My $5,566 Missouri to South Carolina Move with Allied Van Lines
Fact Checked by: 
Joplin, MO → Myrtle Beach, SC
$5,566
Binding not-to-exceed estimate
$5,566
Exactly my quote, 200 pounds heavier
1,100 mi
Delivered in five days
- I compared six quotes for my Missouri to South Carolina move, and they ranged from $3,281 to $6,806.
- My shipment came in 200 pounds over the estimate and my bill didn’t move, because I’d taken a binding not-to-exceed estimate.
- I shared all of it, my quotes, my bills, and my ratings, as part of moveBuddha’s Better Moves Project.
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This account is based on a conversation with Cole, who moved from Joplin, Missouri, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in May 2025 using Allied Van Lines. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
My move from Missouri to South Carolina
My medical residency took me 1,100 miles east, from Joplin to Myrtle Beach, with a three-bedroom house to bring along. Given the distance, I knew almost immediately that I wanted full-service movers rather than attempting it myself.
What I was nervous about was partly physical and partly mental: the sheer work of getting everything across the country, and the stories you hear about companies charging more than they quoted and being cagey about why. Finding a company I could actually trust mattered more to me than shaving a few hundred dollars off the price.
I wasn’t looking for a full pack. I planned to do most of the boxes myself and wanted help with specific things: a seven-foot-two mirror that needed crating, disassembling my bed, and wrapping the couches and a zebra rug. I also wanted additional coverage on my belongings.
I started with ChatGPT, asking which moving companies I should get estimates from for this particular route. It gave me a list of movers and it also pointed me at moveBuddha as a resource for preparing. According to moveBuddha, users who compare movers this way save more than 30% versus taking the first quote they get.
My Allied Van Lines experience at a glance
Here’s what stood out most about moving with Allied Van Lines, good and bad.
- Communication: Excellent from both my move coordinator and my driver. I had the driver’s mobile number and could text him and get an answer within 15 to 20 minutes.
- Pricing accuracy and transparency: I had a binding not-to-exceed estimate. My shipment came in about 200 pounds heavier than estimated and my price stayed exactly where it was.
- Timeliness: Pickup slipped by a day at the mover’s request, and delivery landed in five days, well inside the window Allied had given me.
- Professionalism: Transparent and professional at every stage. The crew went beyond the job, including re-wrapping things I hadn’t packed properly myself.
- Loss and damage: Nothing damaged. One box I handed the driver at the last minute didn’t come off the truck, and he found it, photographed it to prove he had it, and shipped it to me with a tracking number.
- Would I use Allied Van Lines again? Yes, without hesitating. I rated all four categories a 5.
over my original Allied quote
Find out what a move from Missouri → South Carolina actually costs before a mover tells you.
Why I chose Allied Van Lines
Two things decided it: Allied’s reputation, and how the video estimate went.
Their representative was straightforward about what would actually be cost-effective for me, including when that meant selling me less. He was open about what crating my large mirror would cost and raised the possibility that buying a new mirror in South Carolina might come out cheaper. When we got to my wall art, he worked out with me that buying TV boxes and packing the paintings myself with bubble wrap would beat paying his crew to do it.
That’s a sales call where the company talks itself out of revenue twice, and it won me over on the spot. I went ahead with crating the mirror through Allied’s third-party partner and packed the paintings myself on his advice.
The other thing that mattered was the binding not-to-exceed estimate. It meant that if my shipment weighed more than anyone thought, the number on my contract was still the number I’d pay. Allied’s quote was also the only one of the six that included the mirror crating in the initial estimate rather than leaving it as a surprise to be added later.
rating
- Fragile packing
- Storage options
- 24/7 shipment tracking
- Quick & efficient
- Accurate quotes
My move at a glance
Here are the basics of my relocation, including what I was quoted and what I actually paid for my Missouri to South Carolina move.
| Moved from | Joplin, Missouri |
|---|---|
| Moved to | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |
| Distance | 1,100 miles |
| Move date | May 13, 2025 |
| Move size | 3 bedroom home |
| Moving company | Allied Van Lines |
| Moving quote | $5,566.21 |
| Actual cost | $5,566.21 |
We found that when you use moveBuddha’s moving cost calculator, you can save 30% on moving costs compared to customers who go with the first quote they receive.
Quotes I compared
I spent about two weeks collecting estimates. Here’s how six of them came back, cheapest first.
| Company | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| BLVD Moving | $3,281 |
| United Van Lines | $5,500 |
| Allied Van Lines | $5,566.21 |
| Atlas Van Lines / Winter Moving and Storage | $6,000 |
| Safeway Moving | $6,497 |
| Mayzlin Relocation | $6,806 |
Two things worth knowing about that table. Most of these quotes didn’t include crating my mirror, so several of those numbers would have grown once that got added. Allied’s was the only one that had it in from the start, which makes the comparison less flattering to the cheaper options than it looks.
