No one wants it. What to do with items that aren’t sell-able or donatable.

• Take it to the dump. Its about half the costs of a miniskip unless you have to hire a trailer, see if you have a friend who has a ute and bribe them.
• Miniskips are cheap and convenient and save multiple trips to the dump.
• Hire 1800-Got-Junk to come out and pick it up. More expensive, but easy. You can sit inside with your feet up and enjoy a beverage while everything is done for you – and cleaned up afterwards.
• Put it out the front of your house and try and give it away. Put a ‘Free’ or ‘Give Away’ sign on it. One person’s trash is another’s treasure, as they say!
• If you have an unwanted metal such, as a fridge or washing machine, you can sell it at scrap metal yard or even have a metal merchant come out and pick it up for free, either try Gumtree or Yellow Pages.

Consider Eating Your Pantry Soon. Not literally, we suggest consider using up your perishables in your pantry, fridge and freezer. Eat things like your canned foods, pasta’s and rices, bottled drinks and anything else you can finish before you move. Do the same with your frozen meat and vegies, if you don’t this will all be thrown away on moving day.

Your Accommodation and Transport. You can arrange your own transport and accommodation needs for your move. If you didn’t know, iMovers can arrange your accommodation and car transport too.

Kids. Moving can present many dangers to children, particularly heavy items such as fridges and couches.  To be on the safe side, we recommend arranging a friend or family to mind your kids for the day, leaving you and us free to concentrate on finishing the job as safely and efficiently as possible.

Pets. Now is the time to arrange transport for Puss and Rover. Some people are able to move their pets in their own car. We recommend you get a cage for cats as they are hard to contain and if they escape on moving day they will take off. Guess what… we can arrange pet transport for you too!

Time to book iMovers as your Interstate Removalists

Keep in mind, iMovers generally book out a week in advance; so now is time to secure your truck and ensure you align yourself with the best interstate removalists in Australia, get yourself an online quote or call  1300 221 314.

It’s packing time: See Complete Removals’ Professional Packing Tips.

Give yourself enough time.

A safe goal is to have 50 per cent of your house and shed packed a week before your M-Day. This gives you the last week to pack the rest.

Start packing some non-essentials like books, laundry cupboards, photo frames, storage areas and shed paraphernalia.

Remember, if packing your own boxes seems overwhelming, don’t worry, we can provide professional packing service for you and it can work out cheaper than you might think.

Put aside a box or bag with a few screw drivers, allen keys, hammer, short and long nose pliers and some screws nails. This box will be saved for when are ready to start dismantling items.

Flammables and combustibles.

Don’t pack the following items as we cannot legally move them. This includes

• Aerosols
• Fuel and diesel (including 2-stroke fuel)
• Cleaning products
• Gas Bottles
• Anything with the red flammable symbol on it

Insurance companies won’t cover fire or explosions caused by these products.

Boxes and Packing Materials

Don’t be tempted to use “FREE” boxes. They will just cost you more by making loading and unloading take longer and are less safe. Plastic tubs are expensive and often break when stacked, nothing is better than new professional moving cartons and we thoroughly recommend you use these for an interstate removal.

Ask a friendly iMovers salesman if he can do you a deal on your boxes, sometimes we run great specials!

If you missed part 4 of our interstate moving checklist for a complete list of who to notify your moving interstate and what to collect,  we thoroughly recommend you check it out.

Who to notify & what to collect

Letting everyone know your new address is one of the most important parts of moving. You don’t want to spend months cleaning up the mess from missing mail.

You can redirect your mail by lodging an application at your local post office, or you can lodge online.

Our contact list is very thorough, so take the time to go through it carefully. Also, spend some time over the following days thinking and noting down anyone particular to your situation that may not be on the list.

Where applicable, ask these companies and institutions for referrals to branches or offices in your new area, it may save you a lot time.

• All your bank, credit unions and building society accounts
• Credit cards and store cards
• Investment accounts
• Companies with which you have hire, lease or purchase agreements (your car, motorbike, etc.)
• Government support agencies, Centrelink, pensions and benefits
• Australian Tax office and Australian Electoral Commission
• Life, income, car, contents, building and other insurance
• Medicare, private health, hospital
• Financial planner, MyBudget
• Solicitor, accountant
• Austar or Foxtel
• Schools. Do you need to make enquiries about a new school

Interstate removals can be painful if you forget these!

