I know it's a little more expensive but I've always used a local moving company. I researched before choosing them years ago and they've been trustworthy. I understand people who need money advertising on craigslist; perhaps when you consider hiring them ask for references like you would any employee. After all, you ARE hiring them to do a job for you!

I've heard so many horror stories from friends who have hired professional movers about their furnishings and walls being damaged and/or destroyed from not being careful with the move.
Hiring a professional doesn't always mean a job well done however, you sometimes have recourse with professional movers.
If you hire someone from a 'want-ad' you suffer the possibility that they aren't really there to move your furniture but to scope you out. Then again, there is always the one person who is truly looking to make a better way for themself and willing to do what needs to be done to put food on the table. One bad apple spoils it for the entire bunch. Without doing a background check, how do you really know?

I have used movers from Craigslist a few times. I never had any major problems. The key is to plan ahead and CONFIRM everything. Make sure to have a backup in case there is a no show. I have also found movers via Yelp and that worked out great too, but they were a bit more.

My boyfriend had a good experience with a Craigslist mover who he hired for just a few large pieces of furniture (we did everything else ourselves). The guys were normal people, not weirdos, and their service was very reasonably priced.

However, I made an appointment with the same movers a few months later, and ended up having to scramble for a UHaul rental when their truck broke down the day before my move. It worked out okay for me in the end because I was just moving locally and had some flexibility on time, so their unavailability did not ruin my day. Lesson learned: the benefit of paying for pros is that they have more than one truck!

That picture is hilarious.

I've used cl movers every time! Usually they turn out to be Russian/Ukranian/Belarusian/etc, but it's always a different crew: I've had experienced men who could have moved my whole place in their sleep, and I've had teenagers who had to talk everything over. Usually I work with the crew and supervise the whole thing so which movers I get doesn't really matter. I have 30 boxes of books and a whole apartment full of furniture and my moves are usually less than $300.

I've learned to beware of last-minute scammy conditions, though, like: you ask for 2 people but they send 3 and tell you it's the only team you can get today. (Naturally 3 people cost more.) Or they have a 2- or 3-hour minimum and your move only takes 1.5 hrs but you owe the whole amount. Or their rate goes up for the first week of every month but they don't tell you until they're done. I've been told one thing by the guy who makes my appt over the phone, and something else by the team that shows up. Be firm, and by firm I mean obnoxious. It helps if you're willing to call their bluff.

I've also had cl movers who did none of those things and were extremely efficient and helpful. You just never know, which is kind of the deal.

When you sign a lease with him, my current landlord includes a questionnaire about what movers you've used and how you'd rate them. He then includes a list of recommendations (and a list of those to specifically avoid) with your copy of the lease.

It's very thoughtful of him, but he's also looking out for his building's well-being. When a mover whacks your couch into every door frame and every corner of the stairwell, it's just as bad for the building as for your furniture. Since it's mutually beneficial, it's a good practice to suggest to your landlord. If all the landlords did it, the crappy movers would go out of business and it would be that much easier to avoid them!

Never! That would be the truck we would get up there!! It was bad enough hiring Starving Students, a professional moving company in Baltimore to move us to PA and they were grown men who looked like they had criminal records. Cost us over $700 and some prefab stuff didn't make it.

The "professional" ones we hired in PA for a two trips move smoked pot in the back of the truck and I had to hound them about using packing blankets. They were even more expensive than the other movers and a shorter distance!

I'm thinking Pods for our next move and doing it ourselves~

My mother found out the hard way about hiring movers off of CL. She hired a "moving company" to move her things from one town to another. They assured her that they had a moving van comparable to a UHaul. Well, they showed up in a pickup with the muffler dragging and an old horse trailer with a sagging floor. She didn't have a backup and HAD to be out of the house that she just sold that afternoon, so she had to trust them. Well, long story short, there were police involved and they were discovered heading east instead of west, like they were supposed to be, with a trailer full of antiques and valuables that she collected when she lived in Pakistan. With the help of the county sheriff departments from her town to mine, they all arrived at about 1:00 a.m. and they then demanded another $150 from her before they'd unlock the trailer to unload, after which they were literally throwing some of her things from the trailer.

The lesson here is to ALWAYS hire a reputable company.

I wouldn't do it myself. A neighbor had a terrible experience after hiring someone unknown online. They turned up in a UHaul truck, several hours late, and were still moving in furniture in the early hours of the morning ( 2 am). Luckily for her, this is a vintage building. If it had been a high rise where they strictly limit move-in/move-out time slots, she would have been in real trouble. Despite claiming they were experienced in moving pianos (clearly untrue) they managed to damage hers, probably by trying to force it into the smallish elevator. She ended up very unhappy, with several damaged pieces of furniture and I am not sure if the movers ever addressed this.

You may be lucky and save money but if you have furniture you love I would be very cautious.

AKAY- what a great landlord, very smart. He/she is essentailly teaching the inexperienced what to look for and how to move. I recently watched two college girls try to move into our building. They never did find a way to get the overstuffed sofa and loveseat into the building, it's still sitting in the carport. Awesome.

