How to get rid of an old TV and electronics in Richmond

The short answer

The visit minimum is $75. A single small TV at $62 is below that, so the visit rounds to $75 — worth adding whatever else is waiting.

Why electronics are their own problem

A TV is not household trash and most collection programs treat it separately. Electronics contain materials that have to be handled through dedicated recycling channels rather than a general waste stream, which is why you cannot simply put a television at the curb in most places and expect it to disappear.

The Richmond metro is split across the City of Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield, and each runs its own arrangements for electronics — drop-off sites, collection events, and rules about what is accepted and in what quantity. These change. Check your own jurisdiction's current electronics or e-waste page rather than relying on what a neighbor did two years ago, and note that a Henrico arrangement does not apply to a city address.

The old TVs Richmond is still full of

Two categories dominate, and they behave completely differently.

CRTs and rear-projection sets. These are still sitting in Northside and Ginter Park basements, West End dens and Chesterfield bonus rooms — a 32-inch tube television weighs a great deal for its size, and a rear-projection console from the late nineties is furniture. Nobody wants them, resale is zero, and they are heavy enough that a solo carry up a basement stair is a genuine injury risk. They are also the ones most likely to be refused at a general drop-off.

Wall-mounted flatscreens. Light, easy, and the usual issue is the mount. In a Fan or Museum District rowhouse the mount is often lagged into old plaster over lath or straight into brick, and taking it off leaves a hole either way. Decide before removal day whether the mount is going too.

Where electronics accumulate in Richmond homes

Damp basements. Northside, Bellevue and West End houses with unconditioned basements are hard on stored electronics. A tower PC or a receiver that has sat through fifteen Richmond summers has corrosion on the board contacts and is not repairable or resellable. Do not plan a donation around it.

Garages. The same story with worse temperature swings. Anything in a Henrico or Chesterfield garage has been through heat and humidity cycles that kill capacitors.

Student rentals. Around VCU, Oregon Hill and the Fan, the August turnover leaves behind monitors, printers, old laptops and a box of cables in nearly every unit.

Office parks. Innsbrook, Glen Allen and the downtown towers shed commercial copiers and printers on lease cycles. A commercial copier or printer is $97 and usually needs two people and a proper route to the loading dock.

Wipe your data first

Do this before removal day, not after. Sign out of accounts and factory reset a smart TV — it holds streaming logins. Wipe or physically remove drives from computers. Reset a printer that has stored scan history or a saved network configuration. Old phones and tablets in a drawer get reset too.

This is on you, not on the crew. Once the box is on the truck it is gone, and the five minutes of resetting is the only chance you get.

Donation and resale, honestly

Working flatscreens under about eight years old, recent monitors and current-generation game consoles can genuinely find a home, particularly in August when Richmond's student population is furnishing apartments. It is worth a listing.

Everything else is disposal. CRTs, rear-projection sets, plasma panels, printers, anything with a cracked screen, anything that was in a damp basement. Charities will not take them, buyers will not collect them, and spending a week trying is a week you do not get back.

Real Richmond totals

• Fan den, media wall cleared: TV (42" to 65") $68 + entertainment center / TV stand $96 + box of electronics $77. The addition: $68 + $96 + $77 = $241.
• Northside basement, the old set and the leftovers: TV (65"+) $73 + computer monitor $58 + box of electronics $77 + microwave $30. The addition: $73 + $58 + $77 + $30 = $238.
• VCU-area student flat: TV (under 42") $62 + computer monitor $58 + desk (standard) $83 + office chair $61. The addition: $62 + $58 + $83 + $61 = $264.
• Innsbrook office clear-down: commercial copier / printer $97 + two computer monitors at $58 each = $116 + box of electronics $77. The addition: $97 + $116 + $77 = $290.

If electronics are part of a larger clear-out, compare against the truck ladder: quarter $241, half $431, full $732. You pay whichever is lower.

Booking it

Tell us the screen sizes, how many pieces, and which floor. In a Fan or Church Hill house say whether the old projection TV is in a basement with a bulkhead exit — that is a two-person carry and worth knowing in advance.

Everything is priced before dispatch, disposal is inside the number, and there is no stair charge for bringing a tube television up from a basement in the Museum District.

Frequently asked questions