way.
Fairfield
Connecticut moves, quoted the same way with the drive built in.
Rockland
Across the Hudson, with the bridge crossing built into the estimate.
Moving out of the area entirely is priced differently – see long distance movers.
Full Service Movers NYC – Frequently Asked Questions
Costs, what is included, liability, white glove and timing.
