How to ship 1 piece of furniture from Seattle
My sister, who lives in the Greenlake area of Seattle, has agreed to let me have our grandmother's buffet cabinet if I can figure out how to get it to Albany.
I've seen that UPS offers such a service, but have no idea if that's the best way to go.
Any advice?
[Moderator Note: see past advice here: Shipping a Few Household Items Out of State ]
Sep 27, 2019
Parent Replies
I used uship.com to bring a vintage trailer down from Washington, and it worked out great. The trailer basically caught a ride with someone who was driving from up there to Southern California. People use the service for furniture, too.
I had to move a dresser, vanity mirror, table lamp, and a handful of boxes from Eastern Washington to Oakland. I priced out UPS but the cost ended up being much higher than just hiring a moving company. Because my shipment was so small, my cost ratcheted up to their minimum fee rather than being based strictly on weight. Moving something the size of a dresser--or a buffet cabinet--is expensive no matter how you slice it. I used Bekins; they were very professional and easy to work with, the move was uneventful, and every thing arrived on schedule and undamaged.
I did contemplate renting a U-Haul truck and moving everything myself, but wanted the assurance of pros, and the insurance, because the furniture pieces were family heirlooms. I did previously move a large and unique but not fragile or particularly valuable item by renting a U-Haul pickup truck ($19.95 a day plus mileage), driving up to Washington and driving it back down. It was cheaper than flying and doing a one-way rental. We were clearing out my Mom's house after she moved into a retirement home, so the truck did double duty since we used it for multiple runs to Goodwill and the dump while we were there.
I don't know if you are still looking for a shipping method, but Greyhound ships at a good price. It does take a while to arrive but if you can wait a little while for it, it was worth it, price-wise. My mother-in-law shipped a rocking chair to us and it arrived in great condition.