Six real options — city bulk pickup, donation, selling it, putting it at the curb, hauling it yourself, or flat-price pickup. Here's what each actually costs, the Austin rules that trip people up, and which one is easiest.
Snap a photo — flat price back in seconds. A sofa is $170.
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →Austin Resource Recovery gives residential curbside-trash customers a set number of bulk collections a year, on a published schedule for your address — not on demand. If your bulk week is months away, the couch sits. And if you're renting or in an apartment (Austin's apartments use private haulers, not city collection), city bulk pickup isn't an option at all. Check your bulk-collection schedule before you drag anything to the curb.
Goodwill Central Texas, the ARC Resale stores, and Habitat for Humanity ReStore all take couches — but usually only clean, undamaged pieces, and usually only if you deliver it. A stained or sagging sofa gets turned away at the dock, and few of them do free pickup. Call ahead and confirm they'll accept yours before you load it up.
Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist move a decent couch in Austin, especially around the UT move-out in late July when students furnish apartments cheap. But you'll field no-shows, haggling, and the buyer expecting you to help carry it. Fine if you've got the time; not if you need it gone this week.
Tempting, but in Austin this backfires. Off-schedule bulk at the curb is a code violation, and if you're in one of the HOA suburbs — Round Rock, Cedar Park, Circle C — the HOA will fine you for a couch sitting out front. This is the single most common mistake we get called to fix.
You can take it to a transfer station or landfill yourself, but you'll need a truck, a second set of hands, straps, and a couple of hours — plus the tipping fee. Between the truck rental and the gas, "free" disposal usually isn't.
Send a photo, get a set price (a sofa is $170, a sectional $249, a loveseat $128), and a crew carries it out — from any floor, no HOA fine, and usable pieces donated for you. Often same-day. No truck, no schedule, no hauling. It's the option most Austinites land on once they've priced out the rest.
| Option | Cost | Catch |
|---|---|---|
| City bulk pickup | Free | Set schedule; not for apartments |
| Donation | Free | Good condition only; you deliver |
| Sell it | Earn a little | No-shows, you help carry |
| Curbside | Free | Code + HOA fines |
| Haul it yourself | Truck + tip fee | Time, muscle, second person |
| Flat-price pickup | $170 (sofa) | Just book it |
Prices are flat and photo-quoted; $75 minimum, disposal included. TX sales tax added where applicable.