• Home loan provider and stock broker
• Registration and licensing, courts
• Employers (check that they notify your super fund and WorkCover)
• Sport, social and hobby clubs
• Deliveries such as groceries, newspapers, magazines and other subscriptions
• Pre-booked maintenance such as lawn and garden care, pool cleaners and house cleaners
• Gym, library and frequent flyer providers
• Security company
• Online memberships such as eBay, PayPal, Facebook, Amazon
• iMovers: let us know your moving date so we can arrange your must-have Day Before You Move and Moving Day checklists.

Notify and collect your records from…

• Hospital
• Doctor, dentist
• Naturopath, chiropractor, therapist
• School, preschool, child Care, TAFE, university
• Vet
• Specialists,  special care

Once you have notified everyone you need to, you are well on your way to a stress-free, successful move. Well done and congratulations!, now check out part 5 of our interstate moving checklist for more great tips on packing your boxes.

If you missed part 3 of our interstate moving checklist on disconnecting/reconnecting utilities, maximising your sale price or bond return and creating a survival kit, we highly recommend you read it.

We had a larger than normal team of six removalists to get this big job on the truck in half a day. The owners of the farm commented that this move was extremely hard for them as they had lived together on this farm of over 50 years; the man named Bill had lived there for 70. They appeared to be a fairly fit old couple considering they were in their late 80’s.

As our removalists were loading the furniture removals truck, a few of them noticed an old truck coming down the dusty long driveway, it was an old cattle truck driven by Jabba the Hutt, coming to relocate the ostriches. When he arrived he dropped the tailgate at the loading docks and with the help of the old couple, started shooing the birds into the truck. The twenty plus birds started panicking and fluttering around, most of them ran up into the truck, but something inspired one of the birds to jump off the ramp and over the fence, it was loose.

For any inexperienced person or removalist onlooker, this is pretty funny stuff but for Bill, he quickly sprang into action. Bill yelled out to our removalists, who at this stage were still laughing, he said “come and help me surround him before he takes off”. Hesitantly the boys ran over and formed a ring around the bird. I don’t know how many of you have ever stared at a 6 foot angry bird out of its cage, but apparently it’s an intimidating experience. Our removalists reported they couldn’t stop thinking about their eyes getting pecked out.

Bill was about to show our young, tough removalists how the country boys do it

Once surrounded, 86 year old Bill jumped in the ring to wrestle the angry bird. Running around looking for a way out, the ostrich got a bit too close to Bill who saw the opportunity and pounced onto the back the bird. At first it started bucking to get him off but clearly Bill had done this before.  He started chanting and taunting the bird for a bit of a ride but his wife yelled out “Get off that bloody thing Bill, you’re not 18 anymore”. After a couple minutes of fun Bill rode the ostrich over to the truck, and in one swift action jumped off and pushed it up the ramp.

As a souvenir for the boy’s first Ostrich rodeo, Bill gave each of them an ostrich egg to keep so they would always remember, you’re only as old and the ostrich you ride.

If you liked this story you may also like this post on removalists impersonating seagulls

If you know your moving date, it’s time to change over your gas, electricity, phone, internet, Foxtel or Austar, and any other services you have delivered to your home.

On The Move will connect your utilities for you, so you can focus on your interstate removal. The service is FREE and they can even negotiate a better rate on some services, we highly recommend their service.

Maximising Your Bond Return

Are you breaking a lease? You must notify your landlord of your moving date if you are breaking a lease. The State Government residential tenancies website has all of the forms you will need. Alternatively you can call the Tenancies Tribunal on 13 18 82 for advice.

If your lease is ending and you know your actual moving date, give us a call or fill out a quote. Once we have it, we will send your ‘Day Before You Move’ information in a timely manner. This email is packed with your vital last minute checks and preparations you need to have for a stress free interstate move.

Make a list of repairs. Obtain a copy of your Property Conditions Report from your land agent or landlord and check it against the current condition of the property. The types of repairs that will come out of your bond are scratches and dents on walls, damaged draws and cupboards, run down lawns and gardens, blown light globes, and stained or torn carpets.

Start arranging repairs. The Yellow Pages is a tried and true method to find the repairers you need. Alternatively, Google what you’re looking for.

Maximising the Sale Price of Your Home!

We don’t claim to be able to give you the sort of advice a reputable real estate agent could, so we recommend you make a few calls and see who gives you the best answers. One thing we do recommend to ask about is home staging or property presentation, if done correctly home staging can drastically increase the sale price of your home and how quickly you sell.  A property stylist will help you determine what in the house needs to stay and what can be packed now before the marketing campaign starts. This means when you do sell, there is less to sort and pack when there is increased pressure to get out of the house prior to settlement

Your Survival Kit for Moving Interstate

Don’t be alarmed, you’re not in danger. A Survival Kit is just the nick-name we give your ‘close me last, open me first box’.  You fill it with all the specific items you’re going to need while the rest of your house is packed up.

