Not all moving companies collect a deposit up front but many of them do. The ones that don’t are typically a very small business. If there is a pre-existing relationship between the business and the customer, this may also be a good reason to waive the deposit. The rationale for collecting a down payment boils down to one major thing: mutual commitment. You can trust the movers to show up and perform the manual labor as promised. The moving company can trust the customer to follow through with the handshake agreement and not cancel the service request. Deposits are generally around 15% to 25% of the total moving cost. Down payments are almost always non-refundable, given their purpose to solidify the contract and prevent the customer from shopping around any further.