The short answer
A $99 headline is almost always attached to a single small item or a tiny fraction of a truck, quoted before anyone has seen your stairs. It is not a whole-job price and it was never meant to be read as one. The gap between the headline and the invoice is where the frustration lives.
JunkRabbit does it the other way round. Every item has a published price you can read before you book. The visit minimum is $75. A Sofa / Couch is $126. A Mattress — Queen is $103. A Refrigerator (Standard) is $164. A quarter truck is $241. There is no stair charge, no walk-up fee and no same-day surcharge to find later.
Why the number is so sticky in Denver specifically
Denver has a large seasonal hauling population. Every spring, once hail season has filled driveways in Aurora and Centennial with shredded patio furniture and ruined screens, trailer-and-pickup operations appear on classifieds and neighborhood apps with a round number and a phone number. Some are genuinely good. The round number is the problem either way, because it prices the drive, not the job.
It also collides with how this metro actually stores things. A Denver garage is not empty. It holds skis, a snowboard rack, two bikes, a roof box, camping totes from a decade of weekends in Summit County, and a cooler nobody has opened since 2019. A round teaser price describes none of that.
What $99 would actually buy at published prices
Here is the honest version. At our prices, under a hundred dollars covers exactly one modest thing, and the visit minimum of $75 is the floor.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Mattress — Twin | $82 |
| Box Spring (Any Size) | $92 |
| Recliner | $98 |
| Mattress — Full / Double | $94 |
| Small Junk Pile | $82 |
| Bed Frame (Standard / Metal / Platform) | $68 |
| TV (42" to 65") | $68 |
| Elliptical Machine | $97 |
That is the real shape of a sub-$100 junk job: one item, carried out, gone. A twin mattress from a Congress Park kid's room. A recliner from a Lakewood living room. Useful, but not a cleanout.
What a real Denver job looks like
The jobs people actually call about are combinations, and combinations add up in public.
- Guest room stripped before a listing in Platt Park. Queen mattress and a standard dresser: $103 + $126 = $229.
- Living room cleared in a Lakewood ranch. Sofa and loveseat: $126 + $119 = $245.
- Garage bay reclaimed in Highlands Ranch. Treadmill and a weight bench: $115 + $69 = $184.
- Basement in a Park Hill bungalow. Usually past the point of naming items. That is what the truck-fill ladder is for: a quarter is $241, a half is $431, a full truck is $732.
None of those are $99 jobs. None of them were ever going to be. The difference is whether you knew that before the truck arrived or after.
What to ask before anyone drives out
Four questions will separate a real quote from a teaser, whoever you call.
- "Is that the price including carrying it out of the basement, or only from the curb?"
- "Is disposal included, or billed after?"
- "Are there items on my list you charge differently for?"
- "Can you insure the job for my building?" — mandatory for Cherry Creek, LoDo and RiNo towers, which want a certificate of insurance before the loading dock opens.
If a company cannot answer those over text in a minute, the number they gave you is not a price. It is an invitation.
Why we publish everything instead
A flat published catalogue is harder to advertise and much easier to trust. You can read the item price for a sofa, a hot tub, a treadmill or a dining set before you talk to a human, add them up yourself, and see the total before you book. The crew that shows up in Arvada, Aurora or Congress Park is quoting the same catalogue you read.
It also means our answer does not change based on how your house is built. A 1920s brick walk-up on Pearl Street with three flights and a switchback stair gets the same sofa price as a three-car garage in Centennial with the door already open. That is the whole point.
Frequently asked questions
Does JunkRabbit have a $99 special?
No. We publish a real price for every item instead. The visit minimum is $75, a twin mattress is $82, a recliner is $98, a sofa is $126. You can read the whole catalogue and add up your own job before you book.
What is the cheapest junk removal job you will do in Denver?
The minimum for a visit is $75. In practice that covers one small item — a bed frame at $68 lands at the minimum, a twin mattress is $82, a TV between 42 and 65 inches is $68. Single small items are worth bundling with anything else you have been meaning to get rid of.
Why do other quotes go up when the crew arrives?
Usually because the original number priced a volume of truck and not the work of getting your things into it, or because disposal was billed separately. Our item prices include the carry-out from any floor and the disposal, so what you read is what you pay.
Do you charge more for a basement in an older Denver house?
No. There is no stair charge. The steep, turning basement stairs in Wash Park, Congress Park and Baker bungalows are the normal case here, not an exception, and they are priced in already.
How much is a full truckload?
$732. The ladder runs a quarter at $241, three-eighths at $338, a half at $431, five-eighths at $513, three-quarters at $587, seven-eighths at $661 and a full truck at $732. If your items are nameable, per-item pricing is often cheaper.