If you are moving domestically and have enough possessions that you need more than one taxi ride, the following information is for you. Several moving options exist to help with your move. To find out information on moving furniture in an elevator or if you need a ramped ladder truck, check out the next tab. The tab following that has some basic information on getting your next place cleaned before you move into it.
When you are moving out of one place, you’ll need to meet with the gas, electrical, and facility services to get all those utilities shut off and paid through the moving date. As you’ll have utilities on until you move, this means you cannot pay them ahead of time as they will be unsure how much you will use. Talk to your admin staff to get help coordinating your final payments for these as it involves phone calls which can only be conducted in Korean. The trick is to get representatives from the utilities to visit your old residence as you are moving out, otherwise you’ll need to return later.
The date you move also plays a part in the price you’ll end up paying. Weekends will cost more, but also will “lucky days” (길일, 吉日, giril) as determined by the lunar calendar. These affect not just moving days, but other large events, including weddings. Also “days without a guest” (손 없는 날, son eomneun nal) are popular moving days as superstitious people believe these are days that ghosts (guests) won’t follow them to their new residence. Both sets of positive days are very popular for people to move, so you’ll find it is much more difficult to get a moving truck, and due to supply and demand, their prices will be much higher for those specific days.
The day people move is the day they pay the remainder of their housing deposit or finalize the purchase of the property. A visit to your real estate agent is standard for completing this process before you can move into the new residence. Moving before completing the process, even to install curtails ahead of time or move breakables so the movers don’t touch them, can be seen as trespassing as you normally are not allowed into the property ahead of time unless you contacted the landlord ahead of time and cleared this. If a family is living in your new home until the day you move, you won’t be able to get access prior to your move, despite how nice the landlord is.
Frequently, the day you move out of your old residence is the day someone else moves in. If someone fails to get their deposit back from their current residence, say from an unsurely landlord who fails to return a deposit, or someone’s paperwork is not in order, this can create a domino effect which derails multiple people from moving. Confirming ahead of time you have everything necessary will save you a lot of grief. And let’s be honest, moving is stressful enough without a paperwork issue.
If you own so few possessions, and if they are small enough to fit into a van or minivan, you might want to hire one. They go by several names, including "jumbo taxi" (대형택시, 大形택시/大型택시, daehyeong taeksi) or "call van" 콜밴 (kolbaen). Instead of fitting into multiple taxis, you could fit your belongings into one van and travel the distance only once. Usually black in color, they can be spotted randomly in larger cities or at certain airports. Outside of these locations you'll need to call one of these companies directly. As demand from international residents is rather low, don't expect them to speak English or have English on their websites. Get your admin staff to contact them and set up a place and time and see if you can get a price check. Their price will be higher than a standard taxi, but by how much is unclear.
If you go with this method you’ll need to pack your things into boxes or suitcases. If you need some cardboard boxes you can get them for free from Costco near their registers. You could get them at Emart and Lotte Mart after the registers and before the parking areas where customers can pack items at packing stations with free boxes and tape. This is what one looked like prior to the tape dispensers being removed.
The problem with these is that people wrapped the used cardboard boxes with tape to strengthen them long enough to get home. After usage, people attempted to recycle them but did not remove the tape which then made recycling more difficult. As a result, the national government disallowed usage of these boxes from November 2019. Here is a now outdated sign saying both the tape and the boxes will not longer be provided. If you want to see the image more clearly, click the picture to see a larger version.
The government later changed their stance and is allowing stores to continue to provide used cardboard boxes but from 1 January 2020 is no longer providing tape or plastic twine to wrap the boxes. If you want to see the image more clearly, click the picture to see a larger version.
If you want boxes that are new and all the same size, or if you want to ship something in general, you can purchase boxes at the post office (우체국, 郵遞局, ucheguk). They normally have a display with size dimensions and prices, as shown below, and then the boxes can be picked up flat usually under a table with shipping forms. To more easily read the sizes of each box type, click on the image below for a larger image. Sometimes bubble wrap (에어캡, eeokaep literally “air cap”) is free, sometimes limited quantities are free as in 1 meter per box purchased, and sometimes they have a nominal fee. Pricing for bubble wrap dependings on the post office branch you visit. If you want to see the image more clearly, click the picture to see a larger version.
A standard relocation service (용달, 用達, yongdal) is the most affordable way to move with a truck. If you own your own possessions, don’t mind packing and unpacking by yourself, this service might be what you need. If you might have trouble getting the boxes into the truck, you may need to a hire a worker to help you. You do not need to prepare your own moving boxes. The service will provide sturdy yellow crates that are stackable and might also provide flexible blue plastic boxes. Truck size and price will be determined by the amount of stuff you are moving and the distance. Although this is not the most convenient method, it is the most economical option available.
They can also provide thick blue padded cloth for certain electronics, such as a TV, speakers, or a refrigerator. One is viewable in the picture below and the label says it is for a kimchee refrigerator (김치냉장고, 김치冷藏庫, gimchi naengjanggo). Also visible are some of thick plastic containers that are stackable and foldable plastic boxes - both of which are provided by the moving company.
When not in use, the plastic containers either are flattened or put inside each other for easier storage. This is a common sight during a move.
The most relaxing way to move is to let a team come to your home, pack everything, put it in the truck, and unpack it at your new residence. Called 포장이사 (包裝移徙, pojang isa), this method is very convenient. Before your moving date, a representative will come to your home to survey the items and give you a price for the move. This is based on how many moving crew are needed, the size of truck, and how far the move is. Cleaning and extra services to facilitate the entire moving process are also available at extra cost.
Promotional materials for some of these companies will show they laying thick protective plastic on the floor, wear white medical booties over their shoes, and use green dollies to move heavy items, as seen in the image below. All of these steps are done to give the customer the peace of mind that they will be very careful while moving to avoid damage done to your property and also protect the new home from scratches and scrapes. But just because they lay down the plastic doesn’t mean they will be careful. Be mindful to watch the movers to see that they are careful and try to get a recommendation for which company you should hire.
If you need to move out before your new residence opens, you may need to store your belongings and then complete the move later. Called 창고보관 서비스 (倉庫保管 서비스, changgo bogwan seobiseu), this also might come in helpful when moving overseas. The service provider will store your belongings in a storage space until your designated moving date. The costs of storage services depend on the size and duration of your storage needs.
Copyright(c) IBS. All Rights Reserved.
