Bargain Hunting

Sorry for not writing the other day, despite promising… On top of my work, I was at the house every day doing something or other, and I was exhausted. Tomorrow, the office renovations will start, and I need to get my work sorted out before moving on Friday. I hope there will be more news to tell and more time to do so.

Anyway, 10 days ago or so, I started looking for a moving company. Even though the new house is very close, and I don’t feel that I have that many things, I want professional help with this. There’s no way I’m going to schlep all my stuff down from the 5th floor and then most of it into the 2nd floor of my new place all on my own (or even with the help of my friends).

I filled in an online form, and they sent my info to around 10 moving companies operating in Kyoto. Within 10 minutes, I got emails from all of them and phone calls from half. Some were offers based on what I filled in, but some companies wanted to come by and have a look at my things to make a better offer.

The first representative (of a very large moving company) came on Thursday, made a detailed list of everything I wanted to pack, and he gave me a quote of 82,000 for a moving date of Saturday, 27th of November. I said it was a bit expensive and told him that I really wanted to move the Friday before, and that another (much smaller) company would visit on Sunday for a quote.

He immediately said, “If you tell the other company that you already chose us, I’ll give you a price of 70,000 yen flat”.

Wow, I hadn’t expected anything like that. The fact that I got so much interest within 10 minutes after pressing “send” did surprise me, but apparently the moving market is more competitive than I thought. However, since he couldn’t give me the Friday date, I declined and told him I’d wait for the others and get back to him.

Sunday noon arrives, the second representative shows up, runs through all my stuff and gives me a quote of 85,000 for Friday. After telling him about the significantly lower quote I had received, he phones his boss and finally comes back with 75,000 yen for a Friday move, which I accepted on the spot.

Never, ever, have I done this before. I find it embarrassing, and it’s probably embarrassing for the other person as well. And had the first representative not given me a hint that negotiations are possible, I wouldn’t have tried it this time either. But, thanks to him, I get what I want when I want it – and for 10,000 yen cheaper to boot! However, since this is a very small company, I will try to make things as easy and smooth for them as possible. I already received moving boxes which are now stacked in my place, ready to be filled.

And of course, I haven’t packed a single thing yet. I really must start tomorrow, once I finish my work. So far, I only decluttered things that will definitely not come with me. Lots of stuff I’ve kept “just in case” and which I never needed, plenty of paperwork, these sorts of things.

While going through everything, I even found a stack of old “Hey, I’ve moved” postcards from the Netherlands. So, just in case you’ll receive a funny-sounding postcard with my new address on it, it’s all part of my big decluttering plan. Thanks for helping with it. 😉