Packing and Moving in Sydney

Packing is the part of a Sydney move that quietly eats two weekends. We pack and move the whole house, materials supplied, or just the kitchen and the fragile items if that is the part you would rather not do. Then we unpack into the cupboards at the other end and take the empty cartons away.

All materials supplied Pack , move and unpack Empties  collected after
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Always included

What’s included in a packing service

The pack and move Sydney households book when there is no free weekend left to give it.

  • Trained packers on our own payroll, not the truck crew rushing it on the day
  • All cartons and materials delivered before packing day
  • Professional grade paper, bubble wrap and tape supplied
  • Port-a-robes for hanging clothes, so wardrobes travel upright
  • Mattress and lounge covers on everything soft
  • Every carton labelled by room and marked which way is up
  • A carton inventory so nothing goes missing between two addresses
  • $1 million public liability and goods in transit cover on everything we pack
  • Empty cartons collected once you have finished unpacking
  • Free rescheduling if your move date shifts

Get a free quote in 2 hours

Tell us the size of the place and how much you want us to do — everything, the fragile items, or unpacking only.

No obligation · No cancellation fees

The part that matters

What actually breaks in a move, and how we stop it

Almost nothing breaks because a truck braked hard. It breaks because a carton was packed badly. Too heavy, half empty, or with the wrong things touching each other.

Professional packing is not about more bubble wrap. It is weight distribution, filling voids so nothing shifts, and knowing which items have to be packed a specific way or they will not survive being stacked.

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  • Plates go in on edge, never flat

    Stacked flat, the bottom plate carries the weight of everything above it and cracks. Standing on edge, each one supports itself. It is the single most common breakage in a self-packed move.

  • Nothing over about 20 kilos

    Books go in small cartons and linen goes in large ones. A carton packed past what the walls can hold collapses under the one above it, usually somewhere in the middle of the stack.

  • Voids get filled, not left

    Empty space inside a carton is where things slide and hit each other. Paper fills the gaps so the contents move as one block rather than rattling around loose.

  • Screens and glass stand upright

    Televisions, mirrors and framed art travel on edge in flat cartons. Laid flat and stacked, the panel flexes, and a flexed screen does not come back.

Choose your level

How much of it do you want to do?

Most people land in the middle. They do the books and the wardrobes, and hand over the kitchen.

  • Full pack

    We pack the entire house. You go to work, come home, and it is done.

  • Fragile items only

    Kitchen, glassware, china, art and screens. You handle the rest.

  • Kitchen only

    The room everyone underestimates and nobody wants to do twice.

  • Unpacking only

    You packed it. We get it out of the cartons and into the cupboards.

  • Pack, move and unpack

    The full service. One team, one price, one point of contact.

  • Materials only

    Cartons and materials delivered to your door. Pack it yourself.

  • Packing for storage

    Packed for months in a box, not a two hour drive. See storage.

  • Office packing

    Crates and labelling for a commercial move. See office removals.

Unpacking

The half of the job everyone forgets to book

Packing gets all the attention because it has a deadline. Unpacking does not, which is exactly why cartons are still stacked in the spare room at Christmas.

We unpack into the cupboards, not onto the floor. Crockery into the kitchen, clothes into the wardrobes, books onto the shelves. The difference between a house you are living in and a house full of open boxes is usually one afternoon of work you never get around to.

You can have all of it, or just the parts that matter on night one. Beds made, kitchen working, bathroom sorted, and the rest at your own pace.

The cartons go too. We flatten and take the empties, either the same day or on a return visit once you have worked through them. Nobody should be driving flattened boxes to a recycling centre a fortnight after moving.

Pricing

How packing and moving is priced

Packing is charged hourly by the number of packers, with materials quoted separately so you only pay for the cartons you actually use. Bundled with the move it costs less than booking the two jobs apart.

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  • How it’s priced

    Hourly, per packer

    Materials quoted separately

  • Crew

    2 to 4 packers

    Scaled so it finishes in a day

  • When

    Usually the day before

    Same day possible for smaller homes

  • Materials

    Delivered and collected

    Unopened bundles come off the invoice

Where packing actually saves you money

A packed house loads faster. Loose items are what slow a truck down, and on an hourly move that time is on your invoice either way.

