Guides / The hourly tiers, explained
What the hourly tiers mean for a Davidson house
Our whole price list is three lines long, and this page is the honest manual for it: which crew fits which move, what actually drives the hours on these blocks, and how to compare hourly quotes without getting played.
The three tiers
| Crew | Rate | Built for |
|---|---|---|
| 2 movers + 1 truck | $250 / hour | Unit-sized loads, partial moves, a piano on its own |
| 3 movers + 1 truck | $350 / hour | The classic 2–3 bedroom house; the Davidson standard |
| 4 movers + 2 trucks | $500 / hour | Large homes, 4+ bedrooms, whole-house downsizing volume |
One price per tier. No "online rate" beside a "standard rate", no weekend loading hidden in the fine print, no callout fee invented at the door. If a tier is on this page, that's the number.
Why more movers can cost less
The counter-intuitive part of hourly pricing: the bigger crew is often the cheaper day on these blocks, because Davidson hours are CARRY hours. Three movers on a split-level aren't 50% faster than two; they're often closer to twice as fast, because one runs the trolley line while two work the stairs, and nobody waits. A $350 crew that finishes in 5 hours beats a $250 crew that grinds through 8, and that's before anyone's knees are consulted.
That's also why we'll sometimes recommend the tier ABOVE what the bedroom count suggests: it's not upselling, it's arithmetic. We'll always show the working.
What actually drives the hours here
- The carry distance, tailgate to door. The single biggest variable on a steep block, and the reason the scope asks where the truck can stand before anything else.
- Levels and stairs. Every half-flight is seconds per box, times a few hundred boxes.
- Packing state. A fully boxed house loads like clockwork; a half-packed one stops the crew every few minutes. If packing's not done, hand it to us the day before, honestly cheaper than paying the big crew to finish it on the day.
- The specials. Piano, pool table, safe: each adds a planned block of time, not a mystery.
A worked example, in the open
A 3-bedroom split-level in Davidson, packed and ready, truck staged at the top of the drive, boxes to the under-house garage: that shape of day, with the 3-mover crew, commonly runs around 5 to 7 hours door to door. At $350 an hour, that's $1,750 to $2,450, and you can see exactly which parts of YOUR house would push it toward either end. That's an illustration of the arithmetic, not a quote; your scope conversation gets you the real range for your place before you commit to anything.
Comparing hourly quotes fairly
Any mover you compare should be happy to answer these, plainly:
- Is the rate one number, or does a cheaper "book now" rate appear beside a different one later?
- When does the clock start and stop: at your door, or at their depot?
- What's included: trolleys, blankets, tape, floor protection, or are they line items?
- Who's actually on the truck: their crew, or whoever answered a shift app this morning?
For the consumer-rights side of hiring a removalist (quotes, deposits, what to do if goods are damaged), NSW Fair Trading is the authority worth reading before you sign anything, and the Australian Furniture Removers Association maintains the industry's accreditation scheme; both are useful yardsticks for ANY mover you're considering, ourselves included.