2019 Best Interstate Moving + Storage Review
Bottom line: Best Interstate Moving and Storage is a full-service moving brokerage that helps you find an interstate mover who offers the services you need at the price you want.
Best Interstate Moving and Storage (BIMS) is a moving brokerage company that connects you with a network of moving professionals to find the best situation for your out-of-state move. We all know what a headache researching and vetting interstate moving companies can be, and Best Interstate Moving and Storage could offer relief by doing the research and negotiations for you.
The question remains, however: Do all of its negotiations pay off in your favor or are you better off enduring the headache and finding a good deal yourself?
Let’s walk you through our experience and tell you why trusting your move to Best Interstate Moving and Storage can do more than just cure your moving headache—it might save you some money, too.
Pros
- Provides transparent pricing and a price-matching program
- Offers over-the-phone moving estimates
- Offers virtual in-home moving estimates
- Sells a wide variety of moving kits, boxes, and supplies
- Provides excellent customer service
Cons
- Handles only interstate moves
What services does Best Interstate Moving and Storage offer?
BIMS offers a wide range of moving services to cater to the size and specific needs of both your move and your budget.
Services Best Interstate Moving and Storage offers:
- Interstate moving
- Business and commercial moving
- Corporate relocation
- Over-the-phone estimates
- Boxes and moving supplies
- Packing and unpacking
- Furniture disassembly and reassembly
- Loading and unloading
- Custom crating
- Piano transport
- Auto transport
- Basic liability coverage
- Full-valuation coverage
- Temporary storage and storage in transit
- Guaranteed pickup and delivery dates no qualified moves
- Assistance setting up home services and utilities1
- Nonperishable food donation through Move for Hunger
Many of the services are included in the cost of your move, but options like packing and unpacking, boxes and supplies, custom crate creation, piano and auto transport, and full-valuation coverage require an additional cost.
Check out the table below to get a better idea of which services are free and which will cost you a bit extra.
Free vs. paid moving services
| Free or paid? |
| Free |
| Paid |
| Paid |
| Free |
| Free |
| Paid |
| Paid |
| Paid |
| Free |
| Paid |
| Free |
| Free |
*Storage is free for the first 30 days and costs $0.05 per pound for every additional month.
How much does Best Interstate Moving and Storage cost?
Your overall moving cost with Best Interstate Moving and Storage will vary based on the specific conditions of your move. Since it specializes in interstate moves, most of its charges aren’t based on an hourly rate like many local movers might be. It negotiates with its network of movers and bases your estimate on factors like the distance of your move, the time of year, the weight of your belongings, and the services you opt in to.
To give you an idea of what to expect to spend, we mystery shopped Best Interstate Moving and Storage and requested a quote for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house.
Our Best Interstate Moving and Storage quote
| Figures |
| 1,071 miles |
| 6,984 lbs. (998 cu. ft.) |
| $0.65 |
| $4,539.60 |
| $408.57 |
| $200.00 |
| $651.05 |
| $1,123.50 |
| -$150.00 |
| $6,772.72 |
*This table is meant to serve as a general example of what you can expect for your moving costs and does not guarantee the price of your estimate by Best Interstate Moving and Storage.
Depending on whether or not we chose to remove packing from our estimate or add the low-deductible option for full-valuation coverage, our price could range anywhere from $5,649.22 to $8,029.72.
You’ll likely see higher prices elsewhere for a similarly sized move. Although there are many contributing factors, two stand out above the rest: over-the-phone moving estimates and a pretty impressive price-matching policy.
We’ll dive into both of these later to show you how each benefits your move and affects your final costs.
If you’re planning a smaller household move than what we’ve outlined above, you can expect to pay a bit less, while those planning larger moves that require additional services should expect to pay more. Our estimate can serve as a good point of comparison, but the best way to get an accurate picture of what your moving costs will be is to call Best Interstate Moving and Storage and get an over-the-phone estimate.
Factors that go into an estimate
Full-service moving companies often base your estimate on the distance of your move and the weight of the belongings that you’ll be moving. BEST follows a similar trend, but it doesn’t use the distance of your move to directly calculate your transportation costs.
The distance of your move influences which mover BEST will choose for you. If you move 1,000 miles, BEST may assign a different mover than if you move 2,500 miles. Although both work with BEST, the two may charge slightly different rates for your cost per pound to complete your move.
