The short answer
Five groups pick up appliances in this metro: the retailer delivering your new one, a scrapper, your city's bulky program, a utility or recycler program, and a junk removal crew. They are not interchangeable.
Flat prices if you book a crew: refrigerator $164, side-by-side or French door $183, mini fridge $115, chest freezer $146, upright freezer $149, washer $133, dryer $128, stacked washer/dryer combo $189, dishwasher $109, electric range $134, gas range $137, water heater $131, microwave $30, window AC $87 small or $109 large, outdoor AC condenser or heat pump $115. Minimum visit $75.
1. The retailer delivering the new one
The best deal available, and the narrowest window. If you are buying a replacement, arrange haul-away when you order. The crew takes the old unit when they bring the new one.
The catches, and Kansas City houses hit all of them:
- It only happens on delivery day. Miss it and the offer is gone.
- It usually only covers a like-for-like swap — the old fridge, not the fridge plus the deep freeze in the basement.
- Delivery crews frequently will not take a unit out of a basement, and half the second refrigerators in this metro live in a basement or a garage.
- They will not disconnect gas, and a lot of older Missouri-side homes have gas ranges.
2. Scrappers
Metal has value, so there is a real market. You will see trucks working alleys in the older Missouri-side neighborhoods and cruising the Northland on bulk-set-out days.
Where it works: a clean, curbside, all-metal unit you no longer care about. Where it does not: anything with refrigerant, anything still inside the house, and anything you need gone by a specific date. A scrapper is not a scheduled service, and an appliance left at a Brookside curb hoping someone takes it can sit for a week and become a code complaint.
Never let anyone vent refrigerant on your driveway to get at the compressor. Refrigerant recovery is regulated, and that is exactly the sort of thing you do not want done at your address.
3. Your city's bulky pickup
Kansas City is not one city. It is two states and dozens of municipalities, each writing its own rules, and appliances are the category they most often restrict. Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Kansas, Overland Park, Olathe, Independence, Lee's Summit, Gladstone and Raytown all run different programs with different limits, and several of them treat refrigerant-bearing units separately or exclude them outright.
Check your own city's bulky-item page before planning around it. Two constants across nearly all of them: you get it to the curb yourself, and the wait is measured in weeks, not days.
4. Recycler and utility programs
Appliance recycling programs come and go, and eligibility rules change. Some target working refrigerators and freezers specifically, because the point is to retire an energy-hungry unit that still runs. If you have a second fridge humming away in a Lenexa garage, it is worth checking what is currently offered for your address and utility before you pay anyone.
Do not build your schedule on it. These programs run their own calendars, and if the unit is dead they usually are not interested.
5. A junk removal crew
The version with no conditions attached. Published price, booked slot, carried out from wherever it is.
- Basements. The reason most Kansas City appliance calls happen. A chest freezer at the bottom of 1920s Waldo basement stairs is $146 and carry-out is included.
- Refrigerant. Fridges, freezers and AC units are handled properly. That is in the price — there is no refrigerant surcharge.
- Dead or alive. Working condition is irrelevant.
- Both states. Same price in Overland Park and Independence.
Common Kansas City combinations
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Laundry pair from a basement in Waldo | $133 + $128 = $261 |
| Kitchen swap: refrigerator + electric range + dishwasher | $164 + $134 + $109 = $407 |
| Garage second fridge + basement chest freezer | $164 + $146 = $310 |
| Water heater + upright freezer | $131 + $149 = $280 |
| Old window units after a heat wave: two large window ACs | $109 + $109 = $218 |
If a whole kitchen or basement is going, compare against the truck-fill ladder — quarter $241, half $431, full $732 — and take whichever is lower.
Before anyone arrives
- Empty and defrost. Especially a basement chest freezer in August. Give it a day with the door open and a towel down.
- Water off. Shut the valve to the fridge line and the dishwasher, and disconnect the washer hoses. A hose that has not moved since the Clinton administration will fight you.
- Gas. Have a qualified person disconnect a gas range or a gas water heater. Common in the older Missouri-side housing stock.
- Clear the path. Kansas City basement stairwells have a habit of collecting storage right where the appliance has to come up.
- Doors. If a fridge is going to sit outside before pickup, remove or secure the doors. That one is a safety rule everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Will the store take my old refrigerator away?
Usually only on delivery day of the new one, only like-for-like, and often not from a basement. If any of those do not fit, a flat pickup is $164 for a standard fridge, $183 for a side-by-side or French door.
Is there an extra fee for refrigerant?
No. Refrigerant-bearing units are handled properly and that is inside the listed price. There is no surcharge.
Can I leave an appliance at the curb in Kansas City?
It depends entirely on which of the metro's many municipalities you are in, and appliances are the item most often restricted. Check your own city's bulky-item page, and note that you would still be moving it out there yourself.
Do you take appliances out of the basement?
Yes, and that is most of the work in this metro. Carry-out from any floor is included in the flat price — no stair charge.
What about a gas range?
A gas range is $137 to remove, but the gas line should be disconnected by someone qualified before the crew arrives.
Do you take microwaves and small stuff?
Yes. A countertop microwave is $30. On its own it falls under the $75 minimum visit, so pair it with something else.