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Packing and Unpacking Services in Singapore

Get matched with vendors for full or partial packing, with cartons, bubble wrap, fragile boxes and wardrobe boxes supplied.

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Packing is where most of the labour in a move actually sits, and where most of the breakages are decided. A crew that packs a kitchen properly will get glassware into a double-walled carton with dividers and paper between every piece, mark the box, and load it high in the lorry rather than under a bookcase. A household that packs its own kitchen at midnight the day before will not. You do not have to choose all or nothing. Partial packing, where the vendor handles the kitchen, the fragiles and the wardrobes and you do the books, the clothes and the linen, is the option most people should take and the one least often offered. Wardrobe boxes are worth asking about specifically: hanging clothes go straight from the rail into a tall carton with a hanging rail inside, and come out at the other end still on their hangers.

Included

What a quote covers

  • Supply of cartons, tape, bubble wrap, packing paper and protective materials
  • Double-walled cartons and dividers for glassware, crockery and other fragiles
  • Wardrobe boxes with an internal hanging rail, so hanging clothes move on their hangers
  • Room-by-room labelling so every carton is delivered to the correct room at the new address
  • Protective wrapping of furniture, mattresses, mirrors, artwork and televisions
  • Optional unpacking at the destination, including placing contents into cupboards and wardrobes
  • Removal of used cartons and packing waste after unpacking

Not included

What it does not

  • The move itself, which is quoted separately under HDB, condo, landed or office moving
  • Packing of cash, jewellery, personal documents, keys and medication, which you should carry yourself
  • Flammables, chemicals, paint, aerosols and gas cylinders, which cannot be transported
  • Perishable and frozen food
  • Live plants and pets
  • Dismantling of built-in carpentry and fitted units
  • Cleaning of items before they are packed

What it costs

How packing services is priced

These are market rates that movers in Singapore charge, not our prices. You pay the vendor you choose. Knowing the range is how you tell a fair quote from a bad one.

From S$8

per standard carton packed, materials supplied

Packing Services price tiers
Job Typical range Basis and notes
Per carton packed, materials supplied From S$8 per carton. Lower bound is the common published entry rate. Upper bound not established. Confirm with vendors.
Full-home packing added to a move S$200 – S$600 per move. Typical add-on for a 3- to 5-room flat. Sits on top of the moving price rather than replacing it.

Per-carton pricing is the common published basis, from around S$8 a box. We have no defensible upper bound for the per-carton rate and it needs a figure from our vendor network. Whole-home packing is more often quoted as an add-on to the move, and that figure is in the tiers below. Excludes GST.

Quoted individually after a survey, because we have no reliable published market rate for them: partial packing, kitchen and fragiles only, unpacking at the destination, materials only, no packing labour. We would rather say so than print a number we cannot stand behind.

All prices shown are in Singapore dollars and exclude GST. Whether GST is charged on your move depends on whether the matched vendor is GST-registered; this is stated on the quote you receive.

How long it takes

Half a day for partial packing of a 3- or 4-room flat. A full day, usually the day before the move, for whole-home packing of a 4- or 5-room flat or a three-bedroom condo.

How it runs

Start to finish

  1. 01

    Decide full or partial

    Pay for the kitchen and the fragiles at minimum, because that is where breakages happen and where technique beats effort. Books, clothes, linen and toys are forgiving and are the bulk of the carton count, so most households are better served by partial packing than by all or nothing.

  2. 02

    Materials delivered ahead

    Cartons, tape, bubble wrap, packing paper, double-walled boxes with dividers for glassware, and wardrobe boxes with an internal hanging rail. Ask for wardrobe boxes specifically; they are not always offered by default and they save the folding and the re-ironing.

  3. 03

    Pack the day before the move

    Whole-home packing is done the day before, so the moving crew arrives to sealed and labelled cartons and can load straight away. Packing on moving day itself is how a six-hour job becomes an eleven-hour one.

  4. 04

    Label by destination room

    Every carton is marked with the room it belongs in at the new address, not the room it came from. Fragiles are marked and loaded high in the lorry rather than under a bookcase.

  5. 05

    Unpacking, if you want it

    Quoted separately: contents placed into cupboards and wardrobes and the used cartons taken away. Worth it for a large home, for anyone moving with young children, and for anyone who has to be back at work the next morning.

Questions

Packing Services FAQs

Should I pack myself or pay for it?

Pay for the kitchen and the fragiles at minimum. That is where the breakages happen and where doing it properly takes materials and technique rather than effort. Books, clothes, linen and toys are worth packing yourself, because they are forgiving and they are the bulk of the carton count. Partial packing usually gives you most of the protection for a fraction of the full price.

When does the packing happen?

Whole-home packing is almost always done the day before the move, so the crew arrives on moving day to a flat of sealed and labelled cartons and can load straight away. Partial packing is sometimes done on the morning of the move for smaller homes. Packing everything on moving day itself is how a six-hour job becomes an eleven-hour one.

What is a wardrobe box?

A tall carton with a hanging rail across the top. Clothes go from your wardrobe rail straight into it, still on their hangers, and come out the same way at the other end. It saves the folding and the re-ironing, and it is the single most useful specialist carton in a house move. Ask specifically for them, because they are not always offered by default.

Will they unpack as well?

Most vendors offer it, including placing contents into cupboards and wardrobes and taking the used cartons away afterwards. It is worth considering for a large home, for anyone moving with young children, and for anyone who has to be back at work the next morning. It is quoted separately from the packing.

What should I pack myself no matter what?

Cash, jewellery, passports and identity documents, house and car keys, medication, laptops and anything with irreplaceable data, and the small box of things you will need on the first night. Carry these yourself in your own car or bag. Vendor insurance excludes most of them, and that exclusion is standard across the industry rather than a sign of a weak vendor.

What cannot be packed or transported at all?

Flammables and chemicals, including paint, thinners, aerosols, gas cylinders and pool chemicals. Perishable and frozen food. Live plants and pets. These are excluded for safety and insurance reasons by every reputable vendor. Run down what you can in the weeks before the move and dispose of the rest properly rather than hoping it slips onto the lorry.

Also worth booking together

Related services

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