Volume also comes into play in calculating costs—which may be why BEST charges an additional $200 fee for moving a washer and dryer. Ask about any other large items you own to see how those will affect the price of your move.
You’ll also see a “binding estimate fee” on your estimate. Traditionally, binding moving estimates are fixed-priced estimates—meaning you pay the estimated cost, whether your shipping weight is far greater or far less than the original estimate.
BEST structures its binding estimate a little differently.
Once you decide you’d like to choose BEST for your move, you must pay a down payment in the form of a reservation fee. Our fee was about 20% of the cost of our estimate and went toward paying the balance of the final bill.
This left $5,440.73 on the balance of our estimate. Half of this ($2,720.36) would be collected during pickup and the remaining cost would be due at delivery and depend on the actual weight of the move. If the actual weight matched the estimated weight, we would pay the remaining half of the balance. If the actual weight was less, we’d pay less. If it was more, we’d pay more.
Even so, because this part of the estimate cost still fluctuates, I wouldn’t call this a true binding estimate. It may still work out in your favor, though, if your shipment weighs less than expected.
Rest assured
Rest assured
Regardless of the final cost of your estimate, Best Interstate Moving and Storage offers a full refund if you cancel at least five days prior to your scheduled pick-up window.
What you can expect from a Best Interstate Moving and Storage move
Scheduling your estimate
After conducting some initial online research, the next phase in finding out which mover is right for you is scheduling an estimate. While many full-service movers require an in-home estimate, Best Interstate Moving and Storage conducts its moving estimates over the phone.
An over-the-phone estimate presents two distinct advantages: first, you don’t have to take time out of your day for a stranger to come into your home to peruse through your belongs for an in-home estimate; and second, it helps drive down the cost because BEST doesn’t have to pay the person who would be doing the perusing.
BEST lets you schedule your over-the-phone estimate in two ways—filling out a simple online form or giving them a call. If you want to get the ball rolling but don’t have a lot of time to spend on the phone that very moment, I recommend filling out the form. It only takes a minute and a representative will call you back to walk you through your estimate or set up a time that works better for you.
If you have a spare 30–40 minutes and want to get everything out of the way, I recommend just giving them a call. After trying it myself, this was my favorite of the two experiences.
Heads up!
Heads up!
Best Interstate Moving and Storage recently added a virtual in-home estimate option. It uses artificial intelligence and your smartphone’s camera to quickly and accurately take each room’s inventory.
Not only can this save you time, but it can save you money too! BEST offers a $300 discount if you use its virtual in-home estimate to reserve your move.
Your over-the-phone estimate
Overall, my over-the-phone estimate was a very pleasant experience. It allowed me to avoid some of the common pain points of an in-home estimate including taking time off work, making sure the house is clean, hoping the moving coordinator doesn’t open the closet the vintage Cabbage Patch Kids collection lives in, etc.
My estimate lasted just over forty minutes and I can confidently say not a single second was wasted. The consultant I spoke with began the call by asking for some basic information like the start and end locations of my move and my preferred moving date. After that point, she explained the pick-up dates have a three-day window and asked whether or not that would be okay.
If your move meets certain criteria, however, you can request guaranteed pickup and delivery dates. Heck, if you’re in a hurry, some moves even qualify for pickup within twenty-four hours of a call.
Taking your inventory
Once you provide the basic info of your move and confirm that you’d like to proceed, your representative will ask you to list the things you’ll need moved. I decided to go through my inventory room by room to keep my thoughts a bit more organized. If you are at home while you make this call, you could even walk from room to room and list your inventory that way. This might help produce a more accurate inventory of your belongings than if you did it from memory.
As I was explaining what items were in each room, my representative reminded me to include any framed photos that were on the walls and to clarify the size of certain belongings. She also asked the sizes of cabinets and cupboards and whether or not they were full to get an accurate estimate of their contents.
These reminders and clarifications are incredibly helpful in accounting for all of the belongings you need to move—especially if you aren’t at home when you make this call.
Going over perks and additional services
After you finish listing your items for your inventory, your representative will likely ask if you’d like any additional services like packing, piano or auto transport, or storage. They will also explain the Best Interstate Moving and Storage price-matching policy, Price Plus Promise.
