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Moving My Collection
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55 posts in this topic

Bottom line is I'm looking for advice on moving my collection.  I have a PCS move from Newport News, VA to San Antonio, TX in about 4 months.  Last time I moved it was a short distance and my collection was able to be crammed in my car.  Definitely not an option this time aside from my graded books that I'll bring with me when I drive out. 

Side note is that I recently switched my tracking software which has me going back through everything to ensure I properly log it all and I wanted to sort and label my boxes properly before this move.  It's been a lot of fun revisiting my collection as it really all just sits there after being read.  Stumbling across books I forgot I had like Ms. Marvel 17 and X-men 125 has been cool.  Plus it brings back memories of all the old stories I've read and forgot about.  Though some, (Red Hulk) should probably stay forgotten.  Needless to say the room's an absolute mess now (see the terrible pic) that most everything's pulled out and I'm trying to resort it all as I log it. 

20190219_200659.jpg

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Whatever you do be careful of moving companies.  Many like to quote a price then hold your stuff hostage as they demand quadruple the quoted price.  There was a Dateline on this a while ago.

https://www.google.com/search?q=moving+company+scams&rlz=1CASUUV_enUS769US769&oq=moving+company+scams&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4635j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Edited by kav
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1 minute ago, meshuggah said:

That's one thing I won't have to worry about as the company is contracted through the military and are paid via that contract. 

Yeah I dont think they want the US military comin after em!

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17 minutes ago, meshuggah said:

Bottom line is I'm looking for advice on moving my collection.  I have a PCS move from Newport News, VA to San Antonio, TX in about 4 months.  Last time I moved it was a short distance and my collection was able to be crammed in my car.  Definitely not an option this time aside from my graded books that I'll bring with me when I drive out. 

Side note is that I recently switched my tracking software which has me going back through everything to ensure I properly log it all and I wanted to sort and label my boxes properly before this move.  It's been a lot of fun revisiting my collection as it really all just sits there after being read.  Stumbling across books I forgot I had like Ms. Marvel 17 and X-men 125 has been cool.  Plus it brings back memories of all the old stories I've read and forgot about.  Though some, (Red Hulk) should probably stay forgotten.  Needless to say the room's an absolute mess now (see the terrible pic) that most everything's pulled out and I'm trying to resort it all as I log it. 

 

Three letters:  D I y!!

One way rental.  A trailer. A truck or van.

If your collection has great meaning and/or value, do not let other people handle these boxes and/or books for you.  D. I. y.

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7 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

Three letters:  D I y!!

One way rental.  A trailer. A truck or van.

If your collection has great meaning and/or value, do not let other people handle these boxes and/or books for you.  D. I. y.

You're not wrong, However, that probably won't happen as I'm a single guy yet have a lot of stuff and 2 cars to move. 

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1 minute ago, James J Johnson said:

...which means that most of them are fruit-cakes! :applause:

Side note: I live in Philly. My neighbor taught Michael Manley (Batman fame) at PAFA. Had a chance to meet him and he was the one that told me, that it was so tough being a grad from art school that there is a whole slew of grads that got into the "art" business by becoming art movers for Museums, private collections etc. Art.... what a tough career path...

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10 minutes ago, RSS0429 said:

Side note: I live in Philly. My neighbor taught Michael Manley (Batman fame) at PAFA. Had a chance to meet him and he was the one that told me, that it was so tough being a grad from art school that there is a whole slew of grads that got into the "art" business by becoming art movers for Museums, private collections etc. Art.... what a tough career path...

Yup I tell people who ask me how to become a successful artist "you dont".  Try something easier, like becoming a famous movie star.

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@meshuggah

Over the summer of 2018 I was asked to help facilitate a move from Florida to New York.  I said no problem and hopped a one way flight in July to help out. We drove the car back but a moving company was hired to bring all the non essentials up to be stored temporarily in a storage facility.  Before I begin I want to make it perfectly clear that I was not a part of the vetting or hiring of the moving service.  The person that did this hired a company that they felt gave the best price. 

What happened? 

  1. Truck broke down the day of the move...they had to reschedule for the next day...
  2. Company gave them the run-around to the person that hired them as the person that hired them is a good person.
  3. I am not a good person when people give the run-around. I took the phone and got involved and had some choice words. 
  4. My inner BS alarm went off after having a conversation with them. 
  5. Turns out after doing a thorough background search, search on the owners and anyone else connected that it was a sham service where the owner of the company was convicted of multiple felonies in trafficking stolen items, were convicted of fraud and other crimes associated with running a sham moving company.  Basically they quoted a price and would then hold your items saying the move was more expensive then previously thought and that you owed more money and had to play a storage fee while you disputed it.  According to many complaints people gave up and just paid to get their stuff back. 
  6. We called the parent company that had supposedly subcontracted this company and they stated that they had stopped doing business with this subcontracted moving company. 
  7. The owner of the company was basically told that his services would not be required and we quickly moved everything into storage themselves and hired a few 'locals'. 
  8. We drove back to New York and the Real Estate agent that sold the house in Florida was nice enough to oversee a proper moving company ship everything to New York. 
  9. When I am bored, I like to keep tabs on Mr Moving Company Scam and continue to see him miserable.  He was recently in trouble again... awwww shucks. 
Moral of the story... CAREFULLY vet your moving company.  Sometimes the best price is not the best choice.  Let's also be real for a second that many people who are involved in the day to day of a moving company might have made some mistakes in their past.  However, trafficking stolen items and defrauding customers in moving scams are not acceptable 'mistakes in the past'.
 
