Movers move. They do not dispose.
A moving company is paid to take your belongings to the new address. Anything you have decided not to keep is, from their point of view, not your belongings. Most crews will not load it, and the few that will are charging you to carry it to a new apartment you will then have to clear again.
So the leftover pile is a distinct job, and in a city where apartments turn over constantly it is one of the most predictable purchases a tenant makes. The useful thing is that it prices in advance. A sofa is $170. A queen mattress is $139. A box spring is $124. A standard metal or platform bed frame is $92. A standard desk is $112. A bookshelf is $97. A large area rug is $92.
Worked example: a studio on the last day
The most common version of this job. The tenant took clothes, kitchen things and a laptop. What is left is what would not fit in the new place.
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Sofa / couch | $170 |
| Mattress, queen | $139 |
| Box spring | $124 |
| Area rug, large | $92 |
The list comes to $170 + $139 + $124 + $92 = $525. As a truck share that load is around three-eighths, which is $455, so this apartment bills at $455. You get the lower of the two figures, always.
If the four items come down to two — say a friend takes the rug and the sofa goes to a buy-nothing group — the job reprices down to $139 + $124 = $263.
The one-bedroom version
A one-bedroom with a few years of accumulation behind it usually adds a dresser at $169, a two-to-four seat dining table at $138, a couple of dining chairs at $60 each, and a run of bags. Ten bags of debris is $178 and fifteen is $264.
At that size the truck ladder usually wins: half a truck is $580, five-eighths is $690 and three-quarters is $790. A fully furnished one-bedroom where nothing is being kept typically lands in that band, and everything — carrying, transport, disposal and recycling — is inside the figure.
Book the cleanout around the elevator, not the movers
In any building with a freight elevator, the movers have already reserved it, usually for a fixed window on a weekday. The mistake tenants make is assuming the junk crew can slot in behind them on the same reservation. Most managing agents do not work that way: the reservation is in the moving company's name, and when it expires the car goes back to residents.
Two options actually work. Book the cleanout for the tail of the same window and tell the building both crews are coming, or book it for the following morning and have the building release a second window. Either way, ask the managing agent before you pick a date. And ask for the certificate of insurance wording at the same time — we can issue a COI naming the building and the managing agent together, but only if we know how they want to be named.
Walk-ups, stoops and basement apartments
Most of the housing stock this actually happens in has no elevator at all. Five flights in Washington Heights, a third-floor railroad in Greenpoint, a garden apartment in Crown Heights where everything has to come up four steps and out through a gate.
None of that changes the price. There is no stair charge in our pricing and no walk-up fee, so a sofa is $170 whether it is on the parlor floor or under the roof. What it changes is time, which is why the arrival slot is a window. On brownstone blocks the crew is also working around alternate-side parking — the side of the street that is legally clear at ten in the morning is not the side that is clear at four.
Protect the deposit while you are at it
A landlord who has to hire someone to clear an apartment will take it out of the deposit, and their contractor's price is not one you negotiated. Clearing it yourself and keeping the receipt is usually the cheaper end of that trade.
Photograph the empty rooms after the crew leaves, with the date visible on the file. If there is any dispute later, an itemized removal receipt and a set of empty-room photographs is a much stronger position than a memory of having tidied up. Ask us for the itemized version rather than a lump-sum receipt; it lists what left and what each piece cost.
Single items and the minimum
Plenty of moves end with exactly one problem object. A queen mattress at $139, a sofa at $170 or a twin mattress at $111 all clear the $75 visit minimum on their own. Smaller things do not: a misc small item is $47, and a visit for that alone bills at the $75 minimum.
If you and a neighbor are both moving out the same week, it is worth combining. Two sofas at $170 each is $170 + $170 = $340, and a quarter truck is $325, so the shared load is the better number and you split it.
How to lock the price before moving day
Send a list of what is staying behind, or photographs of each room taken from the doorway. We price it from the published catalogue, quote the lower of item list and truck share, and hold that number. Nothing gets added at the door, and the crew carries from whatever floor you are on.
Frequently asked questions
Can you come the same day as my movers?
Often yes, and in a walk-up it is straightforward. In a building with a freight elevator it depends entirely on whether the managing agent will give you a second window or extend the movers' reservation, so ask them before you set a time.
Do you charge more for a fifth-floor walk-up?
No. There is no stair charge and no walk-up fee. A sofa is $170 on any floor, and carry-out is included in every published price.
What does a studio's worth of leftovers usually run?
A sofa, a queen mattress and a box spring comes to $170 + $139 + $124 = $433. Add a large area rug at $92 and the same load as a truck share is three-eighths at $455, so you would pay whichever of the two is lower.
Will my landlord accept the receipt as proof the place was cleared?
Ask us for the itemized receipt rather than a total. It lists every piece removed and the date, which alongside photographs of the empty rooms is the documentation deposit disputes actually turn on.
I am leaving the mattress but keeping the frame. Is that a problem?
Not at all. You pay for what leaves. A queen mattress alone is $139 and a box spring alone is $124, and there is no penalty for a small load beyond the $75 visit minimum.