Chinatown, Little Saigon, and Japantown (98104) — historic brick walk-ups with no elevator, family restaurants and grocers, and alleys barely wide enough for a truck. Flat photo-quoted pricing from a $95 minimum: sofa $170, queen mattress $139, metal shelving $95, a whole unit or kitchen at $325–$985 by truck-fill. We carry it down the stairs and out. No stair fee.
Snap a photo — flat price back in seconds, no walkthrough
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →A picture of the unit, the kitchen line, or just the couch. You get an exact flat number back in seconds — in writing, in a language-neutral form, without anyone coming to inspect first.
Tell us the alley, the loading zone, or the stair door. Restaurants usually take the pre-open or post-close window so we're not loading through service.
Down four flights if that's what it takes, out through the alley, into the truck. Steel to metal recycling, usable goods to donation, electronics to WA E-Cycle.
Flat, photo-quoted, and fixed before we arrive. Single pieces price by item; an apartment, an SRO unit, a storefront or a restaurant kitchen prices by how much of the truck it fills.
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Sofa / couch | $170 |
| Queen mattress | $139 |
| Refrigerator | $221 |
| Refrigerator (large / commercial-size) | $246 |
| Chest freezer | $196 |
| Gas range / oven | $176 |
| Range hood | $71 |
| Metal shelving unit | $95 |
| Storage cabinet | $99 |
Whole unit, storefront or kitchen — priced by truck-fill
| Volume | Flat price |
|---|---|
| 1/4 truck | $325 |
| 3/8 truck | $455 |
| 1/2 truck | $580 |
| 5/8 truck | $690 |
| 3/4 truck | $790 |
| 7/8 truck | $890 |
| Full truck | $985 |
$95 minimum. The stair-carry, the alley walk and the disposal are all inside the number — there is no walk-up surcharge and no long-carry fee. Clearing a kitchen line or a whole unit? Send one photo set and we price the load together rather than adding up list prices. Washington's 3.6% state refuse tax applies to the disposal portion and is shown as its own line; there is no ~10.35% sales tax on this service.
Third-party context, not our pricing: cost aggregators Homeyou and Yelp Costs put the average Seattle junk-removal job at roughly $253–$325. Most national franchises here still quote only after a crew stands in your space — which for a fourth-floor SRO or a kitchen behind a service door is a whole appointment before you learn a number.
| Option | Cost | Speed | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPU special-items pickup (residential only) | $30 per item | Next garbage day, by appointment | Curbside-only — you carry it down the walk-up yourself, and there's nowhere legal to stage it in the alley. Businesses aren't eligible. |
| Self-haul to SPU South Station (8105 5th Ave S) | ~$35 min/trip (≤420 lb), ~$165/ton | Same day, per trip | You need a truck, a crew for the stairs, and repeat trips; commercial loads price differently |
| Traditional on-site-estimate hauler | Quoted at your door | Same/next day | An appointment before a price, and walk-ups and alleys are exactly where estimates get revised |
| JunkRabbit | $95 min · $325–$985 truck-fill | Same day | None — flat photo price, we carry it down, steel recycled and usables donated |
On paper, yes. Seattle Public Utilities runs a special-items pickup at $30 per item — by appointment, curbside-only, scheduled to your next regular garbage day (see seattle.gov/specialitems). In practice, the CID is close to the worst-case address for that program. The district's housing is historic brick SROs and walk-ups with no elevator, so "curbside" quietly means you get the dresser down four flights. And the buildings open onto tight alleys — Canton Alley, Maynard Alley — where there is frequently nowhere to legally leave anything sitting, let alone leave it sitting until a truck comes on some later garbage day. A sofa parked in a working alley is a blocked delivery lane and a neighbor's problem.
For the district's restaurants, grocers and storefronts the program isn't merely awkward, it doesn't apply — the residential bulky service is not a commercial waste service. Business clear-outs go through commercial disposal, and in this region that is expensive: King County lists $243.38 per ton with a $40.25 minimum load charge, plus a $25 unsecured-load fee. That arithmetic is exactly why a competent hauler pulls the steel out first. Prep tables, shelving, hoods and reach-in shells are metal, and metal goes to a recycler rather than across a scale at garbage rates. SPU's nearest self-haul option is the South Recycling & Disposal Station at 8105 5th Ave S, published around $35 minimum per trip up to 420 lb and about $165 per ton — a real option if you own a truck and have people to load it.
We're the version where the stairs, the alley timing, the sorting and the scale are all our problem and none of yours, at one flat number quoted from a photo.
Restaurant clear-outs are mostly steel, and steel belongs at a metal recycler, not a tipping floor — that's better for the load and it's the reason a kitchen job doesn't have to price like a ton of garbage. Usable furniture, housewares and store fixtures go to donation first: Evergreen Goodwill, the Salvation Army (1-800-SA-TRUCK) and St. Vincent de Paul of Seattle/King County all take resellable goods, and we'll bring you a receipt on request. Electronics are pulled out entirely — TVs, monitors, laptops and desktops are banned from Washington garbage and recycled free through WA E-Cycle. Refrigerators, freezers and AC units get certified refrigerant recovery before the shells are scrapped.
