Is that junk removal quote fair?
Paste what you have been quoted. We compare it against prices haulers in your area published before they saw your job, and tell you what usually gets added on the day. Free, for a quote from anybody, whether or not they are listed with us. If you are trying to work out what junk removal should cost where you live, this is the closest thing to an answer that does not involve inventing a number.
Ask about these before you agree to anything
- A call-out, dispatch or minimum fee that was not in the quoted figure.
- Heavy item surcharges, usually on sofas, mattresses, appliances and televisions.
- Stairs, long carry or difficult access charged per flight or per metre.
- A disposal or environmental levy added at the tip rather than quoted up front.
- A cancellation fee, and how many hours' notice avoids it.
- Whether the price is for the volume they estimated or the volume they actually take.
How the check works
Haulers listed on this site publish their prices as a numbered list, in advance, and their quotes are built from that list. The check reads every current published list from a verified, active hauler who covers your area, finds the line for the item you chose, adds any flat fee that list marks as mandatory, and applies the list’s minimum charge if that is higher. That gives one all-in figure per hauler for your item. Only the newest version of each list counts, so a company that republishes often is not counted twice.
Those figures are sorted from cheapest to dearest. The cheaper end shown is the figure roughly 15 per cent of the way up that list, the typical figure is the middle one, and the dearer end is roughly 85 per cent of the way up. Your quote is then divided by the typical figure to place it in one of five bands:
- Well below: under 60 per cent of the typical figure. Flagged, not praised, because this is the pattern behind most on-the-day price rises.
- Below: 60 to 85 per cent. Cheap, worth having if it is in writing.
- Typical: 85 to 120 per cent. In the normal range for this item where you are.
- Above: 120 to 160 per cent. Ask what it includes that a cheaper quote would not.
- Well above: more than 160 per cent. Ask for a breakdown and get a second quote.
Where enough completed jobs have been reported in your area, the result also shows how often the final price matched the quote. A quote counts as having held if the customer paid no more than 5 per cent over it. That figure is only shown once at least five jobs have been reported, because below that a percentage is noise.
What each box means
- Your ZIP codeWe only use the first five digits of your ZIP code to find your service area. That prefix is the unit of geography the whole site works in, so you can type just that part if you prefer. It is not stored with the check.
- What you were quotedThe total figure the company gave you, in your local currency, before anything you were told would be extra. If they quoted a range, check both ends separately. Symbols and commas are stripped, so 250, $250 and 250.00 all mean the same thing.
- What forThe item the quote was for. The list is the same set of items the rest of the site uses, so a mixed clear-out, a sofa, a mattress, a fridge, a washer, a television, carpet and paint each have their own published prices. If your job is several items, check the biggest one and remember the total will be higher.
How to read the result
A green card means your quote sits somewhere between the cheap end and the dear end of what local haulers publish. An amber card means it is a long way outside that range in either direction, and the text under the heading says which and what to do about it. Under the three figures is the number of haulers the range was built from. Three is the minimum; more is better, and a range from three lists should be read as a rough guide rather than a going rate.
The list at the bottom of every result, including the ones where we could not say, is the set of fees people complain about after the crew has left. It is the same list whatever your quote, because those are the questions worth asking of any company before you agree.
A worked example (illustrative)
The figures here are made up to show the arithmetic, not real prices for any area. Suppose five haulers cover your area and each has published a price for a sofa. Once mandatory flat fees and minimum charges are folded in, their all-in figures sorted low to high are 100, 120, 140, 150 and 190 units. The check shows the cheaper end as 100, the typical figure as 140 and the dearer end as 150, and says the range came from five haulers.
You were quoted 80. That is 57 per cent of the typical figure, so it lands in the “well below” band and the card turns amber with a warning to get the figure confirmed in writing, including what happens if the load is bigger than expected. A quote of 130 would be 93 per cent and read as typical. A quote of 240 would be 171 per cent, “well above”, with advice to ask for a breakdown and get a second quote.
What this check cannot tell you
- Whether your particular job is bigger or harder than the published item price assumes. Stairs, a long carry, a second item or a wet mattress all change the number and none of them are in the check.
- Anything about an area where fewer than 3 haulers have published a price. We say we cannot tell you rather than guess.
- Whether the company that quoted you is any good. The comparison is about price only. Reviews, whether a company’s quotes hold, and how we verify haulers are separate, and explained on how we verify haulers.
- Whether a council or city service would take the item for less, or for nothing. The finder on the home page checks that first, before showing anything you have to pay for.
- Dumpster or bin rental. Published prices here are for collection of the items listed, so a dumpster rental cost is a different comparison and this check will not help with it.
When to get a second quote
Always, if the result is amber. Also if the company would not give a figure until somebody visited, if the quote came without a written breakdown, or if any of the fees in the list above were answered with “it depends”. A second quote costs you a few minutes and is the only real check on the first one. Compare like with like: the same item, the same access, and whether each figure includes disposal.
How the published lists are built, and why we refuse to show a range from too few of them, is on what things cost. How companies are ordered when you request quotes, and why none of it can be bought, is on how ranking works.
Questions about junk removal cost
How much does junk removal cost?
It depends on volume, the item, access and where you are, which is why a single national figure is misleading. Most of the trade prices by how much of the truck you fill, judged on the day. This page compares your quote against prices that haulers in your specific area published in advance, and tells you plainly when there is not enough local data to say.
Why did my junk removal price go up when the crew arrived?
It is the most common complaint in this trade. A low figure over the phone wins the booking, then the real number arrives once somebody is standing on your drive and saying no is awkward. Get the quote in writing, and ask specifically what happens if the load turns out larger than they estimated.
What fees get added to a junk removal quote?
The usual ones are a call-out or dispatch fee, heavy item surcharges on sofas, mattresses, appliances and televisions, charges for stairs or a long carry, a disposal or environmental levy added at the tip, and a cancellation fee. Ask about each before you agree.
Where do the comparison prices come from?
From price lists that verified, active haulers covering your area published on this site as numbered versions, before they saw any particular job. We do not collect prices from other websites, we do not average national figures, and we do not type numbers in ourselves.
Why does it say you cannot tell me?
Because fewer than three haulers have published a price for that item in your area, or because we have no published prices for the area at all. A range built from one or two lists is that company's prices with a line drawn around them, so we say we do not know instead.
Does the check work for a company that is not listed here?
Yes. Type in any quote from anybody. The comparison is against what local haulers publish, so the company that quoted you does not need to be on this site.
Is a cheap quote a good sign?
Not on its own. A figure well below what local haulers publish is sometimes a genuinely cheap operator and more often a number quoted to win the booking. The check flags it rather than praising it, and tells you what to get in writing.