 
 
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8 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

@meshuggah

Over the summer of 2018 I was asked to help facilitate a move from Florida to New York.  I said no problem and hopped a one way flight in July to help out. We drove the car back but a moving company was hired to bring all the non essentials up to be stored temporarily in a storage facility.  Before I begin I want to make it perfectly clear that I was not a part of the vetting or hiring of the moving service.  The person that did this hired a company that they felt gave the best price. 

What happened? 

  1. Truck broke down the day of the move...they had to reschedule for the next day...
  2. Company gave them the run-around to the person that hired them as the person that hired them is a good person.
  3. I am not a good person when people give the run-around. I took the phone and got involved and had some choice words. 
  4. My inner BS alarm went off after having a conversation with them. 
  5. Turns out after doing a thorough background search, search on the owners and anyone else connected that it was a sham service where the owner of the company was convicted of multiple felonies in trafficking stolen items, were convicted of fraud and other crimes associated with running a sham moving company.  Basically they quoted a price and would then hold your items saying the move was more expensive then previously thought and that you owed more money and had to play a storage fee while you disputed it.  According to many complaints people gave up and just paid to get their stuff back. 
  6. We called the parent company that had supposedly subcontracted this company and they stated that they had stopped doing business with this subcontracted moving company. 
  7. The owner of the company was basically told that his services would not be required and we quickly moved everything into storage themselves and hired a few 'locals'. 
  8. We drove back to New York and the Real Estate agent that sold the house in Florida was nice enough to oversee a proper moving company ship everything to New York. 
  9. When I am bored, I like to keep tabs on Mr Moving Company Scam and continue to see him miserable.  He was recently in trouble again... awwww shucks. 
Moral of the story... CAREFULLY vet your moving company.  Sometimes the best price is not the best choice.  Let's also be real for a second that many people who are involved in the day to day of a moving company might have made some mistakes in their past.  However, trafficking stolen items and defrauding customers in moving scams are not acceptable 'mistakes in the past'.
 
 
 

Definitely food for thought, thanks. And to @kav for that article. 

Any recommendations for prepping the boxes? Should i tape the tops on? Any recommended subsatnce to fill empty space in a box (packing paper, id assume)?

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13 minutes ago, BlowUpTheMoon said:

Absolutely. 

And number all of the boxes. 

A locking, mobile chest won't keep the entire box from disappearing altogether, but it will protect it's contents from disappearing. Something like this is relatively inexpensive and perfect for CGC slabs or raw books of higher value. My guess is that the typical collection, no matter the range or size, carries 90% of it's monetary value within a very small amount of books, relatively speaking to the overall scope of that collection. Safeguarding that upper 10% of value in a chest or 2 or 3 chests like this would probably safeguard 90% of your collections value by their inclusion there in.

Vaultz.jpg

Edited by James J Johnson
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17 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

A locking, mobile chest won't keep the entire box from disappearing altogether, but it will protect it's contents from disappearing. Something like this is relatively inexpensive and perfect for CGC slabs or raw books of higher value. My guess is that the typical collection, no matter the range or size, carries 90% of it's monetary value within a very small amount of books, relatively speaking to the overall scope of that collection. Safeguarding that upper 10% of value in a chest or 2 or 3 chests like this would probably safeguard 90% of your collections value by their inclusion there in.

Vaultz.jpg

I'll definitely look into these for raw books im not carrying with me. All my graded stuff will fit in my car. But I would feel more at ease knowing my pricier raw books are locked up. 

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43 minutes ago, meshuggah said:

Definitely food for thought, thanks. And to @kav for that article. 

Any recommendations for prepping the boxes? Should i tape the tops on? Any recommended subsatnce to fill empty space in a box (packing paper, id assume)?

Label anything you dont want stolen 'books'.  Books are kryptonite to criminals.  

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9 minutes ago, kav said:

Label anything you dont want stolen 'books'.  Books are kryptonite to criminals.  

if you want to be a little more tricky about it-- you can find boxes that are bigger than the long boxes, put the long box in first and then surround it with actual books. So if they happen to check the box, they will see it is full of stuff they won't mess with.

I have never trusted any moving company. The cost alone is ridiculous-- even if your new company is paying for it. Half the time, your stuff ends up broken/scratched and they charge you for everything- right down to the moving blankets. It is obscene. If you have something of value but have to use a moving company, I would suggest you take that valuable stuff and find some place secure to store (a relative, friend, trusted storage company) and come back at a later date and move it yourself.

If moving the stuff itself is physically tough for you -- I've seen friends who rent a truck, find some day laborers to load their packed items and furniture up, drive it themselves or pay someone to drive it, then hire more day laborers to unload. HUGE savings versus a mover and you are in charge of the whole process.

Good luck however you work it out.

 

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