Every moving company prices slightly differently, but the underlying logic across Dubai is consistent: labour and truck size scale with the volume of your home, and everything else is a surcharge on top. Here's what that actually looks like in practice, based on typical ranges for a local, same-city move.
Typical ranges by home size
- Studio apartment: roughly AED 450–750 for transport-only, more with full packing
- 1-bedroom apartment: roughly AED 650–1,000
- 2-bedroom apartment: roughly AED 900–1,450
- 3-bedroom apartment: roughly AED 1,300–1,950
- 3-bedroom villa: roughly AED 1,900–2,900
- 4+ bedroom villa: roughly AED 2,600–4,200
These are indicative bands for a standard local move with a reasonable amount of furniture, not a firm quote. The only number that matters is the one you get after a proper survey, whether that's an in-person visit or a detailed video walkthrough.
What pushes the price up
A few things reliably add cost regardless of which company you use: no service lift (expect an extra AED 200-450 for the stairs), storage in transit if your new place isn't ready (AED 300-800 per month depending on volume), and long-haul or cross-Emirate routes, which are priced by distance rather than as a local job. Full-service packing, where the crew wraps and boxes everything rather than you doing it yourself, typically adds a multiplier of 1.4-1.8x on top of the transport-only base.
Cheap isn't always cheaper
The lowest quote in your inbox is sometimes lower because materials aren't included, insurance is vague or non-existent, or the crew is day labour rather than trained staff, meaning a higher risk of damage that costs more to fix than you saved. A fair, mid-range quote from a company that answers direct questions about insurance and crew is usually the better bet over the cheapest number on paper.
How to read a quote properly
A trustworthy quote separates labour, transport, and materials into line items rather than a single bundled figure. If a company won't itemise, or the number changes significantly on moving day without you having added anything to the job, that's a red flag worth pushing back on before the truck leaves.
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