Three places take a big appliance: a scrap metal yard, your city's bulk collection, and your electric utility's recycling program if the unit still runs. All three are free. All three are the same deal. You get it out of the house, onto a truck, and over to them. A full-size refrigerator is 200 to 250 pounds and does not fit in a car. That is the part nobody prices. If that is the part stopping you, a hauler picks one up at your house for $109.
The scrap yard pays, and you deliver
A scrap metal yard will take almost any appliance free, and most of them pay for the steel. At recent scrap prices a refrigerator or a washer is worth somewhere around $10 to $20 at the scale, a little more for a heavy old unit. This is the honest best answer for anyone who owns a truck.
Call before you load it. Ask two things. Do you take sealed system units, and do you charge for refrigerant recovery. Fridges, freezers, window units and dehumidifiers hold refrigerant, and a certified technician has to pull it before the metal gets shredded. Some yards do that in house. Some deduct for it. Some turn the unit away at the gate, and you find that out after the drive.
What you supply is the truck. Then a ramp or a tailgate, a strap, a dolly, and a second adult who is free the same afternoon you are. That is the trade. The money is real and so is the labor.
Your utility may pay you, if the appliance still runs
Many electric utilities run an appliance recycling program. A crew comes to the house, takes the old refrigerator or freezer, and mails you a rebate. Amounts commonly land in the $25 to $75 range. You lift nothing. When you qualify, it beats every paid option on this page, ours included.
The gate is one word. Working. The unit has to be plugged in and cold when the crew arrives, usually somewhere between 10 and 30 cubic feet, and most programs cap you at one or two per household. Availability, eligibility and the rebate amount all vary by utility and by state, and programs get paused or closed without much notice. Search your utility's name plus appliance recycling, or call the number on your bill. Confirm you are actually in it before you plan around it.
If you can carry it, this is not a project
Best Buy takes small appliances and electronics at the customer service desk. Microwaves, vacuums, fans, coffee makers. Free, up to 3 items per household per day, no appointment, verified August 2026. Policies are set per store and change, so call ahead and check your store's accepted list first, because the lists differ by state.
Large appliances do not go through the counter. A refrigerator or a washer only leaves through delivery haul-away where the retailer offers it, which is a box you check on the order for the new one.
Every free option charges you the same thing
Line them up. The utility will not take a dead one, and yours is going because it stopped. The scrap yard will take it and pay you, if you own a truck and can find someone to help load it this weekend. The city will take it in a month, once you get it to the curb yourself. Retailer haul-away was a checkbox on a delivery order that already came and went.
None of those cost money. All of them cost a truck, a back, and a second person.
No truck, no dolly, no second person. A refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer or stove is $109, plus $59 for each extra one. A dishwasher is $109 plus $35 each extra, a water heater $129 plus $59, a microwave $79 plus $19. A local hauler comes to your house, picks it up, loads it, and takes it to the right facility. You do not lift it into anything and you do not drive it anywhere. It needs to be outside and reachable, so a garage, driveway, side yard or patio is fine. Nobody comes inside. That is the whole price. Nothing gets added at the curb, and it cannot change after you book. Book by 2 PM and a hauler comes today where same-day is running, seven days a week. You get a text with the ETA before they arrive and photos once it is gone, and you do not need to be home. You can book before you move it, because the price locks at booking, not at the curb.
See my price for a refrigeratorWhether this is a real company
It is the most common question we get on the phone, so here is a stranger answering it instead of us.
"I was concerned this wasn't a legit company, but they absolutely are and I'm so glad I found them as I was quoted $1500 by another company." Melissa Mader, Google
5.0 on Google across 150+ reviews, 4.9 on Trustpilot across 125+. About 1,000 items go out of driveways every month.
How city bulk pickup actually works
Almost every city collects large appliances. What changes is the calendar.
Search your city name plus bulk trash or white goods, or call 311. You will land in one of three shapes. An appointment you book and then wait one to four weeks for. A fixed week each month or quarter tied to your address. Or two collections a year. Phoenix, for example, runs bulk collection quarterly by neighborhood, though city schedules change, so confirm your own before you plan around it.
Two rules show up nearly everywhere, though the details are set locally. The item goes out the night before, not days early. And refrigerant appliances are handled on their own track, sometimes free, sometimes by separate appointment, sometimes for a charge per unit. Taking the doors off a fridge or freezer is a common requirement.
Free is real here. It is just not soon, and you are still the one moving 250 pounds to the curb.
Somebody will take a working appliance off your hands
If it still cools or still spins, list it free. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, your local Buy Nothing group. Write free, must haul, and put the model number in the post. Scrappers and handymen watch those listings and they arrive with a truck and a dolly. In most metros a free working appliance is gone in a day or two.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore takes working appliances as donations and many locations pick up at no charge. Age limits, accepted categories and whether pickup is offered all vary by store, so call the nearest one.
This route fails on two things. A unit that does not work, and a date on your calendar. Nobody has ever been on time for a free Craigslist pickup.