An unpacked house can add hours to moving day at moving rates, which is the more expensive way to buy the same work. Booking packers the day before is usually cheaper than having movers do packing on the clock.

Local bookings have a two hour minimum and a $50 deposit that comes back in full if you cancel more than 24 hours out.

What affects your quote

  • Size of the home

    Bedrooms, and how full the cupboards actually are.

  • How much we pack

    Whole house, fragile items only, or just the kitchen.

  • Fragile content

    China, glassware, art and instruments take longer per carton.

  • How ready it is

    Sorted cupboards pack faster than ones nobody has touched.

  • Access

    Stairs and lift bookings change how materials get in and out.

  • Unpacking

    Whether we unpack, and how much goes away on the day.

Materials

Proper cartons, not supermarket boxes

Free boxes from the bottle shop have already carried one load and been through a wet loading dock. They collapse when stacked, which is the whole point of a moving carton. Materials are delivered before packing day and the empties are collected after. Pay for what you use. Unopened bundles come back off the invoice.

Book & standard cartons

Small cartons for heavy things, large for light. Double walled and rated to stack.

Port-a-robes

Hanging wardrobe boxes, so suits and dresses arrive on the hanger rather than folded.

Screen & picture cartons

Adjustable flat cartons for televisions, mirrors and framed artwork.

Paper, wrap & covers

Butchers paper, bubble wrap, tape, labels, mattress and lounge covers.

How it works

How a pack and move runs

  1. 01 Step

    Tell us the scope

    Size of the place and how much you want packed. Written quote back within two hours.

  2. 02 Step

    Materials arrive

    Cartons delivered ahead of time so you can start on anything you want to do yourself.

  3. 03 Step

    Packing day

    Packers work room by room, labelling as they go. Usually the day before the truck, so moving day is just loading.

  4. 04 Step

    Move and unpack

    Everything goes to the new place and comes out of the cartons into cupboards. Empties collected after.

Why UNN

Four things most packers and movers won’t give you

  1. Real-time GPS tracking

    A live link to your truck on moving day.

  2. On-time guarantee

    A late pack pushes the whole move a day.

  3. No cancellation fees

    Cancel 24 hours out and the deposit comes back.

  4. One dedicated coordinator

    Pack, move and unpack. Not three bookings.

Coverage

Packers and movers near you, anywhere in Sydney

If you have been searching for packers and movers near me, the honest answer is that proximity matters less than availability, because packing crews travel to you and the job takes a day. We cover every suburb in the metro from our Parramatta base. We do a lot of work as movers and packers North Sydney residents book, and apartment packing there has its own rhythm: cartons have to come up in a booked service lift, so materials arrive in one trip rather than trickling in, and packing day is scheduled around the building’s access window.

  • North Sydney & Lower North Shore

    North Sydney · Kirribilli · Milsons Point · Crows Nest · St Leonards · Cammeray · Neutral Bay · Cremorne

  • Sydney CBD & Inner South

    Sydney CBD · Surry Hills · Redfern · Alexandria · Zetland · Waterloo · Pyrmont · Mascot

  • Inner West

    Newtown · Marrickville · Leichhardt · Balmain · Glebe · Ashfield · Burwood · Strathfield

  • Eastern Suburbs

    Bondi · Randwick · Coogee · Double Bay · Paddington · Maroubra · Rose Bay · Kensington

  • Upper North Shore

    Chatswood · Lane Cove · Willoughby · Artarmon · Roseville · Gordon · Pymble · Hornsby

  • Northern Beaches

    Manly · Dee Why · Brookvale · Freshwater · Collaroy · Narrabeen · Mona Vale · Avalon

  • Parramatta & Western Sydney

    Parramatta · Westmead · Harris Park · Granville · Merrylands · Auburn · Blacktown · Penrith

  • The Hills District

    Castle Hill · Baulkham Hills · Kellyville · Rouse Hill · Bella Vista · Cherrybrook · Dural

  • South West, St George & the Shire

    Liverpool · Bankstown · Campbelltown · Hurstville · Kogarah · Cronulla · Miranda · Sutherland

Packages

Packing is built into two packages

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Premium Move

Full pack included

Packed, moved, unpacked and cleaned. You don’t lift anything.