Your Survival Kit is a large tea chest box you should pack over the coming days and weeks and should include the following:

- Glass or paper cups
- Glass or plastic plates (enough for each family member)
- Toilet paper
- Paper towels
- Steel of plastic cutlery
- Scissors or utility knife
- Household cleaning supplies
- Pen and paper or a notepad
- Kids and adult snacks
- Radio or iPod docking station
- Pet collar, bowls, treats, rug or rag (pets stress more than humans when moving)
- Flashlight/Batteries
- Bin Linings
- A saucepan or frypan
- A few light bulbs
- Coffee
- Sugar
- Bottle/Can Opener
- Pain Killers
- Medication
- Children’s books/toys (just a few), even a dolly but not an interstate removalists type
- Personal Grooming Kit – comb/brush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, razor
- 100 points of ID  – passport, birth, certificate card statement, bill, bank statement, Medicare card

Be sure to read the part 4 of the interstate moving checklist for a complete list of who to notify your moving interstate and what to collect.

If you missed part 2 , it contains great information on how and where to sell your unwanted goods before your move.

How and Where to Sell Your Unwanted Goods

Options, options.

Hold a garage sale or sell items online or in newspapers, many of which are free to you

Here’s some great advice on how to hold a successful garage sale:

- Date and time. 7am-8am Saturday mornings is the optimum time for a garage sale. Do it soon so you don’t run yourself out of time, 2-4 weeks is best, the more the better.
- Is there enough stuff? If not, ask your neighbours and friends to sell some of their goods too. The bigger the garage sale the more people will come and you can share the advertising costs.
- Advertise with a catchy slogan like ‘Moving Sale – Everything Must Go!’ Let people know there will be bargains to be had and provide proof why.  A seller’s desperation becomes a buyer’s motivation to investigate for bargains.
- Bait and wait. Use high value key items like whitegoods, collector’s items, power tools and IT equipment to lure people to your garage sale. Even if you don’t get the price you’re looking for, you can then sell them singularly later on Gumtree, Trading Post or eBay, eBay is particularly effective when moving from Melbourne.
- Be a good host. Supply water, coffee and tea for your shoppers. If they hang around for a drink they are far more likely to buy something. Keep some cheap rope on hand for buyers that forget to bring their own so they can’t use that as an excuse not to buy.
- Do your research. How much are others are selling similar items for? Be realistic because you want to sell, not waste time and get stuck with things you don’t want to move. Keep in mind that by selling items you are saving on your interstate moving costs as well which may help you modernise your furniture for next to nothing.
- Don’t rely on good weather. Have an undercover area to use as a backup.
- Make up flyers. Put them on the local shop pin-up board, next to ATMs, anywhere where people congregate. Try these online garage sale flyer templates.

Moving Interstate with less will save you money!

Advertising Platforms

Well-placed advertising is crucial to a successful sale. We’ve provided a summary of the best options. iMovers recommends you use all four of these advertising options – they are sure to significantly increase interest in your sales for minimal investment.

Spend enough time on your ads to make them appealing. Get good photos and write compelling words to create a buzz about your garage sale. And remember, if you are spending $70 on advertising, make sure you have at least $150 worth of goods to sell in case everything doesn’t go. You want to at least make your advertising budget back.

Gumtree (Free – $10). Gumtree has tens of thousands of visitors each week and provides terrific value. A basic ad includes unlimited text room and up to four image uploads, and doesn’t cost a thing. You can also promote your ad at various rates up to $10. Advertise your garage sale or items individually.

Trading Post (Free). You can advertise a garage sale on Trading Post with up to 9 photos and as much text as you like. Single items under $500 are also free to advertise.

The Big Newspapers (approximately $35). The newspaper classifieds cost a bit more, but tapping into the state’s highest circulating newspaper has its advantages. Costs are approximately $9 p/line on weekends and $7 p/line weekdays depending on which state you are in, these prices are based on Melbourne – approximately 23-27 characters fit on one line. So a small ad like ‘Garage Sale This weekend. Everything must sell!’ contains 47 characters and takes up two lines. You must include a suburb, address, time and some of the key items for sale. Predesign your ad using this online character counter. We don’t recommend using the online news classifieds, which is significantly more expensive.

The Local Papers (approximately $15 – $30). It makes sense to limit your advertisement to the local paper in your area. But if you’re really keen, you could try a neighbouring areas paper too.

Check out part 3 of our Interstate Moving Checklist on disconnecting/reconnecting your utilities, maximising your bond or sale price and  how to create a survival kit

You may like to read part 1 of our checklist on how to declutter and save for your interstate removal.

