Why hire junk removal company before you call the movers?

20140122_111014After doing junk removal for so many years, I have noticed an interesting way my people lose money. Due to not having enough time, some clients, when having to move, will call the moving company before they call a junk removal company. This ends up costing them a significant amount of money. Here, we will examine this issue, and how it can be avoided.

The following example will lay the ground to this issue. A client called me to get rid of some household rubbish. He had just moved from Vancouver to West Vancouver. The house the two door garage, and the whole area was pilled up with recently moved possessions. For some reason, he had to move quickly to this new location, and he did not have time to sort through his stuff. As a consequence, he had to get rid of half of his stuff.

From what, he told me, he had paid the moving company close to $5000. This means, that he could have shaved off, close to $2000 in charges. This wasn’t the total cost, since we had to charge him for hauling away his unwanted stuff. The total junk removal cost came to $1600. I had to do 4 big loads, which is rare. He just had so much stuff.

So how to avoid this? You may be planning to sell your house, few years from now, but you never know, if this will be the time line. Get ready in advance. This will save you money, and it will make your selling/moving experience stress-free. I had other clients, who never thought, they had to move under such rush conditions. We had a case, where the client had already moved the things they wanted to keep, and all we had to do is clean up the house from whatever it was left inside. We had 2 days to do it, but there was so much junk inside this house, that it took close to 12 loads. On the day, the client had to give possession of the house, we were still removing junk, while the new owners were giving us angry looks. They were right to do so, since it is their house, technically.

How to save more on junk removal?

Not everything that we haul away to the dump, is garbage. As a matter of a fact, we see value in most of the things people throw away, but it is a logistics nightmare to monetize the items we see value in. However, you as an individual, if you have the time, this option might be good for you.

Vancouver is a city, that keeps on getting new people. Especially, young people, who need stuff on discounted price. Craigslist is a good place to sell or give away things. However, you need to also know, the downside of this option. Here are some of the problems with selling or giving away online.

People that go on-line, looking for deals for furniture, rarely have the transportation. Usually, they will try to get a van, or a truck, one of their friends owns. Quite often, the promise will not be fulfilled, and you will end up waiting for your buyer to show up, for nothing. Some do call you, to let you know, but from personal experience, I have noticed that most don’t even trouble themselves with calling to cancel.

20131228_104011It might seem, on the surface, that I am going back on my recommendations to this option, but I am merely stressing out, that this option is only for people with time on their hands. This actually, reinforces my original point. Which is, to get a head start. Give yourself some time, to see what can be sold or donated. Then call a junk removal company, and get the rest of the junk hauled away.

Even if you don’t plan to sell, by getting rid of your rubbish, your house will look much bigger. This actually, also helps with selling your property. Recently, we are getting lots of calls from real estate agents. They see to think, and rightfully so, that by getting rid of the junk, the house look bigger to the buyer. People, want to picture where their furniture will go. They can’t do that, very well, if your house is full of old furniture. Image is everything.

There is also the philosophical aspect of this topic. Less is more. This seems like a simple concept, but I guarantee you, that if you follow this principle, you will enjoy life more. Since, I started this rubbish business, I have a ¼ of the possessions I used to have.