The other thing: I showed Mayzlin one of my cheaper quotes and they came down from $6,806 to $6,000 on the spot. I didn’t end up using them, and that’s the clearest argument I can make for gathering more than two or three estimates. A competing number is leverage.
I also contacted Bekins Van Lines and National Van Lines and never heard back from either.
Pickup day
Once I accepted the quote I was assigned a personal move coordinator, who called ahead of time to check in, explain how payment would work, and answer questions. The third-party crating company contacted me separately about the mirror.
My mover kept in touch by text, which suited me. He texted in advance asking whether we could push the move back a day so the helpers he preferred working with would be available. I said yes, and I’d say yes again, because a crew the driver has chosen is worth a day. With my agreement, the head mover still came on my original date to help finalize the prep and shift packed boxes into the garage, and the crating company collected the mirror the same day.
On the day itself they rolled out tarps when they arrived and handled everything carefully. What impressed me most was how organized they kept the hardware while disassembling my bed. Watching someone label and bag the parts is what tells you nothing is going to go missing.
I helped where I could: water and Gatorade, clearing trash, keeping things out of the way. My total weight came in about 200 pounds above the estimate, and because of the not-to-exceed estimate my price didn’t change.
Delivery day
My things arrived at my new apartment building five days after pickup, comfortably inside Allied’s window. My driver kept me updated by text the entire way and answered whenever I messaged him. That’s the single thing I’d point to as the difference between this move and the horror stories I’d been braced for.
Delivery was awkward, because the streets in my apartment complex are too narrow for a semi. Allied solved it by renting a truck to shuttle everything from the semi to my door. They dealt with it rather than making it my problem.
The delivery team was kind and careful, and asked where I wanted boxes that weren’t labeled rather than guessing. I was also pleasantly surprised to find my driver had wrapped some items further along the way to make sure they arrived safely. My mirror came the next day.
Nothing was damaged. One box was missing, and it was one I’d handed the driver at the last minute on move day, which is exactly the kind of thing that falls through the cracks. I texted him a description, he located it quickly, sent me a photo to confirm he had it, and shipped it to me with a tracking number so I’d know when to expect it.
Final thoughts
Here’s how I rated Allied on a scale of 1 to 5: communication 5, timeliness 5, quote accuracy 5, and overall experience 5. This move went as well as it possibly could have.
I went in nervous about companies charging more than they’d quoted and being unclear about why, and I got the opposite of that at every stage. The estimate was binding, my shipment came in heavier and my bill didn’t, and the one thing that went wrong got solved by a driver I could reach by text in 20 minutes.
The moment that predicted the rest of it was the video estimate, where the representative twice told me a cheaper way to do something than paying his own company for it. If a mover is willing to talk you out of a line item, that tells you a lot about how they’ll behave when something goes wrong later.
My advice is simply that: work with a reputable moving company. Almost everything I’d been dreading was a symptom of hiring the wrong one, and getting that decision right made the rest of it manageable.
Comparing quotes on a long-distance move? Use moveBuddha’s moving cost calculator to see what your route should cost, then ask every company for a binding not-to-exceed estimate.
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Tips for future movers
These are the practical steps we recommend based on Cole’s experience:
- Ask for a binding not-to-exceed estimate: Cole’s shipment came in 200 pounds heavier than estimated and his $5,566.21 didn’t move. Ask for it by name, because a standard non-binding estimate offers none of that protection.
- Check whether crating is in the quote or bolted on later: Only one of Cole’s six estimates included crating his seven-foot mirror. The cheaper quotes were cheaper partly because they’d left it out.
- Use a competing quote to negotiate: Cole showed Mayzlin a lower number and they dropped from $6,806 to $6,000 immediately. A quote you don’t intend to accept is still worth having.
- Get your driver’s mobile number: Cole could text his driver and hear back in 15 to 20 minutes, which is how a missing box got found, photographed, and shipped instead of becoming a claim.
- Listen when a rep talks you out of a service: Allied’s estimator told Cole to buy TV boxes and pack his own paintings, and raised whether replacing his mirror would beat crating it. That candour is the best signal you’ll get about a company.
- Say yes to a one-day delay for a better crew: Cole’s mover asked to move the date so his preferred helpers were available. The people carrying your furniture matter more than the calendar.
- Ask about truck access at the destination: A semi couldn’t reach Cole’s apartment complex and Allied rented a shuttle truck to bridge it. Raise narrow streets and tight complexes at the quote stage so the plan exists before delivery day.
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