How to package and ship an office chair to another state
Container services like PODS and Pack Rat quote over $2,000, which is ridiculously expensive for moving just one chair or a few large pieces. Using standard movers for a small load often results in missing items and months of unreturned phone calls. This forces people to ship items independently, leaving them struggling to figure out how to safely package the chair and what the actual shipping cost will be.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Driving the items cross-country personallyDid this help you?
- 2Using LTL (Less-Than-Truckload) freight with DIY crating and palletizingDid this help you?
- 3Shipping double-boxed items via traditional carriers like UPS, FedEx, or USPS GroundDid this help you?
- 4Hiring small-load interstate movers that consolidate shipments on existing routesDid this help you?
- 5Renting smaller U-Haul U-Box containersDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Anyone ever ship there back up chair to another state, when traveling or moving ? How did you package it ? Is my biggest question. and what did it cost you at the time ?”source ↗
“A good chunk of our stuff went missing and we only had 3 large pieces and mostly bankers boxes. It's been 2 months no return phone calls no answers.”source ↗
“We had a relative pass and we are looking to move a small amount of valuable items (antique cabinet, antique Tiffany-like lamp, fragile dishes, and a few boxes of keepsakes) from AZ to IL as safely and cheaply as possible.”source ↗
“I’ve already quoted out pack rat ($2000) and Pods ($2700) and those prices seem ridiculous for what I’m trying to move.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why is it so expensive to rent a van one way internationally?
- 2Why won't companies ship specialized products to Alaska?
- 5Is it cheaper to ship a TV or buy a new one?
- 6Why is my domestic order shipping from overseas and clearing customs?
- 3Tips for planning your first office move
- 4How do you plan a first-time long distance move?