For operators
What does man and van work actually pay in London?
Most pages answering this quote a daily figure and hope you don't ask how they got it. We can't tell you what you'll earn — that depends on your van, your costs and how much you work. What we can show you is the price every job is listed at before you accept it, and the costs that come off the top.
What Movesmith jobs are priced at
These are the fixed prices customers pay, starting from, for moves across London and the South East. They are the same published prices shown on our customer pages — not an estimate produced for this page. Larger, longer or harder-access moves price above these starting points.
| Move size | Customer price from |
|---|---|
| Man and van (small load) | £75 |
| 1-bed flat | £420 |
| 2-bed flat | £700 |
| 2-bed house | £750 |
| 3-bed house | £1,100 |
| 4-bed house | £1,600 |
| 5-bed home | £2,100 |
What you keep is not the number in this table. An agreed commission comes off completed jobs, and that rate is set with you during onboarding based on your zone, vehicle and crew setup. You see the actual payout for a specific job — after commission, with pass-through charges added — before you decide whether to accept it. Nothing is deducted for leads, listings or a subscription.
What comes off the top in London
Working for yourself means the job price is revenue, not income. These are the costs that decide the difference — and the ones a daily-rate figure on someone's blog quietly ignores.
Fuel and mileage
The biggest variable, and the one that separates removals from parcel work. A removals job is typically one loaded run between two addresses; multi-drop parcel work is dozens of short hops with the engine idling between each.
London road charges
Congestion Charge, ULEZ and Dartford apply depending on your vehicle and route. On Movesmith these are passed through to you at 100% — Movesmith takes nothing on them — and they show as separate line items on the job, so they are not something you absorb out of the job price.
Current TfL charge rates →Insurance
Goods in Transit plus hire-and-reward cover is the standard combination for removals work, and premiums vary widely by vehicle, cover limit, postcode and claims history. Get your own quotes rather than trusting a headline figure — ours or anyone else's.
What cover Movesmith requires →Vehicle costs
Finance or lease, servicing, tyres, MOT and depreciation. A Luton with a tail-lift opens up the larger house moves in the table above; a smaller van keeps costs down but caps the job sizes you can take.
Tax and National Insurance
You are self-employed, so nothing is deducted at source — set aside a share of every job for your own bill. This is not tax advice; check with HMRC or an accountant for your own position.
GOV.UK: working for yourself →Your time
Loading, driving, unloading and the paperwork at each end. A job that pays well per hour on paper can look different once stairs, parking distance and a tight lift are factored in — which is why the job details matter as much as the price.
Why a fixed price changes the maths
On a bidding marketplace the price is discovered by whoever is willing to go lowest, and you find out what a job is worth by competing for it. On a lead-fee platform you pay for the chance to quote, whether or not you win the work — so a quiet week still costs money.
Movesmith prices the job with the customer up front. You see the payout for that specific job before you accept, so you can work out whether it pays for your van, your day and your distance before committing — not after. There is no auction, and no charge for looking.
Congestion Charge, Dartford and tunnel tolls are treated as pass-throughs and paid to you in full, because you are the one paying them on the day.
Movesmith is one channel among several, and we'd rather you went in with your eyes open: here's how every way of finding man and van work in London charges you, ours included.
Where Movesmith is right now
We are building our operator network ahead of launch, so we are not going to quote you weekly volumes or a typical income — we have no basis for either yet, and you should treat any platform that does quote you one at this stage with suspicion. What we can be concrete about is the model: fixed prices agreed with the customer, the payout visible before you accept, no lead fees, no subscription, and road charges passed through in full. If that is worth a conversation, apply and we will be straight with you about where demand actually is.
See what the jobs in your area pay
Request access, get verified, and you'll see fixed-price jobs with the payout on the job card — before you commit to anything.
Mon–Sun 8am–8pm
Man and van pay in London — straight answers
How much does a man and van earn per day in London?
There is no single honest answer, and be sceptical of any platform that gives you one. What you take home depends on how many jobs you complete, their size and distance, your vehicle and insurance costs, and your own tax position. What Movesmith can tell you is the other half of the equation: the fixed price each job is listed at, shown in full before you accept it.
What does a Movesmith job pay?
Every job carries a fixed price agreed with the customer up front, and you see the payout for that specific job before you accept it. There is no bidding and no undercutting. Congestion Charge, Dartford and tunnel tolls pass through to you at 100% on top, as separate line items.
Does Movesmith charge lead fees or a subscription?
No. There are no lead fees, listing fees or monthly subscription fees. You pay an agreed commission only on jobs you actually complete — and that commission is agreed with you during onboarding, based on your zone, vehicle and crew setup.
How is removals work different from parcel delivery work?
Parcel contracts generally pay per drop, so income scales with the number of stops you can complete in a shift. Removals work pays per job, so a single booking can be worth many multiples of a parcel drop, but you complete far fewer of them in a day and the physical demands are higher. They suit different vans, different insurance and, honestly, different people.
How many jobs will I get?
We will not pretend to know. Movesmith is pre-launch and building its operator base ahead of demand, so we cannot yet evidence typical job volumes — and any platform quoting you a confident number at this stage is guessing. What we can commit to is that there are no lead fees, so an unused week costs you nothing.