How much does Furniture Bank charge for pickup?

In brief: Furniture Bank pickup in the GTA starts at $150. Your price is built from a set fee for each item, for example about $100 for a sofa or $60 for a dresser. There is no HST, and you get a charitable tax receipt for every accepted item. Two movers come inside and carry everything out. If your furniture is broken or you need it gone the same day, we are not your best option, and this article tells you who is.

The answer, up front

A Furniture Bank pickup in the Greater Toronto Area starts at $150, and the final price depends on how many items you have and how large they are. The quote is built from a published fee attached to each piece of furniture, so you can add it up yourself before anyone comes to your door. There is no HST on top, because the service is charitable, and every item we accept generates a tax receipt. What that fee buys is the part most people are surprised by. Two movers and a truck come to your home and carry each piece out from wherever it sits, including a bedroom on the third floor. You do not move anything to the curb, and you do not lift anything yourself. That in-home removal is the whole difference between a pickup and the free curbside options, which need you to get the piece outside on your own.

What you pay, item by item

These are the fees for the most common pieces. The receipt value is the charitable amount that appears on your tax receipt, which is separate from what you pay.
Item Pickup fee Charitable receipt value
Sofa (3-seat) $100 $250
Sectional $150 $350 to $450 by size
Loveseat $75 $150
Armchair $40 $100
Dresser $60 $100
Queen mattress and box spring $60 $150
Dining table $60 $150
Dining chair $15 each $50 each
Coffee table $30 $100
Night table $15 $50
  How these combine into one quote is the part we want to state precisely rather than guess. We highly recommend visiting https://estimate.furniturebank.org/ to see how much we would charge you for your pickup. Keep in mind that we charge a minimum of $150 for nearby locations, and this minimum will increase for service areas furthest away from our location. What we charge will also depend on how much space your furniture takes up in the truck. Stackable items that fit well together might be cheaper than a collection of bulky, heavy items.  What we can say now is the shape of it: a single small item costs less than a room, and a room costs less than a house. The fee tracks the two things that actually drive the work, how many pieces the crew handles and how big and heavy they are, because those determine truck space and time on site.

Where the money goes

The fee is not profit, and it is not a hidden markup. It pays for the trucks, the crews, and the warehouse that move your furniture from your living room into the home of a family leaving a shelter or arriving as newcomers. It is also what keeps the drop-off option free for people who can bring items in themselves. No pickup fees means no trucks, and no trucks means no furnished homes. The price and the mission are one system, which is why we would rather show you the number than bury it, the way the junk-removal industry does.

No HST, and a real tax receipt

Because Furniture Bank is a registered charity, there is no HST on the pickup fee. On top of that, each accepted item is treated as a gift in kind and generates a charitable receipt at the values in the table above. The receipt reduces your income tax by a percentage of its value; it does not make the pickup free. It softens the cost, which for many donors is what tips a fair price into an easy decision. If you want to understand exactly what the receipt is worth, our tax-receipt article walks through it, and it is general information rather than tax advice.

What moves the price up or down

Two things: how many items you have, and how large they are. A one-bedroom’s worth of furniture costs less to remove than a four-bedroom house, because it takes less truck space and less crew time. Distance matters at the edges of the service area, and a whole-home clearance is quoted differently than a short item list. If you are emptying an entire house, say so when you request a quote, and expect a different structure than the per-item fees above. Timing does not change the price, but it does change whether a pickup is the right tool. Pickups are scheduled rather than same-day, so if you are working to a deadline, check the current lead time before you count on one.

When Furniture Bank is the wrong choice

Three situations, stated plainly, because paying us in any of them would waste your money. If your furniture is broken, torn, stained, or mouldy, do not pay us to take it. It will not pass inspection, and a family cannot use it. The City of Toronto collects oversized items at the curb at no per-item charge, and a junk removal company will haul it if you cannot get it to the curb yourself. If you need it gone today, we are not built for speed. Junk removal companies such as 1-800-GOT-JUNK and JUSTJUNK run same-day trucks, and that speed is what their price buys. If you have a single low-value item and a way to move it, the free routes beat paying anyone. Drop it off with us for free, put it at the curb, or offer it on your street. There is no sense paying $150 to remove one worn bookshelf you could carry to the car.

How the fee compares

Paying for in-home removal is normal, and Furniture Bank sits at the lower end of it. Habitat ReStore charges a $155 service fee to come inside, and asks that items already be on the main floor first. Junk removal averages around $240 a job according to independent pricing guides, quoted only after a crew sees your items in person. Against those, a fee starting at $150 for full in-home removal, with no HST, a tax receipt, and a family at the other end, is a fair trade and a transparent one.

Your next step

List your items in the online quote form and the price comes back before anyone visits your home. If the number does not work for you, the wrong-choice section above names exactly who to call instead, and if you can move the pieces yourself, drop-off is free.

Related questions

How much does furniture removal cost in Toronto? Why does Furniture Bank charge to pick up donations? How does the furniture donation tax receipt work? What does Furniture Bank not accept? Can I just drop off furniture at Furniture Bank? Who picks up furniture for free in Toronto?
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