This is the first in a series of blog posts that make up our Ultimate Step-by-step Guide to Interstate Moving. In this guide you will learn:

- How to make money de-cluttering
- How to maximise your bond return or sale price of your home
- How to pack boxes like a professional interstate removalist
- Who to notify your moving and what to collect: A complete list
- Easy ways to avoid ALL of the common & costly mistakes of moving
- Much much more….

A lot of furniture removals expertise has created this guide,  so use it well!

Your Interstate Moving Budget

Consider your budget for your move. How much are you willing to spend, how much time and effort are you willing to put in yourself? If you’re taking time off work, that’s a cost too.

Look at the big picture. Have you considered every room in your house? Storage areas, shed, carport and what’s outside? Evaluate what’s really involved in your interstate move, remembering that every item needs to be relocated to your new home.

Create a moving budget template in Microsoft Word or Excel to help you visualise the costs.

Consider expenses like:

- Extra rent and bond at your new home or extra mortgage payments, stamp duty and other fee’s
- Truck hire, bond and fuel costs if you’re thinking of moving it yourself
- Outstanding bills (some may need to be paid before you can change address)
- Repairs or alterations to your new home or current home
- Packing materials
- Trolleys, ropes, pads and other moving materials
- Cleaning costs including yard and pool

How to decide if your furniture will hit in your new home

Consider the size and layout of your new home. Is it bigger or smaller? If it’s smaller, how will everything fit? Does it have built-in wardrobes and ample cupboard and storage space? If not, where will all of your nic nacs go?

An easy way to get an understanding of how much room you have is to get a plan/layout of your new home, cut out pieces of paper to represent your major furniture items, and rearrange them until you are happy with how it all fits. If it doesn’t all fit, you may need to get rid of some of it or we can help with any storage requirements you may need.

If you don’t need it, don’t pay to move it!

A well-timed and implemented de-cluttering and selling strategy will significantly reduce interstate moving costs and give you added cash to modernise your furniture in your new home.

Here are some ideas on what you can remove from your move:

- Old and dated. Some second-hand furniture will sell for more than new furniture. Collectors and second-hand shop owners are always scoping out garage sales.
- Tonnes of toys. Kids’ toys can add hours to your move. You can make your move fun for your kids too though, ask your little ones to sell their unwanted toys at a garage sale and let them keep the money to buy new toys once moved. It works!
- Your toys. How long since you’ve used that ab-cruncher? What about the old Play Station in the spare room, or your rusted Webber? We all have items we just don’t use.
- Pot plants are a huge space waster, the costs of moving plants interstate is exorbitant and there are quarantine issues to consider too. If they are sick or dead, empty the pots and stack smaller ones inside bigger ones to save space put them in a box if they fit!
- The shirt off your back. Even if you don’t wear that pink shirt, someone else might. How many other clothes do have in mothballs?
- The sound of money. Are you really going to listen to that old Jason Donovan CD? How many Greatest Pub Songs collections can you own?
- Sizzle and save. Interstate Removalists cannot move gas bottles unless they’re empty, so it’s a good excuse to have a few BBQ’s over the following weeks.
- Shed stuff. Clean out your shed and see what you actually use, shed gear always sells well in Garage Sales. Watch out for spiders. Let off a flea-bomb an hour before you do, they cost less than $10 and can save you from a “hairy” situation.
- Raid the pantry. Now is the perfect time to eat some of your frozen food and perishables like canned foods, pasta, wine, sauces, snacks, etc. One box can cost up to $20 to move interstate, so eat your way to savings!

Give it to a good cause.

If an item doesn’t sell, donate it to a good cause; you may even get a tax deduction.

Find your closest donation centres:

St Vincent De Paul

Salvation Army

If you like this you may like our recent post on how to pick your interstate removalists

Be sure to check out part 2 of our checklist on how and where to sell your unwanted goods for interstate removals

Many of us choose the internet to get multiple quotes fast, hoping that something jumps out at us. You may even choose to pick up the phone and ring a few removalists but generally, nothing really stands out. If you are looking for a stand out removalist by getting 5 or more quotes, you generally won’t spend the time researching the companies you’ve selected.

Some interstate removalists truly care but many care about nothing, especially in Melbourne!

How can you find the best removalist company for you?

Spend a little extra time selecting prospects and ask the right questions!

Cheapest Price and Availability: A Recipe Set For Disaster

If you want to remove the risk of engaging a dodgy removalist and suffering a stressful move, kick those two reasons to the kerb and select your interstate removalist based on experience, integrity and the value they offer. Availability will come automatically if you organise your move enough in advance, one month is plenty.