Only the genuine residue gets disposed of, and only that part carries the 3.6% Washington refuse tax. In a market with disposal this expensive, diversion isn't a marketing line — it's the mechanism that lets the flat price stay flat.
The Chinatown-International District is really three neighborhoods braided together: Chinatown, with its Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking community; Little Saigon, the Vietnamese commercial core; and historic Japantown — plus long-established Filipino and Korean communities, and roughly 17 languages spoken across the district. It's also one of Seattle's oldest built environments: brick buildings with no elevators, upper-floor SRO and apartment units reached only by stairs, and a large aging population for whom "carry it to the curb yourself" is not a real instruction. That combination is the whole job description here. We carry down; you don't.
The access constraints are just as specific. Loading happens off Canton Alley, Maynard Alley and similar narrow service lanes shared with restaurant deliveries and dumpsters — so we bring the right truck, plan the window before we arrive, and keep the lane moving rather than occupying it for an afternoon. Ground-floor businesses have service doors, grease-trap zones and dish pits that can't be blocked mid-shift, so kitchen clear-outs generally run before open or after close.
On language: our quote is photo-first by design — a picture in, a written number out, no phone gauntlet — and if you'd rather write to us in Chinese or Vietnamese, text us and we'll work through the job with you instead of handing you to an English-only estimator. It's worth saying plainly that no franchise operating in this district advertises service in either language.
"Walk-up, no elevator. Carried the couch and mattress down and out same-day. No stair fee. Perfect."
"Cleared the old shop fixtures and furniture in one quote. Fast and fair."
"Whole apartment gone in an afternoon. Photo, flat quote, easy. Highly recommend."
How much does it cost here?
$95 minimum. Sofa $170, queen mattress $139, refrigerator $221 ($246 large), chest freezer $196, gas range $176, range hood $71, metal shelving $95, storage cabinet $99. Whole units and commercial spaces by truck-fill: 1/4 $325, 3/8 $455, 1/2 $580, 5/8 $690, 3/4 $790, 7/8 $890, full $985.
Is there a stair fee in the walk-ups?
No. Historic no-elevator brick buildings are the default here and the carry-down is in the flat price.
Will the city take it instead?
SPU's special-items pickup is $30 per item, by appointment, curbside-only, on your next garbage day (seattle.gov/specialitems) — and it's residential only. In an SRO with no elevator and an alley you can't stage in, it rarely works; for a business it doesn't apply at all.
Do you clear restaurant kitchens?
Yes — prep tables, shelving, hoods, ranges, freezers, reach-ins, seating and signage. Most kitchens price as truck-fill, $325–$985. King County commercial disposal runs $243.38/ton with a $40.25 minimum plus a $25 unsecured-load fee, so we route steel to metal recycling instead.
Do you serve customers in Chinese or Vietnamese?
The photo quote is built so language isn't the barrier — a picture in, a written price back. Text us in Chinese or Vietnamese and we'll work through the job with you rather than pass you to an English-only estimator.
Can you load from Canton or Maynard Alley?
Yes. Tell us the alley and the door when you send photos; we bring the right truck and load in a tight window so the lane stays passable.
Is there sales tax on this?
No ~10.35% sales tax on the service. Washington charges a 3.6% state refuse tax on the disposal portion, shown separately, and diverted material never enters that base.
No. The International District is full of historic elevator-less brick walk-ups and SROs, and the stair-carry is inside the flat price. We carry furniture, mattresses and appliances down the stairs and out to the truck ourselves — you never drag anything into the hallway or the alley.
Seattle Public Utilities runs a residential special-items pickup at $30 per item, but it is by appointment, curbside-only, and scheduled to your next regular garbage day (seattle.gov/specialitems). In the CID that is often unusable: a fourth-floor SRO with no elevator means you carry it down yourself, and the building fronts onto a tight alley where there is nowhere legal to stage a couch for days. If the address is a business, the residential program does not apply at all.
Yes — that is one of the main jobs here. Prep tables, metal shelving at $95 a unit, storage cabinets at $99, gas ranges at $176, range hoods at $71, chest freezers at $196, reach-in refrigerators at $221 to $246, seating, display cases and signage. Most kitchen clear-outs price as truck-fill between $325 and $985. Commercial disposal in King County runs $243.38 per ton with a $40.25 minimum plus a $25 unsecured-load fee, which is why steel goes to metal recycling rather than the tipping floor.
Yes. Alley loading is normal work in the CID — we bring the right size truck, keep the lane passable for neighbors and deliveries, and load in a tight window rather than parking across it all afternoon. Tell us the alley and the door when you send photos and we will plan the approach before we arrive.
No. Junk removal is not subject to Washington's roughly 10.35% retail sales tax. Washington charges a 3.6% state refuse tax on disposal (RCW 82.18), which appears as its own line on your quote. Anything routed to donation, metal recycling or WA E-Cycle never enters that base.