• They probably aren’t legal to move household goods in the US and Mexico and across the border.  You may think that this is not your problem, but it could very well turn out to be very much your problem.  See here.

• They probably can’t offer you insurance from a legitimate, third-party insurance company that specializes in insuring international moves, with coverage potentially from the first box picked up by your packer, to the last one delivered to your new home.  Do you take these types of risks with regard to other things in your life? Do you have insurance on your home, your car, or your health? Have you worked hard all your life to accumulate your household goods just to leave them completely unprotected?

• Any furniture store, car rental company, a guy with a truck and a trailer, butcher, baker or candlestick maker who offers to move your household goods is doing it as a sideline to their main business.  This can be OK until there is a problem, and when there is, they will not have the network, background and / or experience to deal with it. It is a lot easier for them to just “walk away” from your problem when their main business is not the international moving of household goods.  When you’re talking about your household goods, wouldn’t it be better to deal with a company whose interests are fully and completely aligned with yours, and with whom your precious move is not a part time gig, but a full-time obsession?

• There’s a really good chance that they’re new at moving household goods.  How do we know this? The reason they’re probably new is because what they’re doing won’t last.  That’s why they haven’t been at it for any good length of time. Sometime soon, it will probably be over.  Do you want to be the last client holding the bag when they either get caught or decide it’s not worth their trouble or the risk any longer?

After considering these, you may still decide to go ahead with less than a legitimate mover, but at least you know some of the risks.