  • Full packing and unpacking
  • All materials included
  • Rubbish removal and cleaning
View Package

Standard Move

Two and three bedroom homes with packing support for the breakables.

  • 3 movers and a large truck
  • Fragile item packing
  • Dismantling and appliance handling
View Package

Business Move

Commercial packing with labelled crates instead of cartons.

  • Crate hire and labelling
  • Workstation and IT handling
  • After-hours scheduling
View Package

Packing can also be booked on its own, with or without the move. Finish any package and credit goes onto your UNN account against a future service.

Often booked together

Services people book with packing

Packing is the first half of the day, not the whole of it. These are the services it gets booked with most often.

Home Removals

Pack it, then move it

Interstate Removals

Packed for days on the road

Storage

Packed for months, not hours

Furniture Assembly

Dismantled before it’s wrapped

Rubbish Removal

Don’t pack what isn’t coming

Questions

Packing questions, answered

How much does packing cost in Sydney?
Packing is charged hourly by the number of packers, with materials quoted separately so you only pay for the cartons you use. The size of the home, how much you want packed and how much fragile content there is all set the hours. Bundled with the move it works out cheaper than booking two jobs. Local bookings have a two hour minimum.
How long does it take to pack a house?
A crew packs roughly a room an hour on general contents, slower through kitchens and anywhere with a lot of china or glass. A two bedroom unit is usually half a day, a three bedroom house most of a day, four bedrooms and up can run into a second day. We scale the crew so it finishes when it needs to.
Do you supply the boxes?
Yes, and they arrive before packing day so you can start on anything you want to do yourself. Proper double walled cartons rated to stack, port-a-robes for hanging clothes, flat cartons for screens and art, plus paper, wrap and tape. Unopened bundles come back off the invoice.
Can I just get the fragile items packed?
That is the most common booking we take. Kitchen, glassware, china, art and screens are where the breakages happen, and they are the slowest rooms to do yourself. You handle the books, the linen and the wardrobes.
Do you unpack as well?
Yes, into the cupboards rather than onto the floor. You can have the whole house done or just the parts that matter on night one, with the rest at your own pace. We flatten and take the empty cartons either the same day or on a return visit.
When do you pack, the day before or the day of?
Usually the day before, so moving day is just loading. That keeps the truck moving and the hourly move shorter. Smaller homes can be packed and moved the same day if the timing works.
Is what you pack insured?
Yes. We carry $1 million public liability and goods in transit cover, and it applies to what we pack as well as what we carry. Items packed by the customer are a different situation, which is worth knowing if you are packing the china yourself.
Are the packers your own staff?
Yes. They are trained packers on our payroll, not casual labour booked for the day and not the truck crew doing it in a hurry. Packing is a different skill to loading and it is worth having people who do it properly.
Do I need to be home while you pack?
Someone should be there at the start to walk through what is coming and what is not, and to point out anything that needs special handling. After that you can leave the crew to it. Plenty of people go to work and come home to a packed house.
What should I do before the packers arrive?
Two things help most. Sort the cupboards so the things you are not taking are already out, because packing rubbish costs the same as packing anything else. And set aside passports, medication, chargers, keys and anything irreplaceable in one bag that stays with you.
Will you pack things I would rather keep private?
Tell your coordinator and those drawers or rooms are left alone. It is a normal request and it does not need explaining. Anything you pack yourself just gets loaded with the rest.
Can you pack for storage rather than a move?
Yes, and it is packed differently. Something sitting in a container for six months needs cartons that hold their shape under load and covers that keep dust off soft furnishings. See storage for how the two work together.
Do you pack offices?
Yes, with labelled reusable crates instead of cartons, colour coded to the new floor plan. Crates stack better, load faster and do not need taping. See office removals.
What if my move date changes?
Rescheduling is free, for the pack and the move together, as long as we know more than 24 hours out. The $50 deposit on a local booking comes back in full, so there is no cancellation fee.
What won’t you pack?
Paint, gas bottles, petrol, aerosols and anything else flammable stay off the truck, so they do not get packed either. Perishable food is the other one worth clearing before the day, especially if anything is going into storage.

Want the packing done for you?

Tell us the size of the place and how much you want us to handle. Written quote back within two hours, no obligation and no cancellation fees.

Get a free quote 1300 556 778