The short answer
Electronics are regulated waste in California. TVs, monitors and most screens are banned from household trash and have to be handled as e-waste - which is why a TV has its own price rather than disappearing into a general load.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| TV, under 42 inches | $62 |
| TV, 42 to 65 inches | $68 |
| TV, 65 inches and up | $73 |
| Computer monitor | $58 |
| Box of electronics | $77 |
| Entertainment center / TV stand | $96 |
| Copier / printer, commercial | $97 |
| 3D printer | $82 |
Minimum per visit is $75, so a single monitor at $58 is a $75 job. A 65-inch TV at $73 is also under, so that is $75 on its own - worth adding the stand at $96 and making it $73 + $96 = $169.
Why you cannot just put it out
California treats screens as hazardous e-waste because of what is inside them - older CRTs carry leaded glass, flat panels carry mercury in the backlighting, and both carry circuit boards with metals nobody wants in a landfill. You already paid a recycling fee when you bought the set; the state's system is built around collecting it back.
Practically: a TV at the curb will be left there. Then it sits, and in the beach neighborhoods it sits in an alley where somebody will eventually put a foot through the panel, which turns a disposal problem into a broken-glass problem on a public right of way.
Free drop-off options do exist. Many electronics retailers take back screens and small devices, the county runs collection events, and there are certified e-waste recyclers around the metro. If you can drive it and you have the afternoon, that is a genuinely good route - check current hours and size limits first, because large TVs are the ones most often turned away.
The wall-mount problem
This is the specific San Diego version of the job. Large flat panels mounted over a fireplace or on a stucco or plaster wall, in houses where the mount went in before anyone thought about getting it out.
A 65-inch panel is not heavy, it is unwieldy, and coming off a high mount it is a two-person job with a ladder. In the 1920s Craftsman bungalows of North Park, Kensington and South Park the wall behind it is lath and plaster; in the 1960s Clairemont and Allied Gardens ranch houses it is drywall over a stud you hope somebody found.
Take it off the mount before the visit if you can do it safely with a second person. If you cannot, say so when you book. Either way the price is the size price - no charge for the ladder, and no charge for the stairs afterwards.
What counts as a box of electronics
A box of electronics is $77 and covers the drawer-and-closet layer that every household has: cables, routers, old phones, game consoles, chargers, keyboards, speakers, a DVD player, three remotes for devices you no longer own.
It is usually the cheapest way to handle small e-waste, because the alternative is a dozen separate item lines. If you have two boxes, that is $77 + $77 = $154.
What does not belong in it: anything with a sealed refrigerant system, which is priced as an appliance - a mini fridge is $115, a portable AC is $85, a dehumidifier is $77.
Wipe your data first
Certified recyclers destroy drives, but you should not rely on someone else's process for your own tax returns.
- Sign out of accounts on smart TVs and consoles. A modern TV holds streaming logins, and a factory reset takes two minutes.
- Factory reset phones and tablets, then remove the SIM.
- Pull the drive out of a desktop if you care, or run a full wipe. A dead laptop's drive is often still readable.
- Clear the memory on a network printer - the ones in home offices store scanned documents.
None of this changes the price. It just means that when the box leaves your Scripps Ranch home office, your data does not leave with it.
The home-office wave
San Diego's biotech, defense and tech employers put a lot of people into home offices, and those offices are now on their second or third hardware cycle. The load looks the same every time.
Typical Carmel Valley or Scripps Ranch home office clear: desk $83 + office chair $61 + two computer monitors ($58 + $58 = $116) + box of electronics $77 + bookshelf $72 = $409.
Small business closing in Kearny Mesa or Sorrento Valley: commercial copier $97 + cubicle workstation $163 + conference table $260 + executive desk $208 = $728.
Both are straight sums of published prices. Against the truck ladder, that second one is close to the seven-eighths tier at $661 and the full at $732 - price it both ways.
Old CRTs and the garage
The heavy tube TVs have not gone anywhere in this city. They are in garages, because San Diego has no basements and the garage absorbs everything, and because a 200-pound CRT is exactly the kind of object you deal with later.
A CRT is priced by screen size like any other TV - under 42 inches is $62. The difference is weight, which is our problem, not yours. They are also the ones drop-off sites are most likely to refuse, so if you have been driving one around Clairemont looking for somewhere to leave it, that is why.
Booking it with everything else
Electronics rarely justify a visit alone. The $75 minimum means a single $62 TV costs $75 anyway, so it is worth pairing.
Common San Diego pairings:
- TV plus the stand it sat on: $68 + $96 = $164
- TV plus the sofa in front of it: $68 + $126 = $194
- Office clear: monitor $58 + desk $83 + office chair $61 = $202
All included: carry-out from any floor, the canyon staircase, the walk-up, the disposal routing.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a TV cost more than a bigger, heavier chair?
Because it is regulated e-waste in California and has to be routed to a certified processor rather than a general load. The handling is in the item price - there is no separate e-waste fee.
Do you take a TV that still works?
Yes, at the same price. If it works well, try selling or donating it first - working flat panels move quickly on local listings here.
Can you take it off the wall mount?
Yes. Tell us when you book so the crew brings the right hands. There is no charge for it.
Is the mount itself extra?
No, the bracket goes with the TV. Patching the wall afterwards is not something we do.
What about a giant old projection TV in the garage?
Priced by screen size like any other set - $73 for 65 inches and up. The weight is the crew's problem.
I only have one monitor. What will it cost?
A monitor is $58, but the visit minimum is $75, so on its own it is a $75 job. Add anything else you have while the truck is there.