Most spend between $500 and $1,000 shipping their bedroom set domestically.
Once you find the perfect mattress, you’ll do just about anything to keep it, including shipping it to your new home when you move. While it may seem stressful to pack up and ship your bedroom set, don’t worry; the moving process is easier than you think. Use this guide to help you prepare to ship your bedroom furniture so you can catch up on much-needed sleep after the move.
The cost of shipping a bed or bedroom furniture depends on the distance, with cross-country moves costing between $500 to $1,000 and international shipping costs ranging from $1,000 to $4,500.
| Type of Move | Low Cost | High Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-Country | $500 | $1,000 |
| International | $1,000 | $4,500 |
The cost of shipping your bedroom furniture varies widely from $500 to $4,500, depending on the distance it travels and its size. There are three standard questions every furniture shipper will ask to help you add up the shipping costs:
What is the pick-up address?
What is the delivery address, including international details?
What are the weight and dimensions of the bedroom set?
After the shippers calculate this information, they’ll probably discuss add-on options like disassembly and assembly services, specialized packing, and white-glove service. However, you can estimate the cost of shipping based on whether it’s heading to a domestic or international location.
Most people ship their furniture overseas by sea-freight because it's more affordable than air-freight, which adds thousands of dollars to your bill. The average price range for international shipping is about $1,000 to $4,500, depending on your delivery address, the size and weight of your bedroom set, labor costs, duty taxes in the receiving country, and insurance.
If you need to ship your bedroom furniture overseas, start the planning process as early as possible. It takes time to research and interview experienced shippers who can handle international logistics, as well as determine the best price for your shipment. Overseas shipping requires more hands-on details like customs paperwork and port-to-port transportation that can drive up the costs.
For an accurate breakdown of your international shipping costs, talk with your shipping company directly about the fees. There may be charges or shipment details you weren’t considering before deciding to ship your bedroom furniture.
Pick-up and delivery options
Air and sea freight differences
Taxes, fees, and duty payments
Customs documents
Insurance
Tracking details
Specialized packing materials for mattress and box springs
Shipping your bedroom furniture cross-country typically involves hiring a moving company, which costs an average of $500 and $1,000. However, that figure does not include shipping insurance, which usually costs 1% of your total costs for complete coverage. When you're discussing rates with your shipper, keep in mind that professional moving companies typically define a cross-country move as more than 400 miles.
For a better idea of what cross-country shipment costs, take a look at these price ranges that estimate the cost of an East Coast to West Coast delivery.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Bookcase (medium size) | $475 – $1,000 |
| Dresser | $475 – $1,000 |
| Rug (medium size) | $475 – $850 |
It’s standard to tip moving companies, so expect to pay at least 10% extra to your mover, and if they go above and beyond, you may even want to provide a gratuity of 20% or more. Tipping standards may vary with international shipping companies as some countries do not look favorably on tipping workers, so research your new home country before offering a tip to movers outside the U.S.
Some shipping companies might give you the option to pre-pack your bedroom furniture yourself, saving you money. If you choose to pack your furniture by yourself, you’ll need to budget for the cost of the following moving supplies:
Cardboard boxes
Packing tape
Packing paper
Bubble wrap
Moving blankets
Mattress and box spring moving boxes
Sheet of plastic (to roll up rugs) or area rug bags
If you ship your furniture during the peak moving season, you could pay more for a cross-country shipment and international shipping services. In the United States, the traditional moving season is during the summer months. International peak season hits in August, September, January, and February.
Moving furniture from one standard one-story home to another will typically cost less than a moving job that requires going up or down stairs or through other obstacles. Expect to pay more if it is difficult to access either your new or old bedroom.
If you choose the more affordable option of sea-freight shipping, your bedroom set will probably ride in multiple modes of transportation before it gets to you. The set will likely start in a crate to withstand the ocean waves, but it might need new packing once it hits land. Shippers will uncrate and rewrap or box your furniture to fit into smaller delivery trucks and protect it from damage.
Another option is to ship your bedroom set via an independent carrier that costs more but provides individualized service. Your bedroom set probably won’t mix with other customers’ furniture, have fewer transfers, and you’ll have access to direct customer service if you have questions about pick up and drop off.
For some bedroom furniture, like family heirlooms, you’ll have to pull out all of the stops to cut down on the chances of damage. A white-glove delivery service will take care of the essential details, such as point-to-point pick-up and delivery and customized packing materials. You can even pay for professional movers to unload your furniture and place it perfectly in your bedroom.
