My wife and I were moving from a 2 bedroom house in Davenport, IA to a 1 bedroom apartment in Chicago, IL. We had a lot of heavy furniture and knew no one in the Chicago area. We knew we would need help with the move.
I was able to get packing boxes from our local bookstore, so I did not need the type of full service mover that brought and packed boxes for me. I wasn't sure how much it would cost for us to move so I went to uShip and put in a target bid of $1500 and a max bid of $3000. I filled out the inventory and took pictures of furniture and boxes so the shippers could get a visual idea of what I was moving.
I got lots of bids that started at $2000 and gradually went down from there. The total amount of bids received was 17. uShip had a service that left me voice mails whenever I had a bid or a bidder answered a question, which allowed me to keep up with the bids without checking the computer throughout the day.
After asking several questions from my three favorite bids, I was able to decide on DMS Movers at $1262. They did not have lowest bid, but after the bidders answered my questions, I found that their services and price best fit my needs. For example, their work crew was made up of three workers and provided a truck, whereas a bid for $701 provided only a one man crew and required me to rent a truck.
DMS Movers showed some flexibility by allowing me to include items I did not include in my inventory in the move at no additional cost. Those items included a large set of bookcases we were not able to sell before the move and about twenty boxes I packed after filling out the inventory.
They wrapped all the furniture, even items I wouldn't have wrapped. They picked up on a Friday morning and dropped it off on Saturday afternoon per my request.
Everything went off without a hitch. I don't know if I saved a ton of money using uShip because I did not get estimates from traditional movers, but I was satisfied with the uShip experience.