UCR move-out junk removal: clearing a Canyon Crest or University Avenue apartment

The short answer

Book your pickup before finals week, not during it. Price what you are leaving item by item: a twin mattress is $82, a full $94, a futon $111, a standard desk $83, a mini fridge $115, a TV under 42 inches $62. Split the total with your roommates. The crew carries everything down from any floor, with no stairs fee, and same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM.

Why UCR move-out is its own problem

UC Riverside started as the Citrus Experiment Station in 1907, became a general campus in 1959, and now enrolls more than 26,000 students on a campus of nearly 1,200 acres in the Box Springs foothills. Many of them rent nearby. The surrounding 92507 ZIP has a median age of about 27 and only about 37% of homes are owner-occupied, the most student-heavy ZIP in the metro.

UCR runs on the quarter system, and spring quarter ends in mid-June. That is when leases turn over, cars are packed for home, and a lot of furniture that was bought cheap in September has nowhere to go. The garden-style complexes along University Avenue and the Canyon Crest condos all empty at once. Part of the ZIP, Highgrove, is unincorporated county land, so if you rent there, check the county's rules rather than the City's.

Why the free options rarely work

• City bulky pickup is booked per address, two appointments a year, five items each, curbside by 5:30 am. In a complex, the address is the property's, not yours.
• The complex dumpster is almost always off limits for furniture. Items left at the enclosure tend to come back as charges on the deposit.
• Leaving it for the next tenant rarely works out the way people hope; landlords usually want the unit empty.
• Selling works for good pieces, but everyone is selling the same flat-pack desk the same week.
• Dumping is illegal under California Penal Code §374.3, with fines starting at $250.

What to sell, keep or let go

A quick triage saves money. Sell or give away early, in May, before the whole ZIP floods the market: a good desk chair, a newer TV, a bike in working order. Keep what is cheap to move and expensive to replace, like a decent monitor or a small microwave that fits in a car. Let go of what will not survive another move: flat-pack bookshelves that have been assembled twice, a futon frame with a cracked slat, a mattress after four years of roommates. For anything in the let-go pile, the flat price is the whole cost. A cracked futon, a tired twin mattress and a wobbly bookshelf are $111 + $82 + $72 = $265, carried down from the third floor. If you are leaving Riverside entirely, compare that number with the cost of a bigger rental truck for the drive home.

Typical student move-out prices

The order minimum is $100, which is another reason to book as a group.

Splitting it with roommates

One booking for the whole apartment is simpler and easily clears the minimum.

Two-bedroom, two roommates: two twin mattresses, two desks, a futon and a shared mini fridge, $82 + $82 + $83 + $83 + $111 + $115 = $556. Split evenly, that is $278 each.

Four-person unit, just the mattresses and bed frames: $82 + $82 + $82 + $82 + $68 + $68 + $68 + $68 = $600, or $150 each.

Solo studio: a full mattress, a desk and an office chair, $94 + $83 + $61 = $238.

Decide in advance who owns what, especially shared items like the couch and the fridge, so nobody pays for something they thought was staying.

Move-out week logistics

• Stairs: second- and third-floor walk-ups are normal in garden complexes. No stairs fee.
• Parking: on move-out days, visitor spaces and fire lanes fill with family cars. Tell us where a truck can stand.
• Gates: share the gate code or meet the crew at the entrance.
• Building paperwork: if your complex or condo association asks for a certificate of insurance, it is emailed within 1 hour.
• Timing: crews work 8am to midnight, seven days. Pick a two-hour window that fits around finals and packing.
• Heat: mid-June can already be very hot inland. Morning or evening windows are easier.

Landlords and parents

Landlords and property managers near campus can book the turnover after tenants leave, and property managers with several buildings can set up an account covering several properties. Parents helping from out of town can book online from anywhere; the price is set from photos the student uploads.

We try to donate usable items when local charities accept them, and we recycle whatever we can. Upload photos of each room on the instant quote page and see the fixed total before you book.

Frequently asked questions