The primary function of any bedroom is to provide a comfortable and relaxing place to sleep. With that in mind, the bed is the most crucial piece of any bedroom furniture set. Unfortunately, bed frames, headboards, footboards, box springs, and mattresses can be quite heavy, making them difficult and expensive to ship.
The cost of shipping these items vary based on the item’s weight and size. While you may not be able to pop your bed on a scale to weigh it, you may get an accurate weight estimate by looking up the model from the manufacturer’s or retailer's website. You can also look up the weight of items of the same material and size, which should include thickness in the case of mattresses.
To understand the impact of size on bed weight, consider that a twin mattress will typically weigh between 40 and 45 pounds, whereas queen mattresses usually weigh between 120 and 165 pounds. The material can also dramatically affect the weight, with a queen innerspring mattress weighing around 70 pounds, while a latex mattress will easily weigh twice that.
Once you have the size and measurements of the bed, you can look up shipping estimates online. While prices will vary based on the shipping distance and the item size and weight, cross-country shipping prices for a queen mattress, queen-size box spring, headboard, or footboard costs an average of $475 to $860. That price is per item though, so shipping a full bed with a headboard, foot, board, mattress, and box spring can easily cost up to $1,000 when handled as a packaged set.
Renting a moving truck and moving your bedroom set yourself can often save you some cash, but it is a lot more work than hiring a moving company. Aside from the labor involved with packing and loading the moving truck, a cross country move can be exhausting, plus moving trucks are more difficult to drive than passenger vehicles and may be an alluring target for thieves.
If you’re only moving a smaller load, such as a bedroom set, the cost of the vehicle rental and gas is often more expensive than hiring a local moving company. It typically costs $1,000 to $3,500 to rent and drive a moving truck across the country, meaning moving a bedroom set is usually less expensive when done using a professional moving company.
Overseas moves should be performed with a moving company, as they can handle not only the loading and transportation of your furniture, but also the logistics of international customs, taxes, and fees.
Many movers offer additional services aside from just moving items from one home to another. You may want to add-on cleaning, storage, or insurance, depending on your needs.
Bedroom cleaning services: $30–$80
Furniture disassembly and assembly: $40–$150 per piece
Storage: $120–$280
Shipping furniture can be pricey, so it makes sense to save money anyway you can. A few ways you can cut the costs include packaging the items yourself and shipping your furniture as freight rather than hiring a moving company.
Some shipping companies might give you the option to pre-pack your bedroom furniture yourself, saving you money. If you choose to pack your furniture by yourself, you’ll need to budget for the cost of moving supplies, such as boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, packing paper, moving blankets, and sheets of plastic for mattresses or rugs. While you might be able to get free boxes from neighbors, friends, or family members, you’ll typically need to pay for the other items to properly protect your furniture.
If you ship your bedroom furniture as small load freight, you’ll save money because it's packed as part of a larger cargo load. Shippers that manage less-than-truckload deliveries aim for cost-effectiveness by combining customers’ shipments along the way, which means your bedroom furniture will probably ride in multiple trucks to maximize efficiency. Unfortunately, the additional transfers sometimes lead to damage.
You’ll also save money on freight shipping because the deliveries normally stop at the curb. So, you’ll need to navigate getting your bedroom furniture up the stairs and into your new room.
While freight shipping smaller loads can often save you money, shipping heavier, bulkier loads (like a full bedroom set) may be more expensive than hiring a professional moving company. Additionally, you may end up paying more to replace damaged items or have to hire a local moving company to carry the items into your bedroom.
Whether it is worth it to ship your bedroom furniture depends on your priorities, but it can be hard to decide. You should ship your bedroom furniture if the pieces have sentimental or antique value and if it will make you happy to have them in your new home. But if your mattress or box spring is worn out (the average lifespan of a bed is seven to ten years), it's probably not worth the money or effort to ship if you’re moving somewhere where bedroom furniture is readily available.
To find a reliable furniture moving company, start with online searches for long-distance and international furniture companies. Looking online can help you find client reviews, testimonials, and customer service contract information to ask questions and discuss quotes. But don’t forget about tapping into your friends and family for sources of recommendations.
You should consider the time needed to clean and prepare your bedroom set for transit. A few days before moving, vacuum, dust, and clean your furniture with a mild cleaning solution. Depending on the movers and the services you pick, you might need to pre-pack the mattress and box spring in boxes designed for beds and disassemble some furniture by removing doors and hardware. Finally, don’t forget to take plenty of pictures documenting the pre-move condition in case you need to file a claim.
