The two ways a Denver job is priced
Almost every junk-removal job in Denver is quoted one of two ways, and knowing which one you're in tells you roughly what to expect before you ever send a photo:
- By the item — for a specific thing or a short list (a couch, a mattress, a fridge, a treadmill). Each has a flat price; you pay the sum, subject to the $75 minimum.
- By the truck-fill — for a room, garage, basement, or whole-house cleanout, priced by how much of the truck the load fills, in eighths from a quarter to a full load.
The single honest difference between a flat-photo model like ours and a traditional franchise is when you learn the number. We quote it from a photo before we drive out; the on-site model reveals it after the crew is already in your living room. Same load — very different certainty.
Single-item flat prices (a sample)
These are set Denver prices — carry-out and disposal included, subject to the $75 minimum:
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Small single item (minimum) | $75 |
| Mattress — twin / queen / king | $82 / $103 / $114 |
| Sofa / couch | $126 |
| Sectional — 3-piece | $185 |
| Dresser | $126 |
| Refrigerator | $164 |
| Washer / dryer | $133 / $128 |
| Treadmill | $115 |
| TV — small / large | $62 / $98 |
| Hot tub | $390 |
Adding a second or third item? Send one photo and we price them together — often it's cheaper than the sum, and once you're past a few pieces a truck-fill tier usually wins.
Truck-fill tiers (for a room, garage, or cleanout)
When it's a load rather than a list, you pay by how full the truck gets. These are Denver's flat tiers:
| Truck fill | Flat price | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter load (2/8) | $241 | A dorm room, a few big items, a small closet clear-out |
| 3/8 load | $338 | A bedroom, a modest garage corner |
| Half load (4/8) | $431 | A one-bed apartment, a packed garage bay |
| 5/8 load | $513 | A two-bed move-out, a small basement |
| 3/4 load (6/8) | $587 | A full basement, a large garage |
| 7/8 load | $661 | A small estate, a multi-room cleanout |
| Full truck (8/8) | $732 | A whole-house or estate cleanout |
Loose piles and construction/renovation debris price on their own volume lines — a small loose pile is $82, a medium $129, and a cubic yard of construction (pop-top / scrape-off) debris is $120 — because heavy C&D tips at a higher weight. Send a photo and we tell you which line applies.
The Denver honesty wedge: no tax on the service
This is the part most cost guides miss. Colorado doesn't levy sales tax on the junk-removal service, and there's no separate refuse tax the way Seattle piles a 3.6% refuse tax on top. So a Denver junk quote can genuinely be all-in with no tax line — the photo price is the final price. Compare that to the standard franchise experience, where the whole price stays hidden until a crew is standing in your home and reads it off a laminated volume card. The tax-free part is real; the transparency part is the choice. With a flat photo quote you get both: no tax surprise and no on-site reveal.
What actually drives the number in Denver
If you're wondering why a load costs what it does, three local levers explain most of it:
- Volume & weight. The truck-fill tier is mostly volume; heavy material (construction debris, a hot tub, a safe) costs more because it tips by the ton.
- Disposal cost. Denver's is moderate — the Front Range Landfill runs about $88 a ton with a ~$176 minimum, roughly four to five times cheaper than Seattle but well above Texas. It's baked into your flat price, not tacked on.
- The unsecured-load rule. Colorado disposal sites charge double for an uncovered, unsecured load. We tarp every load — a safety and compliance move that also keeps the tip fee from doubling — and we route reusable goods to donation and recycling, which trims weight and fees. Those savings show up as a fair flat price, not estimate-time padding.
