The core difference is how many businesses you are buying. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is a
junk removal franchise owned by O2E Brands. College Hunks Hauling Junk® operates two concepts,
junk removal and College Hunks Moving®, which one owner can run in a single territory under one
franchise agreement. Everything below is sourced, and every figure names the Franchise Disclosure
Document year it came from, because franchise costs move year to year and most comparison articles
do not tell you which year they are quoting.
Who owns 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
1-800-GOT-JUNK? is owned by O2E Brands, founded and led by Brian Scudamore, who
started the business in 1989. O2E Brands also operates WOW 1 DAY PAINTING and Shack Shine, and
describes 1-800-GOT-JUNK? as the world’s largest junk removal service. Those details come from
O2E Brands’ own About page.
College Hunks Hauling Junk® and College Hunks Moving® are operated by CHHJ Franchising,
L.L.C., headquartered in Tampa. The two companies are not affiliated, and neither brand’s
disclosures tell you anything about the other’s.
What does each franchise cost to open?
1-800-GOT-JUNK? discloses a total initial investment of $183,800 to $294,000 in its 2025
Franchise Disclosure Document. College Hunks Hauling Junk® discloses $158,100 to $252,000 for
junk removal on its own in its 2026 document. The table uses the junk-only College Hunks
figure so the two sit on comparable ground.
| College Hunks Hauling Junk® | 1-800-GOT-JUNK? | |
|---|---|---|
| Total initial investment (Item 7) | $158,100 to $252,000 (junk only) | $183,800 to $294,000 |
| Initial franchise fee (Item 5) | $55,000 for one concept | $8,125 per subterritory, minimum 8 subterritories, so $65,000 minimum |
| Second concept available | Yes, moving, $75,000 for both purchased together | No second concept offered |
| Territory unit | Zone of roughly 300,000 to 400,000 population | Subterritories, minimum 8 per franchisee |
| Veteran discount | $7,500 off the initial franchise fee | Confirm current terms with the franchisor |
| FDD year quoted | 2026 | 2025 |
Read the territory row before the price rows. A minimum purchase of eight subterritories and a
single Zone of 300,000 to 400,000 people are different units, so the totals are not measuring the
same amount of ground. That is the most common way a cost comparison misleads people.
What are the ongoing fees?
College Hunks owners pay a 7% royalty on Gross Sales inside their Designated Territory,
8% on sales generated outside it, plus a 2% Brand Development Fund contribution and a 1% technology
fee. Local advertising is the greater of 8% of Gross Sales or a monthly floor per Zone, which is
$1,100 for junk hauling and $1,500 for moving.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? discloses a Sales, Marketing and Technology Fee of 8% of gross revenue, together
with a minimum royalty per subterritory per calendar year. Because that minimum is charged per
subterritory and the brand requires at least eight, work out the floor across every subterritory you
would hold rather than treating it as a single line.
How much profit does a 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise make?
No franchisor publishes franchisee profit, and none can responsibly quote it,
because profit depends on your costs, your market, your staffing and your debt. This is the question
behind most searches on this topic, and the honest answer is a method rather than a number.
What a franchisor may disclose is a financial performance representation in Item 19, and what
that usually reports is gross revenue. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? does publish one: its 2025 document reports
average, median, highest and lowest gross revenue, both per franchisee and per subterritory, across
its franchised locations. College Hunks publishes gross sales and EBITDA grouped by how long a
location has been open. Neither of those is take-home pay.
To get from a revenue figure toward something like profit, subtract the Item 6 fees, the
operating costs you will actually carry, and your own compensation. Then test the result against
people who are already doing it, using the franchisee contact list in Item 20. Our guide to
reading Item 19 without fooling yourself walks through
that, and what franchise owners actually make
covers where the money goes between revenue and the owner.
How do you check franchisee reviews before you buy?
Skip the review sites and call the owners. Item 20 of every Franchise Disclosure
Document lists current franchisees with contact details, plus everyone who left the system in the
last financial year. That list is the closest thing to an unfiltered review that exists, and it is
the one a franchisor is required to give you.
Ask the same three questions of every owner you reach: what did it actually cost you to open
against what the document said, how long until the business covered its own costs, and what do you
know now that you wish you had known before signing. Consumer reviews describe a service
experience. They tell you nothing about what it is like to own the business.
Which one fits you?
If you want a single, focused service line under a brand with very high consumer recognition,
1-800-GOT-JUNK? is a serious option and the brand’s own scale speaks for itself. If you would rather
have two revenue lines running out of one territory, and you want the second concept protected so
nobody else can operate it in your market, that is the structural argument for College Hunks. Item 12
is where that protection is written down: buy both concepts and no one else runs either one in your
Designated Territory.
Neither answer is better in the abstract. They are different businesses, and the right one depends
on how much ground you want to cover and how many things you want to run.
Talk it through with the franchise development team
If you are comparing junk removal brands seriously, we would rather give you the documents than a
pitch. Talk to our Franchise Development team, check whether
a territory is still open in your market, or start with
what a junk removal franchise costs across the major
brands. We read every inquiry, and there is no pressure.
Disclosures
Financial information shared in this content is drawn from Item 19 of the 2026 CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. Franchise Disclosure Document (Issuance Date: April 30, 2026). See Item 19 for material assumptions, the underlying data set, and full required disclosures. Past performance does not guarantee future results. New franchisees may earn less.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? figures cited here are drawn from publicly available summaries of its 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document and from O2E Brands’ own published materials, retrieved August 2026. They are reproduced for comparison only. 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING and Shack Shine are trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. Always confirm any figure against the brand’s current Franchise Disclosure Document.
This information is not an offer to sell or solicitation to buy a franchise. A franchise offering can only be made through the delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document. Certain states regulate the offer and sale of franchises; if you are a resident of one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state.
College Hunks Hauling Junk®, College Hunks Moving®, and the H.U.N.K.S logo are registered trademarks of CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. © 2026 CHHJ Franchising, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Twenty minutes with our team.
The model, the live territory map, and the unit economics for your market. No script, no pressure.
Qualifying veterans and first responders receive a discount on the initial franchise fee.
Could this be your story?
Book a call with the franchise development team. They’ll walk you through the model, the live territory map, and the unit economics for your market.
More from the newsroom.
Hand-picked from the same category. All stories →
-
Buying a Franchise vs Starting a Business: How to Decide
Buying a franchise vs starting a business: an honest look at upfront cost, ongoing fees, speed to revenue, control, and exit for a serious buyer.
-
What Is a Multi-Unit Franchisee?
A multi-unit franchisee owns two or more territories of one brand. What changes when you scale, and what a franchisor wants before approving your second.
-
12 Questions to Ask a Franchisor Before You Buy In
The questions to ask a franchisor before you buy: earnings and Item 19, real support, a protected territory, and owner validation. Your due-diligence checklist.