The Price Plus Promise states that Best Interstate Moving and Storage will match any quote from another full-service four- or five-star moving company for the same estimated weight until your moving day.2 My representative encouraged me at multiple points during our call to seek out quotes from other full-service movers to compare the costs. She assured me if I found a cheaper estimate, BIMS would match it.
Toward the end of the call, my representative emailed me my moving estimate so I could review it while I was still on the phone with her and ask any questions. The instant availability of your moving estimate isn’t just a small perk either—it can save you hours of playing phone tag if something on the estimate is incorrect or you have questions about specific services. I loved immediately knowing what I could expect to pay for my move.
Have more questions?
Have more questions?
I also loved knowing that if I had questions during any other stage of my move I could reach out to my specific moving coordinator. BEST ties you to your coordinator until your belongings are delivered, so if anything comes up you know who you’ll be talking to.
Packing your belongings
If you’d rather not pack your belongings yourself, Best Interstate Moving and Storage will pair you with a full-service mover who offers packing and unpacking services.
During my over-the-phone estimate, my representative explained packing prices are based on the number of boxes you need during your move—not the time it takes to pack. She also said you won’t be charged for any boxes the packers don’t use. So unless you desperately want to use your leftover boxes to build the box fort of your dreams, you can save a bit of money on your final moving costs by returning any unused boxes.
Another way to minimize your packing costs is by asking your movers to pack a few select items instead of packing your whole home. This allows you to save money by packing most of your home yourself while leaving fragile or valuable items to the professionals.
The packing costs vary based on the type of box, and possibly even the moving company BIMS contracts with, but here are some of the prices I was given for my move:
Other packing services
Best Interstate Moving and Storage doesn’t simply find movers to pack your belongings. Its network of movers offers additional packing services, too—many of which are included in the cost of your move.
At no cost to you, your movers will disassemble and reassemble your furniture, protect your furniture with quilted blankets, take an itemized inventory of your belongings (or your boxes, if you did the packing), and load and unload the moving truck.
You can also pay extra for other services like custom crate creation for large or bulky items, or transport services for your car or piano.
Best Interstate Moving and Storage packing prices*
| Cost per box |
| $16.50 |
| $14.50 |
| $16.00 |
| $35.00 |
*These prices are specific to our moving quote and may change based on a number of different factors. We recommend you call and speak to a Best Interstate Moving and Storage representative to get the specific packing prices for your move.
Since Best Interstate Moving and Storage doesn’t charge for the time it takes to pack your boxes, it looks like it builds the labor costs into the price of the boxes used to pack your belongings.
Buying boxes and supplies for DIY packing
If you decide you’d rather do all of the packing yourself, BIMS lets you purchase anything from single boxes and rolls of packing tape to full-fledged moving kits.
The website has quite a few options to choose from, but we chose some of the most common boxes and packing kit options to give you an idea of what you can expect to spend.
Best Interstate Moving and Storage moving box pricing
| Quantity | Price |
| 15 | $29.40 |
| 25 | $36.75 |
| 10 | $28.88 |
| 20 | $39.95 |
| 5 | $29.95 |
| 12 | $39.95 |
Best Interstate Moving and Storage moving kit prices and contents
If you want to learn more about what boxes and materials come in each kit, we’ve broken down all of the options below.
1–2 room moving kits
| Economy kit | Basic kit |
| $41.99 | $52.45 |
| 5 small boxes | 9 small boxes |
| 10 medium boxes | 9 medium boxes |
| 110 yd. of packing tape | 110 yd. of packing tape |
| 1 marker | 1 marker |
| 1 tape dispenser | |
| 24 ft. of bubble roll | |
| 3 lbs. of packing paper |
3–4 room moving kits
| Economy kit | Basic kit |
| $104.95 | $136.45 |
| 10 small boxes | 18 small boxes |
| 20 medium boxes | 20 medium boxes |
| 10 large boxes | 9 large boxes |
| 220 yd. of packing tape | 110 yd. of packing tape |
| 2 markers | 2 markers |
| 1 tape dispenser | |
| 48 ft. of bubble roll | |
| 6 lbs. of packing paper |
5–6 room moving kits
| Economy kit | Basic kit |
| $208.43 | $222.55 |
| 10 small boxes | 18 small boxes |
| 20 medium boxes | 18 medium boxes |
| 22 large boxes | 21 large boxes |
| 10 extra large boxes | 10 extra large boxes |
| 220 yd. of packing tape | 110 yd. of packing tape |
| 2 markers | 2 markers |
| 1 tape dispenser | |
| 48 ft. of bubble roll | |
| 6 lbs. of packing paper |
Protecting your belongings
Recording your moving day inventory
If you’re moving halfway across the country, you want to make sure none of your prized possessions get lost along the way. Best Interstate Moving and Storage contracts with movers who take an itemized inventory of your belongings and indicate each item’s condition on the inventory before they load it onto the truck.
