When it is too big to post

The usual sticking points are size, weight and shape. A flat-pack wardrobe box longer than it is wide. A cast iron bath. A pallet of pavers. A mirror nobody wants to stack. If your item came back as a freight quote, or you were asked to crate it or put it on a pallet before anyone would take it, that is usually the point where people start looking for a different way to get it there.

SoundMove is not a courier and it does not run a depot. It is a marketplace. You post the job with photos, rough dimensions and the two addresses, and independent drivers who want that work bid on it with their own prices. The driver whose bid you accept is the driver who does the job. One driver collects the item and takes it to the address you gave, and you can read their profile and reviews before you accept anything.

Posting costs nothing and there is no obligation to accept a bid, so you can put the item up and see what comes back before deciding whether this suits you. Jobs need to be scheduled at least 24 hours ahead and can be posted up to 90 days out, which covers a purchase you have not collected yet or a delivery date you are still waiting on.

Drivers on SoundMove run their own vehicles and set their own prices. A van and one person costs less to put on the road than a truck and a crew, so a driver can price the job as the single wardrobe it is. Some are already making that trip for other work and have room left in the back, which changes the sum again.

Because they can see your photos and dimensions, they are pricing against the actual item, its length, its weight and how it has to be lifted. A driver with a trailer will bid differently from one in a small van, and a driver who is set up for a two person lift will bid differently from one who is not. You get those differences side by side, in writing, before you commit to any of them.

None of that promises you a lower figure. What it changes is who is doing the pricing and how many of them get a look at the job. You are reading bids from people who each decided what the work is worth to them that week, with their ratings and reviews next to the price, and you can leave the job open until you are happy with what has come in.

Give the item its real measurements, including the awkward one. Length matters more than weight for a bed base or a ladder, and weight matters more than length for tiles or a bath. Say whether it comes apart, whether it is already boxed, and whether anything about it is fragile. Photos do most of the work here, because a driver can see at a glance whether it fits the vehicle they have.

Access at both ends is the other half of it. A walk-up flat two floors up with no lift, a rear section down a right of way too narrow for a trailer, a loading zone with a time limit, or a drop off that has to be kerbside. On an intercity job the Cook Strait ferry sits in the middle and shapes the timing. Put that in the listing rather than leaving it for the day, so the bids you read already account for the carry. If a driver needs something clarified before bidding, they can ask a question on the job, and the answer is public to everyone bidding.

Timing is worth being straight about too. If the collection has to happen in one window because the seller is only there on a Saturday, say so. Drivers price against the window you give them, so a tight one is worth stating up front rather than raising on the day. Once you accept a bid and the job is booked, messaging opens between you and that driver and you can settle the rest directly.

Payment is charged when you accept a bid and is held by SoundMove until the job's done, so the money sits with SoundMove for the length of the job. SoundMove releases it when you confirm, or automatically 24 hours after the driver marks it done if you haven't raised an issue. That tends to matter most when the item is worth more than the trip, such as an auction win you have already paid the seller for, or a piece of furniture that would be hard to replace.

While the job is running the driver marks checkpoints, so you see On my way, then Picked up, then Delivered, without having to ring anyone for an update. A photo at drop off is optional rather than promised. Some drivers take one as a matter of course, so if you want one, ask in the messages once the job is booked.

Every driver is ID-verified before they can bid, and each bid shows any ratings and reviews that driver has earned on completed jobs, although a driver who is new to SoundMove may not have any yet. The SoundMove Guarantee can contribute up to $500 towards an insurance excess on an accepted claim, subject to terms, and the detail is set out on the guarantee page.