Book a delivery from 24 hours out

Every job on SoundMove is scheduled at least 24 hours ahead. The date you choose has to be at least that far away, and the time window you pick has to open after that point as well, so a morning slot needs a bit more notice than an afternoon one on the same date. The form offers nothing shorter. If you cannot wait until tomorrow, SoundMove is not the right tool for the job, and it is fairer to say that plainly than to let you post and find out.

The gap is there because drivers are running their own vehicles and their own week. A driver needs to see your job, work out where it sits against the runs already booked in, and put a price on it. Give them that day and a driver has time to check your job against what they already have on, rather than deciding on the spot whether they can squeeze it in.

At the other end, a job can sit up to 90 days out. If you know the settlement date, the moving date or the weekend the new bed arrives, post it then. Nothing is charged until you accept a bid, so an early listing costs you nothing, and drivers can price it any time before your date. You are under no obligation to accept a bid either way.

You pick a time window at each end of the job: morning, afternoon, evening, or flexible if any time of day works. A driver who is already making a trip, whether that is a run between two cities or a loop around one, can bid on work that fits alongside it. A job set to flexible can be slotted in wherever the route allows. A job pinned to evening only can be taken by a driver whose van is free after five, and by nobody else.

That is why bids on the same job can differ. A driver with space left in the van and a route that already passes your pickup is pricing the extra stop, not a whole day out, while a driver making the trip specially is pricing all of it. On a run between the main centres that can mean a driver already running State Highway 1, and on a North Island to South Island job it can mean someone already booked onto a Cook Strait sailing. The more room your dates leave, the more drivers can make your job work with what they have on.

If your date genuinely cannot move, say that plainly in the listing instead of hoping. A fixed Friday in the description means the only drivers who can take it are the ones actually free that day, which is the point. Put the deadline and the reason for it in the job, so a driver is pricing the real constraint rather than guessing at it. The same goes the other way: if you could live with any day that week, write that down too, because a driver cannot see flexibility you have not told them about.

Speed comes from detail, not from urgency. List the items with rough dimensions, add photos of the bulky ones, and say whether anything comes apart. A driver who can see the load prices it once and bids. A driver who cannot has to ask, wait for you, then think about it, and that is where the hours go when you do not have hours spare.

Access matters just as much. Say what the stairs, the lift, the driveway and the parking are like at both ends, and whether someone will be there to help lift or the driver is on their own. Two flights of stairs and a narrow kerb change what a job is worth, and it is better that a driver knows before bidding than after arriving. If the two ends are in different cities, say which ones, because a run down State Highway 1 and a run that has to cross Cook Strait are different jobs on the same date.

Before you accept anything, drivers can post a public question on your listing, and your answer shows to everyone looking at it. There is no private messaging until a bid is accepted, so that public thread is the only way to clear something up beforehand. Check it and reply quickly. A clear answer about a doorway or a pickup time gives a driver what they need to price the job, and saves the next one asking the same thing.

You are under no obligation to take any bid, and you do not have to wait for a set number of them either. If a price and a time suit you, accept and get it locked in. Your payment is charged at that point and held by SoundMove until the job's done, then released to the driver when you confirm, or automatically 24 hours after the driver marks it done if you haven't raised an issue.

Accepting is also what opens messaging between the two of you. That is the moment to swap the practical details, such as the exact pickup time inside the window, the gate code, where a van can sit, and who is meeting the driver at the other end. Sorting that the night before is what keeps a tight job on schedule.

On the day, the driver moves the job through the checkpoints On my way, Picked up and Delivered, so you are not left guessing while you wait. Drivers are ID-verified before they can bid, and they carry ratings from jobs they have completed, though a driver new to SoundMove may not have any yet. The SoundMove Guarantee can contribute up to $500 towards an insurance excess on an accepted claim, on the terms set out at /guarantee.