How to Move Valuables – Shipping, Packing and Transporting Guide

When getting ready to move your house or apartment, the thought of packing everything well and securely usually takes over your mind. As you begin by searching for a moving company and then continue to hire the best mover, you still remain with the thought of taking care of your best possessions – your valuables.

Moving and packing valuables is indeed a bit different from moving and packing ordinary household goods. That is why the extra knowledge here will be useful for you if you apply it. The process of moving and packing valuable items doesn’t need to be a headache really. Here in our guide, we will show you a few things that you can do to preserve your valuables best – when packing and shipping them.

Мoving valuable items

To begin with, when moving valuables with a relocation or transportation company there is a list of items that must stay with you during the move. These are:

• Documentation of any type (contracts with financial institutions, employment contracts, IDs, credit cards, checkbooks, securities, bonds, stock certificates, doctor and other records, etc.)
• Dollars and foreign currencies.
• Jewels.
• Furs.
• Collections of stamps, coins, etc.
• Copies of your computer memory.

It is nice to give up all household goods to a shipping company and travel lightly but think about your possessions and how to protect them best. Taking care of the packing, buying insurance and handing them over to a professional relocation company is not the best thing to do for items that are very expensive.

You may trust your mover largely and be convinced with its professionalism but it is sometimes best to personally take care of at least some of your expensive, valuable items.

Moving Valuable Items Guide

Jim Sullivan – president of Humboldt Storage and moving out of Boston, explains the several options you have when packing and moving valuables:

Moving art items

When it comes to art like paintings, marble statues, etc. most probably the movers will build custom wood crates to protect the pieces. Although it adds to the cost of moving, putting these pieces in a crate protects them during transport from being damaged.

Your mover will generally spot these items and point them out to you as well as measure them for the crate and provide you a cost. According to Chuck Tenney, Director of Operators at Armstrong Transportation Services, this is the best option to ensure the safe transportation of valuable household belongings because the items will not only be perfectly stabilized, nothing will be able to penetrate the wooden crate to damage the fragile/high-value item.

You can also ask your mover for full carrier packing services to pack fragile/high-value items and extensive valuation coverage options in the rare event that items are damaged.

Moving breakable items

If you have breakables like fine china Jim Sullivan highly recommends leaving the packing of these items to the professionals. An experienced mover will use high-quality boxes called “Dish Packs” or “Dish Barrels” for dishware. Each item is carefully wrapped in plain paper very similar to newsprint (But with no ink as this could rub off on china) and placed into the carefully padded box. Plates are actually packed standing on their sides as they are stronger that way.

Moving climate-sensitive items

If you have climate-sensitive items like wine, antiques, art, etc. you will most likely know these items need extra care. Many companies have the ability to provide transportation where items are kept at an exact temperature specification – this service is usually costly but it is worth protecting your precious belongings.

Moving sentimental items

You may also have some sentimental valuable items to pack and move. Some things may have extreme sentimental value to a person but not much “real-world value”. The concern with these types of items is that they are truly irreplaceable and if they are lost/ destroyed there can be difficulty in placing a dollar figure on it based on sentimental value. In short, a reputable moving company should be able to get these types of items transported safely without issue.

Insurance options

It’s always a good idea to get a written appraisal on valuable items prior to moving them. This will help establish actual value in the instance of loss or damage. In addition, most moving companies will provide what is sometimes called a “High-Value Inventory Form”, which is your opportunity to point out items of extraordinary value prior to the move to establish value in case of an incident.

High Value is defined as an item being worth more than $100 per pound that the item weighs. This applies when moving interstate. A moving company will provide coverage for items being moved, this is called “Valuation”. The federal government requires each moving company to provide $0.60 per pound of coverage to every shipper.

This means if a 10 lb. item is damaged the moving company would have to compensate you 10 x $0.60= $6.00 for the item. Not much coverage at all. If moving high-value items Mr. Sullivan would highly recommend Full Value Protection, which will cost extra but provide greater protection.

When purchasing Full Value Protection an estimated value will be placed on your entire shipment, for normal household shipments it’s estimated that the goods are worth about $6 per pound. However high-value items need to be taken into consideration and will typically require a conversation with your mover to ensure you have enough coverage once these items are factored in. It’s not uncommon in these instances for the need to purchase additional coverage above the $6 per pound.

Moving & Packing Valuables Items

If you decide to pack yourself, here are a few basic tips. The best way to pack valuables is to pack them densely and in very sturdy cartons called “dish pack” cartons. These cartons have a double layer of cardboard which provides extra protection beyond the standard cartons you can purchase at other stores.

