Packing Service Costs: Is Professional Packing Worth It?

A professional packing service cost in Sussex usually sits on top of your removal quote rather than as a separate bill, and as a rough guide a full pack of a three bed house adds somewhere in the region of 200 to 500 pounds once labour and materials are counted, with a fragile-only pack costing less. Whether it is worth it comes down to three things: how much time you have, how many breakables you own, and whether you want your contents insured by the firm that boxed them. This guide explains how packing is priced and when paying for it pays you back.

If you want the whole-move picture first, our removal costs in Sussex guide sets out what a full surveyed move costs and where packing fits within it. Here we focus on one decision: pay for packing, or do it yourself.

What a packing service costs

Most Sussex removers price packing in one of two ways: as an added line on the removal quote, or as a standalone service charged on time and materials. The figures below are typical guide ranges for 2026 local work and depend heavily on the volume of belongings and the amount of fragile items.

The labour element is usually one or two packers for part or all of a day, and the materials element covers cartons, bubble wrap, packing paper, tape and specialist boxes for items like wardrobes, pictures and televisions. A full pack normally happens the day before the move so the van can be loaded straight away.

What a professional packing service includes

A full packing service means the crew supplies the boxes and wrapping, packs every room, labels each carton by room and contents, and lists what went where. Most firms also offer an unpacking service at the other end, where boxes are emptied and flattened for collection. What is normally not included unless you ask: dismantling furniture, taking down curtains and pictures, and disconnecting appliances, although many removers will quote for those as extras.

The insurance reason people overlook

The strongest argument for professional packing is not time, it is cover. Goods in transit insurance from a removals firm typically excludes breakage of items the customer packed themselves, because the packer cannot vouch for how a box was filled. If the remover packs your china and it arrives broken, that is their liability; if you packed it, it usually is not covered. The British Association of Removers sets standards its members work to, and you can check a firm's membership and the cover it offers at bar.co.uk. If you are moving anything valuable or irreplaceable, this single point often settles the question.

When professional packing is worth it

Paying for packing earns its keep in clear situations:

• You are short on time: a full house can take a non-professional several evenings to pack; a crew does it in a day.
• You have a lot of fragile or high-value items: glassware, art, electronics and antiques are where breakages and uninsured losses hurt most.
• You are moving with young children or while working: the hours you would spend wrapping cups are worth more elsewhere.
• You want full insurance cover: professionally packed boxes are covered for breakage in a way self-packed ones usually are not.

When to pack yourself

Self-packing makes sense for a small flat, a tight budget, or a move you have weeks to prepare for. If you go that route, get good boxes rather than reused supermarket cartons, do not overfill, wrap fragile items individually, and label every box by room. A sensible middle path many Sussex movers offer is a fragile-only pack: you box the clothes, books and linen, and the crew packs just the kitchen and breakables, which is where most damage and most uninsured loss occurs.

How to get an accurate packing quote

Packing is priced on volume, so a quote based on a proper survey, in person or by video, will be far more accurate than a phone estimate. When you compare firms, ask each one to itemise the packing labour, the materials and whether unpacking is included, and check that the goods in transit cover applies to professionally packed boxes. For a quick whole-move starting range, try our house removal cost estimator, and read how to choose a removals company in Sussex before you book. You can browse local firms and more moving guides on the Move Sussex homepage.

Frequently asked questions