JunkRabbit vs 1-800-GOT-JUNK in Seattle

The difference in one line

We publish the price. The traditional model quotes on site.

With a published-price model you look up what a couch costs, add anything else you have, and book. The figure is set before a truck is assigned.

With an on-site model, a crew comes out, looks at the load, looks at the access, and gives you a number then. That is a perfectly legitimate way to run a business, and for genuinely unpredictable jobs it has logic to it. But it means the number arrives at the point where you have least room to compare — the furniture is half moved, the van is on the street, and the alternative is starting over.

For reference: couch $126, loveseat $119, queen mattress $103, standard fridge $164, quarter truck $241, half truck $431, full truck $732. Minimum visit $95.

Why the difference bites harder in Seattle

On-site pricing reflects difficulty, and Seattle addresses are difficult in ways that are invisible until somebody is standing at your door.

• The house is not at street level. Queen Anne, Magnolia, Beacon Hill, Madrona, much of West Seattle — a long run of exterior steps between the sidewalk and the front door is standard, not unusual.
• Real basements. The Craftsman stock in Wallingford, Phinney Ridge and Columbia City has proper basements down a narrow, turning stair. That is where the freezer, the weight set and the old sofa live.
• No parking. On Capitol Hill and Ballard side streets the truck may sit fifty meters away, in one lane.
• Walk-ups. Older apartment buildings on First Hill, in the U District and across Capitol Hill have three storys and no lift.

Every one of those is a reason an estimate given on the phone might not survive the visit. Our answer is to price the item rather than the difficulty: no stair charge, no walk-up fee, no long-carry fee. A couch is $126 on the ground floor and $126 on the third.

What we actually do differently

• Published item prices. Every common object has a number you can look up.
• A total before dispatch. You see it when you book, not when the crew arrives.
• Carry-out from any floor, included. You do not need to bring anything to the curb — which in Seattle usually means down a flight of outdoor steps in the wet.
• Disposal included. No gate fee at the end, no recycling charge, no refrigerant fee on appliances.
• Volume pricing when volume is the honest unit. A basement is a half truck at $431, not a guess.

Two ways to buy, whichever is cheaper

By item, for up to about four or five pieces:

A living room is $126 + $77 + $67 = $270 for a couch, an armchair and a coffee table.

By volume, for anything you cannot sensibly count: quarter $241, three-eighths $338, half $431, five-eighths $513, three-quarters $587, seven-eighths $661, full $732.

Where an on-site quote is reasonable

To be fair about it: there are jobs where nobody can price properly without seeing them.

A hoarding-level clearance, a structure that has to come apart, a basement nobody has been able to walk into for years — those are genuinely hard to quantify from a description, and an on-site assessment is a sensible way to handle them.

What we do for those is the same thing, just earlier: send photos or a short video, and you get the number before anyone drives to you. For the things that do have a defined shape — a hot tub at $322, an upright piano at $290, a home gym at $241 — the price is published and does not need a visit at all.

Questions to ask either of us

1. Is that the price, or a starting price?
2. Does it change for stairs, a basement or a long carry? Ours does not.
3. Does it change if you cannot park outside? Ours does not.
4. Is disposal included or added at the end? Ours is included.
5. What is the minimum? Ours is $95.

Ask all five of whoever you call. Book whoever answers them without a paragraph of conditions.

The practical bottom line

If you have a defined list — a couch, a mattress, a fridge — there is no reason to have somebody drive across town to tell you what it costs. Look it up, book it, and know the total while you are still deciding whether to bother.

If you have a basement in a 1915 bungalow that has been filling since before you owned the house, buy volume: $431 for a half truck, $587 for three quarters, disposal and the stairs included. Either way the number is yours before the truck moves, which in a city where the hard part is the access is the part that matters.

Frequently asked questions