The Junkluggers Franchise vs College Hunks: A Fair Look

The Junkluggers franchise and a College Hunks Hauling Junk® franchise sell two different businesses. Junkluggers is a single-concept junk removal brand built around donation and resale, with a reported initial franchise fee of $50,000. College Hunks awards junk removal and College Hunks Moving® together under one agreement for a $75,000 combined fee, so one owner runs two service lines out of one operation.

Both are real operators in a fragmented category. What follows compares them on the things that change your profit and loss statement: what you pay to open, what you pay every month, where the jobs come from, and how many ways you can earn out of the same truck bay. Junkluggers figures below come from publicly available third-party summaries of their Franchise Disclosure Document, not from College Hunks, so verify each one against the current Junkluggers FDD before you decide anything.

What does a Junkluggers franchise cost compared to College Hunks?

Junkluggers reports a $50,000 initial franchise fee and a total initial investment in the range of roughly $96,010 to $359,160. College Hunks charges $75,000 for the combined junk removal and moving concept in one zone, or $55,000 for a single concept, with a total estimated initial investment of $203,100 to $355,500 for the combined model and $158,100 to $252,000 for junk removal only (2026 FDD Items 5 and 7).

The bottom of each range matters more than the headline fee. A lower entry number usually buys a smaller launch, with thinner pre-opening advertising and less working capital sitting in the account on opening day. The College Hunks range carries $26,000 to $36,000 of pre-opening ramp-up advertising and $75,000 to $125,000 in additional funds for the first three months, because the model assumes you open with demand already pointed at you. When two investment ranges look far apart, read the Item 7 line items underneath them rather than the summary number. You can see the full investment breakdown for every line on our side.

What is the difference between a single-concept and a two-in-one franchise?

A single-concept junk removal franchise sells one service to each household that calls. A two-in-one franchise sells two, from the same crew, the same dispatch, and the same brand. That difference shows up in how often a customer has a reason to call you.

The two services feed each other on the same calendar. A family preparing to move declutters first, which is a junk job. After the move, the leftovers and the packing debris go out, which is another junk job. A junk customer clearing an estate frequently needs items relocated rather than hauled. One owner captures all of it under one agreement and one fee, instead of watching half of every job leave for another company’s truck. That is the core of how the franchise model works, and it is the single biggest structural difference between these two brands.

It also changes seasonality. Moving demand concentrates in the warm months and around school calendars. Junk demand runs closer to flat, since cleanouts and downsizing arrive year round. An owner with both lines has something for the crew to do in February.

Where do the jobs come from in each system?

This is the question most franchise buyers skip and later wish they had asked. At College Hunks, a National Sales and Loyalty Center books and dispatches thousands of jobs every week, so owners spend the day leading a team instead of answering phones. Every owner also gets two named people for the life of the franchise: a Marketing Coach and a Franchise Business Coach. The brand carries roughly $30 million in annual national media exposure from appearances that include Undercover Boss and Shark Tank.

Ask any franchisor, including this one, two plain questions: who books the job, and what does that booking cost me. At College Hunks the answer includes an SLC appointment fee of 6% on junk and 5% on moving, charged only on appointments the center books for you, with no fee on jobs you generate yourself or that customers book online. A brand that hands you a phone number and a marketing manual is a different offer from a brand that fills your calendar, and the fee schedule is where you can tell which one you are buying. The detail on the training and support owners get spells out what is included.

How do the ongoing fees actually compare?

Junkluggers reports a 7% royalty and a 2% advertising fee. College Hunks charges a 7% royalty, a 2% Brand Development Fee, and a 1% Technology Fee, plus local advertising and the appointment fee described above. The percentages look similar on paper, so read what each one buys.

Watch the local advertising line, because buyers misread it more than any other. It is a floor or a percentage, whichever is greater, and the dollar floors apply per zone. In a slow first year you pay the floor. Build your working capital plan around it.

How does the sustainability story compare?

Junkluggers built its brand on keeping items out of landfills through donation and resale, and that commitment is genuinely central to who they are. A buyer who wants environmental impact as the front door of the business should take them seriously.

College Hunks arrives at a similar place from a different direction. Up to 70% of what the system hauls is donated or recycled, and the brand has funded more than 6 million meals through U.S. Hunger, at two meals per completed job. Both clear the mission bar, so the deciding factor is the business underneath it.

Which franchise fits your market and your capital?

Start with your market size, then your capital, then your appetite for running two service lines. College Hunks zones are built around a population of approximately 300,000 to 400,000, with a net worth requirement of $200,000 and liquid capital of $75,000. Junkluggers reports a higher net worth bar at $250,000. Qualified veterans with 51% or greater ownership receive $7,500 off the College Hunks initial franchise fee.

Both brands are owner-operator businesses. You are hiring and leading a crew of eight to ten people per zone in the early going, and most owners here came out of corporate roles or the military with no junk or moving background at all. On earnings, read both Item 19s side by side. College Hunks publishes average gross revenue by tenure: $730,493 across 25 locations open 13 to 36 months, and $1,999,230 across 82 locations open 60 months or longer, with an all-franchised average of $1,554,610 across 144 stores in 2025. Junkluggers publishes its own Item 19, and those figures are theirs to present rather than ours to restate. Our full picture sits on the Item 19 revenue picture page.

If you are working through the category rather than one brand, our look at College Hunks compared with Two Men and a Truck covers the moving-side decision, and the junk removal franchise roundup puts the field in one place. Why owners land here is collected on what makes College Hunks different.

Talk to our Franchise Development team

If you are weighing a College Hunks Hauling Junk® franchise against The Junkluggers or anyone else, talk to our Franchise Development team and see if your market is still open. Bring the comparison you have already built and the questions it raised. We read every inquiry, and there is no pressure, just answers.

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.

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.

The Junkluggers is a trademark of its respective owner and is referenced here for comparison purposes only. Figures attributed to The Junkluggers come from publicly available third-party summaries of its Franchise Disclosure Document and were current at the time of writing.

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.