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[oldadjunct]

Somewhere buried in the forum is an answer, but...

I am strongly considering a 2,300 mile move, NE to SW.  Two bedrooms, living room/dining room, study. Modest, by this forum's standards, number of books. Not a lot of furniture. Fair amount of art.

I have never paid for a move myself.  So, ball park, how much for 1) they pack it all, or 2) I box, they lift.

I appreciate that some will want to suggest variations of do it yourself, but that's not going to happen.  Five rooms, "some" books, 2,300 miles.  What is the ball park against which to judge estimates?

[pandora]

Unless money is no object, I'm going to guess that the best option here might be ABF UPack.  Perhaps you're already familiar with this, but if not, it's definitely an economical middle ground between the two options you posted, one for which you can get an estimate on-line (one which won't mysteriously change once you hire them).  I looked into this when I was moving this summer (got an estimate of $1750 for two pods to cover large 2B apt), and I think this procedure is one that might make sense:

1) ABF delivers appropriate number of "pods" for loading up your stuff
2) You hire 2 movers to load up pods ($250?)
3) ABF picks up your pods, drives them to destination
4) You hire 2 movers to unload

They truck your pods along with those of others cross-country, and I think a few people on these threads have mentioned that there can be some uncertainty about delivery date, but other than that, people seem satisfied.  I did a UHaul move, expecting to save about $400.  That gap closed very quickly and I'm sorry I didn't use ABF.  Just google them to find the site.

[ptontt]

We just moved about 2300 miles.  The I box it, they load it with a reputable more was about $7,000 (We had two quotes.)  We were moving a 3 bedroom house.  We ended up using ABF (I box it, I load it, they drive it.)  It cost us just over $3000.  With the drive, hotels, food, etc and ABF our total cost was about $6000.  Hope that helps.

[womanofproperty]

If you use a moving company, most of the cost of an interstate household move is shipping based on weight & distance.  If this is the first time you've used a moving company be prepared to be unpleasantly shocked by the price.  Other threads discuss the issues and have good suggestions on how to minimize costs:

http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,49681.405.html

But it seems your question is how much will packing add to the cost of your move. 

If you use a moving company, they charge by the hour for packing.  This year I'll be moving 3000+ pounds - considered a small move.  It will take 2-3 people about 3 hours to do pack my stuff.  There are extra charges for "mirror packs" for art work, so if you have a lot of artwork this will somewhat add to the cost.  Having the movers pack my stuff adds about $400 to the overall cost of my move; this cost is essentially identical to what I paid for packing for my last move.

I don't want to give you an estimate as to what you'd pay for packing because I would just be guessing.  Some moving company websites provide calculators to help estimate costs. 

Also: it's possible to have a partial rather than a full pack.  One option might be to pack some of your stuff yourself - books, for instance - and have the movers pack the artwork.  One of my sisters just had them pack her kitchen.  Or you could arrange to have the movers pack whatever you don't get to. 

Apart from artwork - which I always have had movers pack - I have a lot of experience packing and I do a great job.  But it would take me several days to pack my own stuff and I would end up exhausted.  So for me it's worth it not because of the money but because it saves so much time & effort. 

[unoriginal]

I moved 2000 miles in 2005. 800 sq. ft., 2 bedroom apartment, stuffed to the gills. 3rd floor, no elevator (added to the time, so I think it added to the cost. Maybe).  They packed everything, we unpacked.  It cost $6700, and we used a national company (Mayflower). BUT - fuel costs a heck of a lot more today than 3 years ago, so I imagine the rates have gone up considerably.

[oldadjunct]

Thanks for the confirmations of my hunch.  Also, for the reminder about ABF.

[americanist]

The art might throw a bit of a monkey wrench into things, to the extent that you may want to ship it separate from the move. If it goes in the truck, it will definitely need to be crated, but if you have paintings--oils, especially--a summer move, no climate control, and many days on a truck might cause significant damage.

I've had great experiences sending paintings via Fed Ex and even USPS, if it's very well crated. I built my own crate for this purpose.

[redding]

I'll second ABF.  One thing I found out when I was pricing cross-country moves is that a lot of companies charge by weight.  That's fine if all you have is furniture, dishes and clothes, but we have somewhere around 100 boxes of books.  The extra weight was going to cost thousands.

Just be sure you supervise the movers very carefully as they pack the pods.  Movers are used to putting  things into a truck that is much bigger than necessary, but with the pods you pay by the space.  It also needs to really be packed in there or things will shift.  There was a discussion about this a few days ago.

[iomhaigh]

Make sure you get a binding estimate.  My movers miscalculated the weight of my books, and even though I had gotten rid of more furniture than I planned, they still grossly underestimated the weight.  It did not, however, cost me anything because of our contract. 

The whole move was about $5,000, including hotels, gas, last minute boxes, tape, a partial pack, tips, cleaner, etc.  I went about half as far as you did and had fewer rooms.   

[shrimp]

I'm not sure about the cost but probably too high!
I would also suggest a similar company to ABF is Broadway Express.  You pay for space in their truck and they charge per foot, not weight - which is great for books and art.  An advantage over ABF is that you can hire the driver to pack the truck; they won't move stuff but they know how to make stuff fit.  They do this separate from the quoted charge for the move but most will charge between $20-40 per hour.
Now I can't say how well the stuff arrives b/c we just loaded our truck today but I'm pleased so far and I read all positive reviews on MovingScam.  Our driver was here from 10 am till 9 pm and he only charged us $100!  He did not insist we stick to the time limit and managed to fit all of our stuff in the 17' we purchased (just barely).
We are paying $4200 to move all the way across the country and we have a 3 bdrm house (1500 sq ft) + tons of other stuff in the garage and basement.  Our quotes for full moves were $9500-11,000

Also, you might want to consider shipping your books media (or book) rate; it's cheap and you can send them directly to your new office.

[scheherazade]

Also check eMove.  You can get full quotes there for distance moves as well as local.

[dr_prephd]

I did a 3300 mile move once. I knew it wasn't for good, so I put all my stuff in storage in one place and got cheap used stuff at the other place. I mailed all my books media rate, which wasn't very expensive.

I know it's not the answer you're looking for, but I think the price evened out (especially when you're looking at $6- or $7,000). I was also young, very young, and hadn't yet grown attached to my own possessions or my comfy, comfy bed.

[new_bus_prof]

2007, 2.5K miles, ABF, 8K

Beds are more expensive to move than books with ABF!

[zharkov]

Although I have not used them, PODS (pods.com) is like UPack.  They also allow you as long as you want to pack, you can keep the pod for storage, and they will either move or store your pod.  I see them frequently in my town.

[gourmetless]

http://www.movingscam.com/

Useful website, with many great links.