The Solution

Ask them questions about

– Experience -  Not just experience of the guy on the phone but experience of the removalists that will handle your furniture, are they careful and why. Ask what the        removalists names are.
- Insurance- Ask exactly what it covers, proper insurance cost money so if it’s free, its worth more investigation.
- Recent testimonials- Ask for some from last week, ask for that persons phone number so that you can speak to them yourself. Many removalists will balk at this.
- Guarantee’s- Ask what guarantees they can provide about the quality of their removalists, ask about hidden costs and the likely hood of a last minute price change,  and lastly; ask if they will guarantee the dates they have agreed to. You will be amazed at the response you get to these questions.

All of your questions need to be open ended so you force the salesman to provide explanations instead of just “yes” and “no” answers.

How to Choose Your Removalist!

Choose based on:

- The value the company is providing you, competitively priced quality service.
- The certainty in a timely manner.
- The company that asks many questions about access to your properties.
- The company that is prompt in responding to your calls, emails and requests, if they make you wait when they are trying to win your job they will certainly make you    wait once they have won it.
- Choose the company that feels best,  that gut feeling you get about someone or something.
- Choose the company that adds that personal touch to your move.

Contracts and Booking Deposits.

Good interstate removalists take booking deposits and have contracts to sign. Time and time I get urgent calls from frantic people complaining  their removalists cancelled their move  at the last minute. They were able to do this because there was no contract, you should always enter into a contract with your interstate removalists,  if they don’t provide them, choose another!

First impressions are normally right; don’t let the feeling of a cheap price get in the way of that!

I finish with a great quote I read on the back of a bus ticket once “The bitter taste of poor quality lingers far longer than the initial sweetness of a cheap price”

If you are looking for a local furniture removalist,  here are the top 5 questions you should ask.

If you like this you may also like last weeks post called Profit By Screw: A Dying Trend!

It comes in the form of fraud, lies, deceit, bully tactics, outlandish claims, false promises, misleading information, trickery and many other disguised forms.

As a consumer we come across people every single day that cheat others to benefit themselves. In my many years in business I have learned that it is the easier path to travel (for the short term). For many ungifted businessmen/women, it takes less effort to rip someone off than it does to impress them and make them a lifelong customer or a raving fan client. For myself, I have been undercut, beaten by lies and sold products and services that make me furious afterwards. But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel……

Social Media is word-of-mouth on steroids, lots of steroids. You may be familiar with the old saying

“If you do a good job they will tell a friend, if you do a bad job they will tell 10”. It’s human nature to spread negative news more so than positive, take the media as an example.

These days, consider how easy it is to spread bad news to 200 of your friends on Facebook or Google Plus and have that sync with your hundreds of followers on twitter and other platforms. If only 10% of them share it or like it that’s real bad publicity for any product or service. If 20 different people bag the same business or 20 000 bag the same product you have a horde of unsatisfied consumers that can cause big trouble for any business.

Today, we all hold massive-collective-power to cause serious damage

to the reputation of businesses with the click of a button, and it’s all done from the safety of your own home or office.

No other industry is a better known for scamming than interstate removalists, because of this, companies with integrity like iMovers have to work twice as hard to prove themselves and earn trust and a good reputation. My industry has been tainted by the scammers and I intend to lead the way in changing this bad perception people have of removalists.

What You Can Do!

Demand better products and services.

If you receive bad service, buy a bad product or get ripped off, tell your friends on Social Media, not just once but a few times. Make it stick.  Ask them to share it and explain why; so that it spreads. Likewise, if a product or service is excellent, tell your friends about it and reward the businesses that are doing a great job. Social Media is a great place to ask your trusted friends for referrals, so use it.

Natural selection in business combined with the new and ever growing power of social media ensures that, over time; bad performing businesses and products will fail and drop away and the good ones will succeed and thrive.

The ultimate payoff for you is better quality products and services for less. “More bang for your buck” as they say.

There will be less of those televisions that die 3 days after their warranty expires, less hidden fees in your bank loans and far less of those dodgy contractors that rip you off for profit. However,  you can expect more high quality, cost effective operations like iMovers interstate removalists,  Melbourne branch.

The real question now is:

How will you use your power, with honesty for your own long term gain? Or with dishonesty for your own short term gain?

I finish this blog with a quote from Uncle Ben

“With great power comes great responsibility”.

Use it wisely and with integrity.

If you like what this stands for, please share it or show us by “liking” it or liking our Facebook page

You may also enjoy our previous blog The Truck Stop Sandwich