But It is best to leave the packing of valuables up to the professionals. Although this will result in extra cost, it will ensure each item is properly protected during transit. In addition, when you pack your own goods there can be liability issues even if you’ve purchased Full Valuation Protection.

For instance, if you pack a box of china and the box reaches its destination in good condition but the items inside are broken, the mover will not know if you properly packed and depending on the circumstance the carrier may or may not have any liability. Letting the mover handle packing will ensure they carry all the liability in the instance of damage.

To pack items densely means to spare no expense with the unprinted newsprint that is commonly used for packing. Using a significant amount of packing paper will limit the movement of the items inside the box and will minimize the risk of damage.

You can also utilize mirror cartons to pack hanging pictures and mirrors. For oil on canvas paintings, there is a special packing material called glassine. Glassine is acid-free and bleach-free paper which will not affect the integrity of the oil paint. All mattresses should be packed in mattress cartons. Often mattresses are some of the most expensive household investments and should therefore be properly protected.

Upholstered furniture is always shrink-wrapped and pad-wrapped, while wooden and leather furniture is just pad-wrapped (shrink-wrap can actually damage these types of furniture items). That should make the relocation of your valuables safer.

When your valuables are delivered, Judd Levine from Triple Crown Maffucci Bekinsmake suggests that you make sure you check off the inventory! It is the customer’s responsibility to check off each piece with the driver.  If they decide to not sign off and something is missing after, how does anyone know?  As they just signed a form that “everything was delivered”.

If something is missing you should write that down on the inventory sheet or bingo sheet.  If something is damaged, it does not need to be marked that day, but if you see it you should write that down as well.  You typically have 9 months to file a claim with professional movers.

Costs for Moving and Packing Valuables

Costs for moving and packing valuables. Moving valuables will require additional costs in most circumstances. Some valuables will require custom wood crates to be built, additional or specialized materials to protect the item, specialized handling/transport and extra valuation coverage to protect against damage. It’s important for a shipper to consult with their mover to ensure all valuables will be properly protected and covered during the move.

Tips on Packing Valuables

Andy Simon, a packaging expert from Wayfair.com, gives these useful and professional tips for shipping valuable items:

• Ditch the peanuts, and bring on the wrap when transporting valuable items. Bubble wrap and foam wrap are the way to go! Packing materials like peanuts and air pillows let items settle and shift in transit. To guarantee everything is protected use a surface contact material.
• Pack generously when shipping valuable items – don’t skimp out on the amount of materials you use. Like a crumple zone of a car, the more materials that separate your product from harm the more likely it will arrive undamaged. 3-4 layers of surface wrap and 2″ of clearance from the box usually does the trick.
• There’s no such thing as “fragile” or “this end up” when transporting valuable items. Prepare for the worst. Since virtually all packages are treated the same as they go through an automated system at a rapid pace, it is unlikely that anyone is reading your notes on the box.
• Avoid overnight delivery on delicate items. Expedited overnight delivery means your packaging is traveling even faster than usual to go the same distance which allows more opportunity for bumps and bruises along the way.
• Anticipate how the recipient will open your package. Will it be opened by a child who might rip it open and dump out the contents? Will it be opened with scissors or a knife? Leave a warning inside the box or let the recipient know ahead of time to be gentle so your package is opened carefully and right side up!
• Prepare to spend 8-10% of the product’s value on the packaging when moving valuable items. Don’t skimp on the box you use, or the materials inside the packaging, to ship your stuff. A rule of thumb is to spend 8-10 percent of item value on packaging.
• Pack in layers for extra protection. For fragile items and those that can be easily scratched, make sure you use 2 layers of protection. The first layer should prevent scratching and surface damage, use a foam sheet or even saran wrap as a household substitute. The second layer should protect against drops or impacts, materials like Styrofoam or bubble wrap should be used.
• Avoid dead space. When packing valuables, it is important not to leave any empty space in the box once the item is wrapped and placed inside. Household items like paper towels or tissues can be used to fill void space around items.
• Lend some support. Very delicate items like baked goods or glass products are threatened by crushing forces. Adding additional structure inside the box by using paper towel rolls or rolls of cardboard in the corners will give your product the extra help it will need.

As you can see, moving valuable items is not difficult but you need preparation. Our guide is showing you the most important things to know; things without which you may get into trouble. If you know more tips and info that you can use for moving and shipping valuables, please make a comment to let us (and our readers) know. Thank you!

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