1-800-GOT-JUNK alternatives in Detroit

The short answer

The main alternatives in Metro Detroit are the City of Detroit's free weekly bulk pickup (up to 2 cubic yards at the curb), your suburb's own program, other national and local haulers, and flat-list pickup services. Ours publishes a price for every common item and truck-fill tier, shown before you book: sofa $126, queen mattress $103, refrigerator $164, half truck about 8 cubic yards $431, with carry-out from any floor included.

How 1-800-GOT-JUNK works in Detroit

1-800-GOT-JUNK is the best-known brand in the category and states that it serves the Greater Detroit area. Its full-service model is priced by how much truck space your items take up, with the quote given on site. It also offers a curbside option where you put items outside for collection.

Volume pricing on site is a common model in the industry. The trade-off is that you learn the final price when the crew is at your door. In a city where most houses were built before 1950 and the junk is usually in the basement, that matters: a curbside option only helps if you can get the item up the stairs and out to the street yourself. If you prefer to know the full price first, carry-out included, the alternatives below are worth comparing.

Alternative 1: Detroit's weekly bulk pickup

Free for City of Detroit residents, every week since June 3, 2024. Up to 2 cubic yards of bulk a week, about the size of two stoves. Items must be out by 7 a.m. and never in front of a vacant lot. Excluded: concrete, brick, asphalt, shingles, tires, auto parts, fluids, metal poles and pipes, and tree trunks; renovation pieces must be under 50 pounds. Two contractors split the city: Priority Waste east of Woodward and in Southwest Detroit south of I-94, Advanced Disposal west of Woodward and north of I-94.

Best for: a single item you can carry to the curb. Not for: anything in the basement, anything over 2 cubic yards, or anything that needs to go today. Going over the limit is not a small matter either; Outlier Media has reported fines of $1,500 for oversized piles.

Alternative 2: your suburb's program

• Dearborn: weekly household bulk next to the cart; fee-based special pickup for large or heavy items, carpet and some appliances; free resident drop-off at 2951 Greenfield on the third Saturday of the month, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Warren: bulk next to the rubbish containers on trash day; fridges must be empty with doors off; AC units and dehumidifiers need a technician's Freon sticker; carpet cut and tied in 4-foot rolls.
• SOCRRA cities like Royal Oak, Ferndale, Berkley and Troy: each runs its own curbside collection, and residents can use the Troy drop-off center by appointment. Check your own city's page for bulk limits, since they vary.

Suburban curb programs are generous, but they all share one rule: the item has to be at the curb. In a Livonia ranch or a St. Clair Shores bungalow, the hard part is usually getting a sleeper sofa up a narrow basement stair, not the last 40 feet to the street.

Alternative 3: other haulers

Metro Detroit also has other national franchises and local independents. College HUNKS Hauling Junk has a Detroit location and prices by truckload fractions with on-site quotes. LoadUp operates nationally and confirms prices by ZIP code. Local independents range from one-truck operators to hoarding and estate specialists.

Whoever you call, ask the same questions:

1. Is the price for my items, in writing, before I book?
2. Is carrying out of the basement or down from the second floor included?
3. Are you insured, and can you send a certificate of insurance if my building asks?
4. Where does the load go, and do you recycle or donate anything?
5. What happens to the price if I add one more item on the day?

Alternative 4: flat-list pickup

Our model is built around knowing the price first:

• Published flat prices for items and truck-fill tiers, from a photo or by picking items online.
• Price only changes if you approve it.
• Carry-out from any floor, basement included, no stairs fee.
• Disposal included. We recycle whatever we can and try to donate usable items when local charities accept them.
• Vetted, insured local haulers. COI for buildings emailed within 1 hour.
• 7 days a week, 8am to midnight, same-day when you book by 4 PM, with a 2-hour arrival window.

Three Detroit jobs, priced before booking

Here is what the flat list looks like on jobs that come up all the time across the metro:

• East English Village basement: an old sofa, a chest freezer and a dehumidifier carried up from below grade: $126 + $146 + $77 = $349.
• Midtown apartment move-out near Wayne State: a queen mattress, box spring and a standard dresser from a third-floor walk-up: $103 + $92 + $126 = $321. No stairs fee.
• Troy two-car garage purge: boxes, old bikes, a broken mower and shelving filling about a quarter of a truck: $241 for the 1/4 truck tier, or $431 if it turns out to be closer to half a truck.

None of those would fit inside Detroit's 2-cubic-yard weekly curb limit in one go, and two of them start in the basement or upstairs. That is the gap a flat carry-out list fills.

Which to choose

One item, already near the door, no rush: the city or your suburb. A big job where you are comfortable with an on-site quote: any established hauler. A basement, a deadline, or a preference for knowing the number before booking: a flat list. A basement sofa and recliner, for example, is $126 + $98 = $224, known in advance. Timing matters too: spring thaw from April to June is when garages and basements across the metro get emptied, so booking a few days ahead then is sensible, while winter weekdays usually have more open windows. Get a price from a photo, or read the direct comparison: JunkRabbit vs 1-800-GOT-JUNK in Detroit.

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