Question:
What is the difference between an actual international moving company and a Moving Broker?

 

Answer:

Am International Moving Company is a company who has a storage facility, employees, trucks and other moving equipment.
A Moving Broker is a company which hirers a Moving Company to do work on their behalf. (A Middle man)

In today’s information era, we can find unlimited information on the web. However, how can we know what information can be trusted?
In the past several years, many moving sites started to appear online. Basically every individual who wants to appear as a credible International Mover can make a website and on you go.
Unfortunately, it is left for the consumer to do their own due diligence and select an appropriate company.

We recommend that you ask the company questions such as:

  • Where is your facility?
  • Do you own Trucks?
  • How long have you been in Business?

 

Moving Brokers do not do the actual move for you. Instead, they would quote on a moving job and contract a mover to move your shipment to overseas.

If a problem arises, you may be left in the middle since the broker may blame the mover and the mover they have contracted and the Mover may blame the broker for mot passing on the proper information and guidelines set for your particular move.

As I said before, since there is no regulatory system in place, you need to educate yourself before moving overseas and do your own due diligence.

Some recommendations:

  • Check the credibility of the information you are receiving.
  • If you can, Visit the facility of the international mover.
  • Beware of Phone Estimates: Always prefer a visual survey to ensure accuracy.
  • Beware of low ball estimates: since you are being billed by the size of your shipment, some company’s may report an increased volume, when in fact it is not.
  • Watch Out for excessive Up Front Fees:  While it may be customary to pay a deposit for securing moving dates with a mover, it is not recommended to pay more than 25% from the estimate. a reputable company will not ask to secure more than 25% in advance. It should be a red flag in your books it