After four years in business, this is one question we get fairly often, “how does junk removal pricing work?” When we were first starting out we asked ourselves the same question. Coincidently around that same time, I had some junk accumulated in the back-yard from some spring cleaning that had just been done, so we decided to call 1-800-Got-Junk to have it hauled away. They charged us $200 to haul away a couple of things. When I told my mother, she freaked out. Why did you pay so much?! I didn’t pay too much attention to her at the time but looking back now I realize she kind of had a point. In these past four years we’ve learned a lot about pricing and what removing junk should cost.
Although there are many factors to consider when giving someone an estimate for junk removal pricing, making it more of an art than a science, there are still some general guidelines that help junk removal companies reach the dollar amount needed to get a job done. The three main factors affecting junk removal pricing are volume, weight and the amount of time it takes to get the job done. This is how it works:
Volume Affects Junk Removal Pricing
I would say that volume is the main way most junk removal companies including 1-800-Got-Junk, College Hunks Hauling Junk, and Junk King come up with a junk removal price estimate for a job. While this may be true, junk removal pricing can vary greatly. For example, we all have a minimum we must charge to cover the costs of sending someone in a truck to pick up an item or two. Our minimum charge is $100. When we first started, College Hunks Hauling Junk had a minimum charge of over $300!!! This meant that if you weren’t willing to pay several hundred dollars to get rid of your couch, they would not consider helping you at all.
While that is the case when it comes to minimum charges, there is also a big difference when considering how much to pay for a full truck. Not all trucks are created equal, so when you go to hire a junk removal company ask them how big their truck is because size does matter. Trucks used to haul junk are measured in cubic yards and depending on which company you go with you will end up paying wildly different prices for a full truck. For example, 1-800-Got-Junk charges almost $600 for a full truck while we charge $500 for a full truck. That’s a $100 difference right off the bat! But the difference is even greater when you take into consideration that our truck is 4 cubic yards bigger than theirs. That’s roughly an area 6 feet x 4.5 feet x 4 feet of space extra to haul away more junk. Not to toot our own horn but we are clearly the better deal.
Have To Consider Weight
Another factor affecting junk removal pricing is how much weight is being hauled away. While typical junk removal companies don’t have to take this into consideration very often, it’s something we deal with since we are also in the business of bulk hauling. For these types of jobs, we have a bobcat in case you have a large pile of remodeling debris, yard debris or miscellaneous trash that you need to be removed from your property. Companies like 1-800-Got-Junk don’t have a bobcat to assist in large projects like this so you will either have to outsource the loading of their trucks or pay an exorbitant amount for them to load it by hand. Junk removal companies are charged per ton to dispose of the trash we collect. That is why weight can also be a price determining factor when it comes to hauling away your unwanted items. For more information on bulk trash removal please visit our sister site at www.MiamiBobcatService.com
Time Is A Factor
Lastly, time is another factor that is taken into consideration when hauling away your items. For example, the price to remove a couch on your front porch will be different from the price of a couch on the 30th floor of a building. While removing one couch from a building is still fairly quick, the problem gets compounded the more items need to be hauled away. It typically takes four times longer to load a truck from a building than it does a house! This is usually due to the distance we must walk from the apartment to the truck. Also, believe it or not, in some buildings there is a lot of traffic going up and down the elevators caused by all the contractors that could be doing work in the building at the same time. Sometimes you can wait a good ten minutes until the elevator stops on your floor, only to have it open and be full of contractors and their equipment. Ehhh, we’ll wait for the next one.
I hope you found this quick guide useful when planning to choose a junk removal service and remember to keep us in mind. We’ve been called to haul away just a mattress, but we’ve also been hired to haul away 40 truckloads of trash from a property. No matter how big or small your project might be, give us a call!
