The question is when you learn the price
Junk removal in New York splits into two models, and almost everything people dislike about the experience traces back to which one they picked.
In the on-site estimate model, you book a visit, a truck arrives, someone looks at your pile and quotes a figure based on how much of the truck it will occupy. You decide in your hallway, with a crew standing there, after having already spent the morning waiting.
In the published-price model, the prices exist on a page before anyone is dispatched. You add up what is leaving, you know the number, and you book against it. JunkRabbit works the second way. Our full catalogue is published, the truck-fill ladder is published, and the figure quoted before dispatch is the figure on the invoice.
What our prices actually are
Not a range and not a starting-at. The published figures for the items people most often ask about:
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Sofa / couch | $170 |
| Loveseat | $160 |
| Sectional, 3-piece | $249 |
| Mattress, queen | $139 |
| Box spring | $124 |
| Refrigerator, standard | $221 |
| Washer | $179 |
| Dryer | $172 |
| TV, 42 to 65 inches | $91 |
| Treadmill | $155 |
| Dresser, standard | $169 |
| Desk, standard | $112 |
And the truck-fill ladder for mixed loads: $325 for a quarter, $455 for three-eighths, $580 for a half, $690 for five-eighths, $790 for three-quarters, $890 for seven-eighths, $985 for a full truck. The minimum for any visit is $75.
The five questions worth asking anyone
- Can you give me the price before you send a truck? If the answer is that someone has to see it first, you are buying a visit rather than a removal.
- Is the carry-out included from my floor? In a city of walk-ups this is the question that separates quotes. Ours is: there is no stair charge and no walk-up fee.
- Is disposal inside the price? Ours is. No dump ticket, no environmental fee, no refrigerant charge on an appliance.
- Can you issue a certificate of insurance naming my building and managing agent? In a managed building this decides whether the crew gets past the service door at all.
- What changes the number once you are here? The only honest answer is: what actually leaves. If the load is smaller than quoted, the price comes down.
Why the walk-up question matters more here than anywhere
Most of this city's housing has no lift. Five flights in Washington Heights, four in the East Village, a third-floor railroad in Greenpoint, a garden apartment in Crown Heights where everything comes up four steps and through a gate.
A pricing model that treats stairs as an extra will treat the majority of New York as an extra. Ours does not. A sofa is $170 on the fifth floor and $170 in a lobby, a refrigerator is $221 in both, and the crew carries it rather than asking you to have it at the curb. The building affects how long the job takes, not what it costs.
Doorman buildings, COIs and freight windows
The other half of New York is managed, and managed buildings do not let contractors past the service entrance without a certificate of insurance naming the correct parties — usually the building entity and the managing agent, sometimes the co-op as a separate holder.
We issue COIs and can name more than one holder on a single certificate. Ask your managing agent for the exact wording when you book, along with the freight elevator windows, which in most buildings are fixed weekday hours and fill up. A certificate made out to the wrong entity is the single most common reason a booked job does not happen, and it is entirely preventable with one email.
Worked examples, so you can compare like for like
One couch, fourth floor, no lift. $170. That is the entire bill.
A studio being cleared. Sofa, queen mattress and box spring: $170 + $139 + $124 = $433. As a truck share the same load is three-eighths at $455, so it bills at $433 — we quote both and charge the lower one.
A one-bedroom where everything goes. Usually the three-quarter truck rate of $790, or a full truck at $985 if the closets are full.
A single television. A 42-to-65-inch set is $91, above the $75 minimum, recycling included.
When a national brand is genuinely the right call
Worth saying plainly, because a page that claims one company suits every job is not being useful. If you need several trucks on the same morning across multiple addresses, or a commercial contract with standing scheduled collections, a large national operation has depth of fleet that a focused local one may not on a given day.
For the ordinary New York job — an apartment, a couple of rooms, one heavy object down four flights — the thing you want is a price you can check in advance and a crew that does not treat your staircase as a negotiating position.
How to book
List what is going, or photograph each room from the doorway. We price it against the published catalogue, quote the lower of the item list and the truck share, and hold that figure. Tell us your floor and whether the building needs a COI, and the certificate will be ready before the crew leaves the yard.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't most junk removal companies tell me a price on the phone?
Because their model prices by truck volume assessed on site, which genuinely cannot be judged over a phone call. The alternative is publishing per-item prices so you can add them up yourself, which is what we do.
What does JunkRabbit charge for a couch in NYC?
$170, including the carry-out from any floor and disposal. A loveseat is $160 and a three-piece sectional is $249. There is no stair charge and no walk-up fee.
Do you charge a minimum?
Yes, $75 per visit, because a visit costs the same whether it collects one item or ten. Most single items people call about — a mattress at $139, a TV at $91, an armchair at $104 — are above it already.
Will the price change when the crew arrives?
Only downward, and only if less is leaving than we quoted. Nothing is added at the door: no fuel surcharge, no dump ticket, no fee for stairs, no charge for taking apart a flat-pack that will not fit through the door.
Can you meet my building's insurance requirements?
Yes. We issue certificates of insurance and can name several holders on one certificate, which covers buildings where the entity, the managing agent and the co-op all have to appear. Send the exact wording when you book.