Question : Why does Junk Removal cost so much?
Answer: As a junk removal company, it is our responsibility to be ethical, transparent and helpful all while still providing a service that affords us the opportunity to turn a profit. We aren’t perfect, and we are always learning, but we do make an earnest effort to understand the good things about our business and the negative perceptions that pertain to our industry. One of those negative perceptions is that junk removal services are too expensive. So, for the sake of transparency, I wanted to explain how and why we price our service like we do in an effort to better inform customers so they can see the study from our point of view as well. Let’s take a look at why does junk removal cost so much.
The number one expense that we incur as a junk removal company on every job is payroll. Payroll in and of itself facilitates a number of other mandatory expenses that we dig into later in this article. However, before digging into additional expenses, let’s consider that one of the main selling features for any company should be that they hire qualified, professional and screened employees to represent their brand. As such, in order to hire and retain employees that fit the aforementioned criteria, you need to pay them a fair wage. Qualified employees that get paid fairly will bring good morale to the company culture thereby improving enthusiasm for the business which trickles down to excellent service for our customers. This chain reaction keeps everybody happy.
Our Main Expense
For some perspective, we schedule 5 appointments every day per junk removal truck and crew. We work 10 hour days meaning we have approximately 2 hours wrapped up into each appointment. That time is spent on driving from one appointment to the next, servicing the customer, driving to the next appointment and/or making our rounds at charitable donation sites, recycling centers or disposal facilities. In addition to payroll, add in 5% for Workman’s Compensation insurance, .86% for Business Liability, 2.5% for Federal Unemployment Insurance and 2.1% for State Unemployment Insurance for each dollar spent on payroll. Those are all expenses paid in addition to payroll by the employer. Next, we have to factor in Automobile Insurance on all of our dump trucks and trailers. Last, we still have to account for the 2nd and 3rd largest expense: Disposal Fees and Fuel. These expenses can get pricey depending on the type of debris or household items being removed, their weight and their future destinations.
Other Costs
There are a number of other costs wrapped up in providing our service such as Advertising & Promotions, which can be necessary to get the phones to ring, Overtime, Office Rent, Telephone Expense, Website Maintenance, Office Supplies, Equipment & Materials, and the list goes on. However, these expenses are ones that can be fixed and passed onto the customers because they can be managed and reduced dependent upon a number of different variables. Nonetheless, these are typical expenses associated with the cost of doing business. While this last point may not be of much concern to anyone other than the business owners, the company still needs to turn a profit so the people who put their butt on the lines to provide jobs for their employees and make their service available can be compensated commensurately.
Even still, if we’re playing devil’s advocate, a question may be, “Why do you need two employees per job?” Many of the items that we are called to haul out are large, cumbersome and heavier than one remover could handle (I.E. Projection TV’s, Piano’s, Hot Tubs, Safes, etc.). Rather than just taking a dolly inside and potentially wrecking a customer’s threshold or stair case while one man tries to wrangle it out of the house, we send two removers to ensure they can carefully remove the items so the customer never even knows we were there.
Customer service isn’t quantifiable, but if you always plan to do your best and put your employees in the best position to provide excellent service, then it is always worth it. Just one man for a sometimes difficult, time consuming job could be setting your employee up for inevitable failure. We prefer to treat each customer the way we would want our family treated if they were having a service provided at their residence.
Hot Tub Removal Before and After
So, I’m not sure if that does much in the way of answering this question on junk removal cost entirely, but it accurately represents the number of factors that come into the equation of determining our price structure. If you have any questions about this process, call us at 317-291-DAWG, email [email protected]. Thank you for reading and we hope that you can be our next customer!