Should I buy furniture before or after moving?
You have to weigh the savings of buying tax-free against the cost of renting a U-Haul to transport bulky items. Starting from scratch locally avoids the heavy move, but it leaves you arriving at an empty apartment with no bed.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Buying items after the move and paying local sales tax
- 2Buying items before the move to avoid sales tax and transporting them in a rental truck
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
r/moving2 people · September 2026 – October 2026
“I guess the question is, if you were in my shoes would you buy the bulky stuff with no sales tax and then move it or just eat the cost and not move it but pay 8.5% sales tax on the purchases?”source ↗
Present_Student_1500 · r/moving · 3 upvotes
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8Is a luxury home upgrade worth giving up financial flexibility?
- 6Is a wedding reception dress actually worth it?
- 4When is it actually worth buying equipment instead of renting?
- 50Is it a smart idea to buy a new car right now?
- 16Can I afford to move out on my own?
- 2Is moving container insurance actually worth it?