Buying a Used Safe and Getting It Home

Secondhand safes are one of the better bargains available, because the thing that makes them cheap is precisely the thing that makes them awkward. Nobody wants to deal with moving one, so prices are soft.

If you are willing to solve the logistics, you can buy considerably more safe than the same money buys new.

Just-In-Time Moving is locally owned and moves safes across St. George and Washington County.

Establish the weight before anything else

Get the make and model from the seller and look up the specification, rather than accepting an estimate. People routinely underestimate a safe by several hundred pounds, and the difference determines whether a job is straightforward or specialist.

If there is no model number, get the external dimensions and the wall thickness if the seller can tell you, and photographs of the door and hinges.

Ask about the seller's end, in detail

This is where used safe purchases come apart.

Which floor is it on, and is there a staircase? Is it anchored, and into concrete or timber? Can a vehicle get close? Was the safe brought in before anything was built around it, which happens frequently with basement and closet installations?

A safe in a finished basement at the bottom of a turned staircase can cost more to extract than the safe is worth. Better to know that before agreeing a price.

Check the things that make a safe worthless

The lock works and you get the combination. Have the seller open and close it in front of you. A safe you cannot open is a very heavy problem, and a locksmith call on a locked safe is expensive.

If it is an electronic lock, ask its age; those fail eventually and are replaceable, but factor it in.

Look for signs of a fire or water event, which can compromise the fire lining invisibly.

Check the door alignment and the bolt action. A door that has been forced or dropped may never seal properly again.

Look inside for rust, which tells you how it was stored.

Sort the collection before you pay

Agree who is responsible for what. Ask the seller to have it empty and unanchored before collection if possible.

Then book the move properly rather than improvising with a pickup truck and optimism. This is the item where amateur handling causes serious injury.

Send us photographs of both ends and we will quote it.

Call (435) 862-3080 or email office@movingjustintime.com.