Snap-a-Quote turns photos of your rooms into a moving estimate. No home visit to book, nobody walking through your bedrooms, and no repeating the same list of furniture down the phone to three different companies.
This page covers how to take photos that work, how the price is put together, what happens to your images, and what to expect once you have your estimate. Nothing here books anything.
What Snap-a-Quote does
Snap-a-Quote reads photographs of your rooms and turns them into a moving estimate. It identifies what is in each room, works out how many hours the job will take and which truck it needs, and puts a price range on screen. Ask for it in writing and it emails you a PDF with an itemised list of everything it counted, plus a moving checklist for your move.
It replaces the in-home visit. That visit was only ever a way of finding out what you wanted to move, and a photograph carries the same information. What used to take a person driving across Sydney can now take four seconds, which is why you get a number in minutes instead of days.
All you do is answer two questions and take up to ten photos, one or two per room, each tagged with the room it shows. The questions are what type of property you are in, and which suburbs you are moving between. Suburb only. We never ask for your street address.
Most people are done in a few minutes.
What you get
On screen, straight away: a price range for your move.
By email, if you ask for it: a PDF with the price range, an itemised list of what the AI counted in each room, a moving checklist built around your move, and a page explaining what can change the price between the estimate and the day.
The itemised list is the part worth reading. It shows exactly what the estimate is based on, so if something is missing you'll spot it before anyone quotes you properly.
How do I take a good photo
Stand back so the whole room fits in the frame, and take one or two shots per room rather than close-ups of individual pieces. The AI is working out the size of the job, so a wide view of everything is worth more than a sharp photo of one chair.
Even light helps. Direct sun across the floor and hard shadows can hide where one thing ends and the next begins.
If a wardrobe or cabinet is mirrored or high-gloss, take a second shot from another angle. A reflection can read as another room, and you'll end up with furniture counted twice.
A few other things that help:
- Open the curtains rather than shooting into a dark room.
- Photograph the garage, the balcony, the shed and any storage cupboard if things are coming from them.
- Take a separate shot of anything unusually large, heavy or fragile.
- If furniture is blocking half the room, take a second angle.
You don't need to tidy up first. The AI is counting furniture, not judging the housekeeping.
Leave people out of the shots, and anything you wouldn't want photographed: paperwork, screens, family photos, valuables. None of it helps the estimate.
How many photos should I take
One or two per room is usually enough. Crowded rooms, big rooms and garages often need more.
The tool takes up to ten. Spend them on covering everything rather than on several near-identical shots of the same room. A house where every room is in shot once beats a house where the lounge is in shot four times.
What might the estimate miss
Anything out of shot. Closed wardrobes, the garage, under the bed, or a room you didn't photograph.
It also can't tell:
- what's inside a box or a drawer;
- how heavy something is, when the weight isn't obvious to look at;
- whether something needs pulling apart to get it out the door;
- whether there are stairs, and how many;
- how far the truck can park from your front door;
- whether the lift needs booking.
When it doesn't have enough to go on it says so rather than guessing. Anything left over gets sorted out when Billy follows up.
Read the itemised list when it comes through. If something's missing from it, that's the moment to say so.
What happens to my photos
Your photos are read by AI to identify what needs moving. Nobody at Billy Moves sees them, and we don't keep a copy. All that comes back is a written list of what's in each room, and that list is what Billy Moves works from.
We only ask for your suburb, never your street address, and the tool never asks for your location from your phone.
Your name, email and mobile are only collected if you choose to have the estimate sent to you. They're used to send it, and so Billy Moves can ring you once about your move. You aren't added to a mailing list.
The full detail, including how to see, correct or delete anything we hold, is on the Privacy and Terms page.
How is the price worked out
The price is time, and nothing else.
Labour hours, plus the drive between the two addresses, at $160 an hour for the 4.5 tonne truck or $220 an hour for the 8 tonne. Both rates include the truck and two movers. Four hour minimum.
No call-out fee. No charge for stairs. Lunch breaks aren't billed.
The hours come from what the AI counted in your photos, and the truck size comes from how much there is. Bigger moves get the bigger truck, which costs more per hour but takes fewer trips.
The rates are Billy Moves' own. Snap-a-Quote doesn't set them and doesn't add anything on top.
How accurate is the estimate
It's a considered ballpark from what's in your photos, not a fixed quote.
The itemised list shows exactly what it counted, so you can see what it's based on rather than taking a number on faith. Billy checks it against the details when he follows up, and that call is where the actual price is settled.
Clear, current photos of every room give the best result. What pulls it around:
- rooms or storage areas that weren't photographed;
- access nobody mentioned, like a long carry or a lift that needs booking;
- unusually heavy or fragile items;
- things added to or taken off the list after the photos were taken.
Is this a quote
No. It's an estimate range, and using the tool doesn't create a booking or an agreement.
The confirmed price comes from your conversation with Billy Moves, once they've checked the things photos can't show. That call is where a quote actually happens.
What if there are stairs or a long carry
Stairs and a long carry don't cost extra. But they do take longer, and the price is time, so they show up in the total either way.
The photos can't show us the walk from your door to the truck, so mention it when we follow up. Worth flagging:
- stairs at either end, and how many flights;
- a building with no lift, or a lift that has to be booked;
- narrow hallways, tight corners or a steep driveway;
- no parking near the door, or a loading zone with a time limit.
None of it is a problem. It just needs to be in the number before the day rather than after it.
What if I only have one or two items
Ring Billy Moves and they'll price it directly on 0433 321 992.
The app is built for whole rooms and houses moving locally, with a four hour minimum. A single item is its own kind of job: weight, stairs, distance, whether it needs one mover or two. None of that shows up in a photo, so Billy Moves will sort it out with you on a call.
Same goes for a long-distance move.
What happens after I get my estimate
You keep the estimate and the checklist. That's yours whatever you decide.
Billy Moves will follow up once, by phone, to check whether the list looks right and whether you have questions. If the photos didn't tell the whole story, that's the conversation where it gets sorted.
One call. If you'd rather not go ahead, say so and that's the end of it. Nothing is booked until you say it is.
Who does the moving
Billy Moves. Billy and Paoa run it, out of Parramatta, and they're the ones who turn up on the day.
The rates behind every estimate are theirs, the move is arranged directly with them, and there are no surprise costs at the end of the job. Meet Billy and Paoa.
Who built this
Snap-a-Quote was built by Brian Osborne, who owns it. It's licensed to Billy Moves, who use it to give their customers an estimate without a home visit.
Billy is Brian's son. Billy and Paoa run the removals business and didn't build the tool. Brian built the tool and doesn't do the removals. They do the lifting. He does the typing.
Snap your rooms, see your estimate, plan your move.
Photograph your rooms, answer two quick questions, and get a price range in minutes.
Start My Estimate