How that compares to the rest of the market
For a sanity check against third-party Denver data: local cost surveys put the average junk-removal job around $219–$230, with single items roughly $60–$99 and minimum loads about $99–$129. Transparent local players publish truckload tiers in the neighborhood of $148 (quarter), $349 (half), $499 (three-quarter), and $650 (full). The national franchises sit higher and opaque — $400–$1,000 for larger loads, revealed on site, and often with a dispatch or service fee added.
| Provider type | How you learn the price | Typical single sofa | Tax line? |
|---|---|---|---|
| National franchise (on-site) | After the crew arrives | ~$150–$600+ | Sometimes + dispatch fee |
| Curbside / gig upfront-price | Online, but you drag it to the curb | ~$59–$74 | You still do the lifting |
| Transparent local tiers | Published truckload tiers | Volume-based | Varies |
| JunkRabbit | Flat, from a photo, before we roll | $126 flat | None — no CO sales tax, all-in |
Our wedge on that table is the last row: a flat photo price and full-service carry-out — we lift it from the room, you don't drag it to the curb like the $79 curbside model, and there's no on-site reveal like the franchises.
Worked examples
- One old couch, Cap Hill walk-up: $126 flat, carried down the stairs, no stair surcharge, no tax.
- Fridge + washer + dryer, garage: priced together — well under a half-truck tier, freon recovered, metal scrapped.
- DU dorm move-out (mattress, mini-fridge, futon, trash): usually a quarter-load $241, one flat number for the whole room.
- Wash Park basement cleanout: a half to three-quarter truck ($431–$587) depending on how much came out of decades of dry storage.
- Whole-house estate: a full truck at $732, donation-routed with a tax receipt on request.
What Denver customers say about the price
"I'd had a franchise out before and hated the 'we'll price it when we get there' game. This was a flat number from a photo, no tax added, and it matched to the dollar."
"Half-truck for a garage cleanout, $431, exactly what the photo quote said. They tarped it, donated half of it, and I got a receipt. No surprises at all."
"Just needed a single mattress gone. $111 flat, same day, done. Nice not to have a minimum-trip runaround or a tax line at the end."
Denver junk-removal cost, answered
What's the minimum?
$75, carry-out and disposal included. Single items are flat from there; loads price by truck-fill.
What does a full truck cost?
Quarter $241, half $431, three-quarter $587, full $732 — quoted from a photo before we arrive.
Any sales or refuse tax?
None. Colorado doesn't tax the service and there's no refuse tax, so the photo quote is the all-in price.
Why not just the cheapest curbside price?
Curbside upfront-price services make you drag it to the curb yourself. Our flat price includes carrying it out of the room — that's the difference you're paying for.
Price a specific item
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum charge for junk removal in Denver?
$75. That's the floor for a single small item or a quick one-off pickup, and it already includes the carry-out and disposal. From there, pricing is flat and photo-quoted — either a set price per item or a truck-fill tier for a bigger load.
How much does a full truckload cost in Denver?
Flat by how much of the truck you fill: a quarter load is $241, a half load $431, three-quarters $587, and a full truck $732. You get the exact tier from a photo before we arrive, so a full-house or garage-full estimate isn't a mystery until the crew is standing in your driveway.
Is there sales tax or a refuse tax on junk removal in Denver?
No. Colorado doesn't tax this service, and there's no Seattle-style refuse tax riding on top, so the flat photo quote is the all-in price. What you're quoted is what you pay — no tax line added at the end, and no on-site number that's different from the one you got up front.
Why is junk removal not cheaper in Denver?
Denver's disposal cost is moderate — Front Range landfill runs about $88 a ton with a minimum — and there's a real rule that an unsecured, uncovered load is charged double at the tip. We tarp every load to avoid that, and we divert to donation and recycling to keep weight and fees down. Those savings get passed through in a fair flat price rather than padded into an on-site estimate.
How does the flat photo price compare to a franchise quote?
Denver's average junk-removal job runs about $219–$230, with single items around $60–$99, and the big franchises typically only reveal the price once they're on site — a single sofa can land anywhere from roughly $150 to $600-plus. Our number is flat, quoted from a photo before we roll, and it includes the carry-out and disposal with no tax surprise.