How much it costs to buy a franchise depends far less on the franchise fee than most first-time buyers expect. The number that sets your real budget is the total estimated initial investment in Item 7 of the Franchise Disclosure Document. For a College Hunks Hauling Junk® franchise, that total runs $203,100 to $355,500 for the combined junk removal and moving concept, and the $75,000 franchise fee is one line inside it.
What does the franchise fee actually buy?
The franchise fee buys the license, not the business. It covers your right to operate under the brand and the system inside a defined territory, along with initial training and the support that gets you open.
With College Hunks Hauling Junk®, that fee is $75,000 for the combined junk removal and College Hunks Moving® concept in one zone, or $55,000 for a single concept. You pay it once, up front, before a truck ever rolls. Everything else on the Item 7 table is what it takes to turn that license into a working business.
What else sits inside the total investment?
The rest of the money goes to the assets and the runway. Item 7 breaks it into lines you can plan around, and none of them are optional.
- Paint and signage for the service vehicle, and the down payment on the vehicle itself
- Equipment, hand tools, and office setup
- Rent and deposits for your operating space
- Business licenses, permits, and professional fees
- An insurance deposit
- Travel and expenses for initial training
- Pre-opening advertising to get the phones ringing before day one
- Additional funds, meaning three months of working capital
From the legal and development side of this business, the pattern is consistent. The fee is the number buyers memorize, and the working capital line is the one that decides whether year one feels comfortable or tight. A buyer who funds the license and the truck but skims the runway is the buyer who struggles, and no brand can fix that after the fact.
Does a lower franchise fee mean a cheaper franchise?
No. The fee and the total move independently, and ranking brands by fee will point you at the wrong one. Here is what that looks like inside a single brand, using our own Item 7 disclosure.
| What you buy | Initial franchise fee | Total estimated initial investment |
|---|---|---|
| Junk removal only | $55,000 | $158,100 to $252,000 |
| Moving only | $55,000 | $211,600 to $335,500 |
| Junk removal and moving, one zone | $75,000 | $203,100 to $355,500 |
The two single-concept options carry an identical $55,000 fee, and their totals are nowhere near each other, because a moving operation needs more truck and more crew than a junk operation does. The combined build carries the higher $75,000 fee, and its floor still lands below moving on its own. If you compared these three on fee alone, you would reach for the cheapest license and miss the picture entirely. The same trap shows up across categories, which is why a low advertised franchise fee can hide a much larger build.
How much of the money has to be yours?
Franchisors publish two thresholds, and lenders add a third. You need to clear the franchisor’s net worth and liquid capital requirements to be approved, and then satisfy whoever is financing the balance.
We look for a net worth of $200,000 or more. Most buyers do not write a check for the whole investment. They combine their own capital with third-party lending, and franchise buyers commonly use SBA-backed loans, retirement rollovers, or home equity to cover the rest. The funding paths owners actually use are worth reading before you decide what you can afford, and the full investment breakdown lays out where every dollar lands.
What keeps costing money after you open?
Buying the franchise is the one-time number. The ongoing fees in Item 6 are what you pay for as long as you own it, and they matter more to your model than the purchase price does.
| Ongoing fee | What it runs |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7% of gross sales, or 8% outside your designated territory |
| Brand development fee | 2% |
| Technology fee | 1% |
| Sales and Loyalty Center appointment fee | 6% junk and 5% moving, on appointments our national center books for you |
| Local advertising | The greater of 8% of gross sales or $1,500 per zone for moving and $1,100 per zone for junk, each month |
Read that local advertising line carefully, because it is the one buyers misread most. It is a floor or a percentage, whichever is greater, and the floor is charged per zone. A location still finding its feet pays the dollar minimum, not the percentage, so model it that way rather than assuming the smaller number. If you are still deciding whether that fee stack is worth paying at all, buying a franchise vs starting a business weighs it against what building the same infrastructure yourself costs in time and money.
How should you compare two franchises on cost?
Compare the Item 7 totals at the same scope, then compare the Item 6 stacks, then ask what the franchisor does for its share. Fee-to-fee comparisons tell you almost nothing.
Line the two brands up on the same territory size and the same number of concepts, or you are comparing a one-zone build against a three-zone one. Add the ongoing percentages together and look at what arrives in exchange: with us, that is a national Sales and Loyalty Center booking jobs so owners lead crews instead of answering phones, a dedicated Marketing Coach and Franchise Business Coach for every owner, and roughly $30M a year in national brand exposure. Then check what the fee excludes, since the gap between an advertised fee and a funded opening is where budgets break. Our junk removal franchise cost breakdown works one category end to end, and the requirements and path to ownership cover who qualifies before any of it applies.
Where to take the conversation next
If you are pricing out what it costs to buy a franchise and want the numbers for a real territory instead of a category average, talk to our Franchise Development team. We will walk the Item 7 table with you line by line. You can also see if your market is still open before you go further. We read every inquiry, and there is no pressure, just answers.
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.
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.
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