Move It or Buy New? Furniture Moving Cost Calculator
Is it cheaper to move your furniture or buy new at the other end? Everyone with an answer has a stake in it — movers earn money when you ship things, furniture stores when you replace them. This page has no affiliate relationship with either side, so it can do the boring honest thing: give every item its own share of your moving cost as a low–high range, subtract what the old piece would actually sell for, and call each one separately. Every number is an editable ballpark, and everything stays in your browser.
Your move
Long-distance movers price mostly by weight × distance. Divide real interstate quotes by pounds and thousand-miles and most land roughly in this $0.60–$1.00 band — edit both ends to match quotes you actually have.
$180/hr ≈ 3 movers × $60. 790 cu ft ≈ a 2-bedroom home (movers estimate ~7 lb per cu ft, so 5,500 lbs ÷ 7). Each item is charged its volume share of crew × hours, shown with the −10%/+30% band real local quotes land in.
Honest low default: mass-market used furniture usually fetches only 10–20% of the new price, and selling it is its own job — photos, listings, lowball offers, no-shows. The percentage covers the money; the hassle is a real extra cost of the replace plan that no field here prices. Raise it for sought-after brands in good condition.
Your furniture
| Item | Cu ft | Lbs | New one ($) | Move (est.) | Replace, net | Verdict | Remove |
|---|
Highlighted cells need a number of 0 or more.
Volumes follow the household-goods cube sheet movers use to size shipments; weights use the industry 7 lb per cu ft estimating constant. Every cell is editable — solid hardwood runs heavier, flat-pack lighter. "New one" is what a comparable replacement costs where you're headed; "Replace, net" subtracts the sell-now value.
The verdicts, added up
These per-item figures are shares of one shipment's cost, not quotes. Dropping items shrinks a real moving bill roughly in proportion — until a small-load minimum charge kicks in (see the FAQ).
One carve-out before you obey the table: sentimental pieces. Your grandmother's dresser can be a terrible deal per pound and still belong on the truck first. Numbers can't price that, nothing here says you have to sell anything, and there's no shame in moving a "replace" item you love. This tool is for the furniture you're merely lukewarm about.
FAQ
Why decide per item instead of one gut call for the whole load?
Because a move is priced by weight and volume, every piece carries its own freight bill — the whole-load gut call averages a solid-wood dresser that's a bargain to ship with a particle-board bookcase that isn't. Splitting the decision per item is how you find the two or three pieces quietly costing more to move than they're worth, without talking yourself out of moving everything else.
Where do the cubic feet and pounds come from?
From the "cube sheet" (table of measurements) convention movers use to estimate shipments: each furniture type gets a standard cubic footage, and estimated weight is cubic feet × 7 lb — the same constant used across the household-goods industry, including military moves. Real pieces vary, which is why every cell is editable, and a real quote comes from an in-home or video survey, not a table.
How is long-distance moving actually priced?
Mostly weight × distance, plus services (packing, stairs, storage) — and a minimum charge for small loads, commonly $1,500 or more. That matters here: these per-item numbers assume the item rides along in a bigger shipment. If you'd be shipping only two or three pieces, the minimum charge dominates and you should price blanket-wrap freight or a DIY truck instead.
Is flat-pack (IKEA-class) furniture worth moving?
Rarely, and the industry quietly agrees: particle-board furniture is engineered to be assembled once, and it loses rigidity when disassembled or jostled in transit — which is why many moving companies limit or exclude liability for pressed-wood pieces in their paperwork. When the mover won't insure it and the replacement costs less than its freight, the math is usually done before you start.
Why is the resale default so low?
Because used furniture sells poorly. Outside sought-after brands and genuine antiques, secondhand pieces commonly fetch 10–20% of their new price, take weeks to sell, and cost you photos, listings, and no-shows to get there. The default is 15% so the replace side doesn't get inflated by an optimistic sale that never happens — raise it if your local market says otherwise.
Are these numbers quotes? Do you earn anything either way?
No and no. Everything here is an estimate built from editable ballparks — get real quotes before deciding. We currently have no affiliate, advertising, or referral relationship with any moving company, furniture retailer, or truck-rental company; if that ever changes it will be disclosed on this page.