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Moving Costs
What does an international move cost?
There is no one-size price — but there is a clear set of things that move it up or down. Here is how costs are worked out, so your quote makes complete sense.
Cost is driven by
What affects your price
Six things drive the cost of any move. We measure them precisely at the survey so your quote is accurate, not a guess.
Volume
How much you are moving, in cubic metres — the single biggest factor. We measure it at survey, so there are no mid-move surprises.
Distance & route
Where you are going and how accessible both ends are — port pairings and inland delivery distance both matter.
Shipping method
Shared container (groupage), a sole-use container, or air freight for speed — each sits at a different price point.
Service level
Full pack, part pack, or fragile-only; plus extras like handyman, cleaning or unpacking.
Season & timing
Peak periods and tight deadlines can affect availability and cost — flexibility usually saves money.
Insurance & extras
All-risk cover, storage, vehicle or pet shipping — added only if you need them.
A rough guide by home size
Which shipping method usually suits which home — a starting point, not a quote. We confirm everything at your free survey.
Studio / 1-bed
Groupage (LCL)
Most economical · Transit time confirmed with your quote.
2–3 bed home
20ft container
Most popular · Transit time confirmed with your quote.
4+ bed villa
40ft container
Sole use · Transit time confirmed with your quote.
Indicative only — actual volume and price are confirmed at your free survey.
What an international move from Dubai actually costs
We do not publish a price list, and you should be sceptical of movers who do. The same three-bedroom villa can differ by a factor of two depending on where it is going, how it travels, what access looks like at both ends and the time of year. A published figure is either so hedged it tells you nothing, or it is a number that will change once someone sees the job.
What we can do is explain exactly what your quote will be built from, so the number you receive is one you can interrogate rather than simply accept.
The four things that set the price
Volume
The dominant factor, and the one most people underestimate. Shipping is sold by space, not weight — a household of light furniture and a household of heavy furniture occupying the same cubic metres cost broadly the same to move. Volume is what a survey exists to establish. As a rough orientation, a one-bedroom apartment, a three-bedroom villa and a five-bedroom family home sit at very different points on this scale, and the gap between them is larger than the gap in their rents.
This is also the lever you control. Deciding not to ship a sofa you were ambivalent about is a direct, immediate saving, and it is worth making those decisions before the survey rather than after the quote.
The route
Not simply distance. What matters is whether your destination is served directly from Jebel Ali or needs a transhipment, how competitive that trade lane currently is, and what the destination’s own handling and clearance costs are. Two countries the same distance from the UAE can differ significantly on all three.
How it travels
Sole-use container. Your shipment travels alone, sealed at your home and opened at your destination. Normally the best value per cubic metre once you are moving a two-bedroom home or more, and the least handling.
Shared container (groupage). You pay for the space you use rather than the whole container. Better for smaller shipments. The trade-offs are timing — it leaves when it is full — and extra handling, because it is consolidated and deconsolidated at depots.
Air freight. Priced very differently and far higher per cubic metre, but appropriate for a small, urgent shipment, or for the things you cannot be without while the sea shipment is in transit.
Service level and access
Full packing, part packing, or transport only. Unpacking at the far end or delivery to the door. And access at both ends: a ground-floor villa with a driveway and a fourth-floor apartment with a lift too small for a wardrobe are different jobs with the same volume. Where a shuttle vehicle, an external hoist or a street permit is needed, that is a real cost, and it is much cheaper identified at survey than discovered on the day.
Costs people forget to budget for
Insurance.
Priced on the replacement value you declare, not as a percentage of the freight. Worth doing properly — see below.
Storage.
Usually because the destination property is not ready. Origin storage in Dubai is normally cheaper than destination storage, and both are cheaper than demurrage at a port.
Destination duties and taxes
where you do not qualify for transfer-of-residence relief, or where an item falls outside it — new goods, vehicles and alcohol are the usual culprits.
Vehicle shipping
, which is priced and regulated separately from a household shipment and is restricted or prohibited in several destinations.
Pets
, which move under their own rules with their own timeline and cost.
Exit costs in Dubai
a move-out permit, final DEWA and chiller settlement, and any make-good the tenancy requires.
Reading a quote like an insider
Insurance, and what a valuation really is
Transit cover on a household shipment is not a percentage of the freight and it is not based on what things cost new. It is based on the replacement value you declare — itemised for high-value pieces, by category for the rest. Under-declaring to reduce the premium simply moves the risk onto you. Declaring without an itemised list makes any claim slow and contestable. We will go through the valuation with you rather than hand you a blank form.
How to compare quotes properly
Put the written scopes side by side rather than the headline prices, and check five things: the volume each is based on (if they differ, one of them is wrong); whether destination charges and clearance are included or excluded; what the insurance basis is; what happens if the property is not ready; and what the price does if the actual volume exceeds the surveyed figure. A quote that is materially cheaper than the others is usually excluding something the others include.
Where you can genuinely save
Ship less — the only lever with a guaranteed return. Be flexible on dates, since the peak season around the school year is the most expensive time to move. Combine a small air shipment with a slower sea shipment rather than air-freighting everything. Book early enough that air freight is not forced on you by a deadline. And settle access at survey, so nothing is improvised at cost on the day.
Getting a real number
Book a survey. It is free, takes under an hour, and can be done by video. What you get back is a written scope and a fixed price for that scope — not an estimate that moves once the crew arrives.
Want your exact number?
A free survey turns these ranges into a firm, itemised quote — within one business day.