CYBERVAL- I think it might be possible to hire a music store to move your piano and then have it tuned once it's in it's spot. You'd have to consider whether or not you have a piano worthy of this special treatment.

Don't think I'd use a craigslist mover. I work for a nonprofit. We used a service that provided people to help with moving and other tasks that required some muscle. The idea being that out of work construction workers, carpenters, factory workers etc. could pick up some cash. We stopped using them when one claimed he had been injured and tried to sue us.

I wouldn't.....I tend to actually move myself most of the time with help from friends and family. Springing for pizza and sodas (not a drinker) seems to be enough to keep them returning every time.

Ron Swanson taught me to trust only myself.

I didn't even know there are movers on Craigslist...

I moved house 7years ago (I was moving to a different house in the same city, only about 5 km distance) and the whole move cost me about $250 or something like that. I called a number of movers listed in Yellow Pages and the company that I hired was the only whose rep (who turned out to be the owner himself) said he would come to my house to give me an estimate (everybody else just ballparked the amount over the phone). I liked him so I hired him (I am not saying I had a crush on him, I hired him because he seemed to be nice and professional) and he told me his minimum billing is a certain number of hours ( I believe it was 3 hours @ $80) and then it's by hour after that.
I was quite well organized (rather unusual for me) and since I opted for bridge financing (I took possession of the old house about a week before I closed on the sale of the old one) so it allowed me to move a lot of odds and ends myself (I had Ford Escort station wagon, it came very handy). Plus, I had my BF and my neighbours (a couple) helping me so we carried a lot of the stuff out from the house ourselves and the movers (I believe it was only the owner and a young apprentice who was a bit useless) only had to load it into the truck. The same while unloading at the new house.
I don't think the mover made much money on me but it sure worked for me.

I'm moving in two weeks (first home!) and I've hired a local guy with a pickup to help with boxes and a pro moving company the next day for a few large pieces.

One moving company I called only accepted cash (tax evaders?) and then didn't respond when I requested their $75/hour quote in writing. The last thing I'd want is to finish the job and then three cage fighters-in training to hit me up for a few hundred more than what was quoted.

I live in SF and used a CL mover for the first time a couple of years ago. That guy (his name is Rick) is now programmed into my cell phone. Every errant thrift store find and major move has been with him ever since... I think about six separate hauls. I adore him, and I only found him because I took a chance on CL.

Muddymudskipper: Oh my gosh that was hilarious THANK YOU. Go eat a steak now.

I've hired movers from craigslist before. The people were a definitely a bit weird and not as organized or professional as one might like, but I was only moving a block away and didn't want to pay alot. In the end, it turned out just fine, but there were alot of priceless moments...like when two of the guys were bringing my metal file cabinet up the stairs with the drawers facing down (not a good idea!), and one of the drawers popped out and hit the guy directly in the groin. I felt terrible for the poor guy, but I have to admit that what he yelled out, which is not printable on this website, makes me laugh every time I think of it! And then when I asked the main guy to help me carry something from the basement, and he got a bit of dust on his shirt while in the basement...he sighed and said, "I'm really not dressed for this." If I'd hired a professional moving company for like $400, I would have missed out on the free comedy show!

An old roommate of mine used CL movers, and she had a great experience, said they took amazingly good care of her things and were hardworking and incredibly nice!

@muddymudskipper:

Skim Milk. Avoid at all costs.

........

Skim Milk. Yes, it's on there twice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6c7Vw6R33E for those wondering

I arranged for some CL movers to move a sofa for me, and they didn't show up. I had to scramble to find another (more reputable) company. I suppose there are good ones out there on CL, but my one experience was not good.

I've used CL twice to hire someone to move some large things. Lucked out both times with decent folks looking to supplement their income. I call the 2nd guy every time I need help with large thrift store finds. It's nice to have found someone I trust for a reasonable cost. For moving my whole household within 50 miles I've had success with local budget movers: 2 Guys and a Truck and Hernia Movers. The guys always bust their butts to get done quickly and you give them a good tip. For long distance I would go with an established, reputable moving company.

I hired college students from CL and they were great and cheap, took care of renting the truck and took good care of everything. It doesn't matter if it is a professional commercial company or a couple students, you will end up with someone bad at some point in either case. My parents had a bunch of expensive stuff stolen from Mayflower movers one time. Some of the biggest scams come from the professionals-especially the one when they get there and say you own thousands more and hostage your stuff till you pay them.

NE-E-E-EVER! I usually go straight to my Moving Companies in Bethlehem Pa

Honestly the best service out there that I have found for this is Unpakt. http://unpakt.com/

You can create a list of your items, compare movers right there online - and book your move instantly without speaking to a mover!

I personally do trust movers from Craigslist. They've helped me in the past, when I was moving from Cincinnati, OH, and it made it so much more simpler than it has been for me in the past.