It’s a good idea to ask about the inventory process (whether you let BEST choose your moving company or you find one on your own) so you can be prepared to review the inventory with your movers as they load the truck and after they’ve unloaded everything into your new home.
Moving coverage
Best Interstate Moving and Storage offers two levels of coverage to protect your belongings as your movers make their way to your new abode: basic liability and full-value coverage.
Every move comes with basic liability coverage as a free benefit. The basic liability limit provides coverage up to $10,000 and is based on $0.60 per pound per item. Even though it’s free, this isn’t a substantial amount of coverage and won’t cover much if something gets damaged during the course of your move.
For instance, if the movers drop your 30-pound crystal corgi while loading the truck, BEST will only pay $18 to replace the poor shattered pup—regardless of its actual value. (Let’s be real though, that corgi is priceless.)
BEST also offers full-value protection, which you can purchase for an additional fee. For our moving estimate, it quoted a protection amount of $41,904. This works out to roughly $6 of value for each pound we’re moving. If you’re moving a lot of valuables and think you might need coverage above $6 of value per pound, make sure to let your BESTrepresentative know during your over-the-phone estimate and they will walk you through your options.
We recommend full-value protection for most moves since it provides a far greater amount of coverage and isn’t limited to a certain dollar amount per item. If you purchase the full-value protection and something happens to any number of delicate dog statues, as long as their total value is lower than your quoted protection amount ($41,904 in our case), BEST has you covered.
The cost of full-value protection depends on the deductible level you choose. Our quote listed a $500 deductible and a $1,000 deductible. The $1,000 deductible was the cheaper of the two options and would cost $838 for our move. If you would like a lower deductible, you’ll pay a bit more up front—our $500 deductible plan was listed at $1,257.
Despite needing to pay a deductible on top of the cost for full-value protection, I still recommend choosing it over basic liability for almost any full-service move.
Storage
BEST works with its network of movers to offer both short- and long-term storage for your move. During my over-the-phone estimate, my representative told me that storage is free for the first 30 days and costs $0.05 per pound for each additional month you need. She also let
me know there isn’t a limit to the amount of storage you can use. BEST will simply base the size of the storage container on the items you need to store.
Many full-service movers don’t offer a free period of storage and several set high minimum charges to store your belongings, even if you need to store a single piece of furniture. Knowing BEST offers 30 days of free storage puts it head and shoulders above some of the other movers in the industry in this regard.
Our recommendation
Best Interstate Moving and Storage is a great option if you are preparing for an interstate move and want to quickly learn just how affordable a full-service move can be. Since BIMS is a moving brokerage company, it negotiates with its network of moving companies to get you the best price based on your various moving needs—saving you from the headache of doing the research yourself.
Not only does BIMS find you the best price among its own network of movers, it’ll also match the price of any other four- or five-star full-service mover if you find a lower price somewhere else.
Price is only part of the equation though. We also enjoyed the convenience of the over-the-phone moving estimate, the pricing transparency of our quote, and the range of moving supplies available through the BIMS website.
In the end, your overall moving experience will depend on the mover Best Interstate Moving and Storage chooses for you. Be sure to ask which company will be completing your move during your estimate so you can look at its customer reviews online.
Have you scheduled a move with Best Interstate Moving and Storage? Leave a review and let us know about your experience in the comments below!
Sources
1. Best Interstate Moving and Storage, “Home Services”
2. Best Interstate Moving and Storage, “Best Interstate Moving Benefits”
About Colin Holmes
Pingback: 5 Best Interstate Moving Companies of 2018 - Move.org()