How Much Do Paper Shredding Services Cost?
Quick Summary
- Drop-off is cheapest: You bring documents to a facility and pay by the pound or by the box.
- Mobile costs more: A truck comes to you and shreds on site, priced per visit or per bin.
- Weight vs. volume: Retail stores charge by the pound. Records companies usually charge by the box.
- Certification matters: A NAID AAA provider gives you a Certificate of Destruction. Cheaper options often don’t.
Paper shredding at a retail drop-off location generally costs 99 cents to $1.50 per pound, which comes to $30 or more for a single banker’s box. Augusta Data Storage charges $40 for up to five boxes or bags, so a customer clearing out five boxes pays about what someone pays for one box at a retail counter.
Your total comes down to how much paper you have and which shredding method you pick. Here’s how the pricing works, plus what you can expect to pay for a box, a small purge, or a full office cleanout.
Paper Shredding Service Prices at Augusta Data Storage
| Service | Price |
| Paper shredding (drop-off) | $40 for up to 5 boxes or bags, scaling by box count |
| Hard drive and SSD destruction | $10 per drive ($9 each for 200 or more), $50 minimum |
| E-waste recycling | 75 cents per pound, $75 minimum |
| CDs, DVDs, and other media | 75 cents per pound, $75 minimum |
| Backup tapes, USB drives, and VHS tapes | $2 per item |
| Mobile shredding project | $200 per hour plus $50 per bin emptied, $265 minimum |
| Plant shredding project | $105 per hour plus $8 per box, $265 minimum |
How Much Does Shredding Cost Per Pound and Per Box?
Retail stores weigh your paper and charge by the pound, so a heavy box costs more than a light one. A full banker’s box of office paper weighs 30 to 35 pounds, which puts one box at $30 to $53 at retail rates of 99 cents to $1.50 per pound.
Augusta Data Storage charges by the item instead. One item is a standard banker’s box or a 13-gallon trash bag, and the price stays the same regardless of how much paper you packed into it.
| What you’re shredding | Approximate weight | Augusta Data Storage | Retail drop-off |
| 1 banker’s box | 30 to 35 lbs | $40 | $30 to $53 |
| 5 banker’s boxes | 150 to 175 lbs | $40 | $149 to $263 |
| 10 banker’s boxes | 300 to 350 lbs | $60 | $297 to $525 |
| 15 banker’s boxes | 450 to 525 lbs | $80 | $446 to $788 |
| 20 banker’s boxes | 600 to 700 lbs | $100 | $594 to $1,050 |
| Each box past 20 | 30 to 35 lbs | $6 | $30 to $53 |
One box costs about the same either way. Past that, customers pay a fraction of the retail price, and 20 boxes works out to $5 per box. If you’ve been putting off a purge, this pricing rewards bringing everything in at once.
If you can’t easily count your boxes or bags, our team can weigh your load and charge 25 cents per pound instead.
What Affects the Cost of Shredding Services?
How much paper you have. Weight drives the price on one-time jobs. Larger purges cost more in total but far less per pound once you pass the minimum.
How the shredding happens. Our team shreds drop-off paper at our plant, which keeps the price down. Sending a mobile truck to your address costs more because we’re bringing equipment and staff to you.
One-time versus recurring service. Businesses that schedule regular pickups usually pay less per service than they would for occasional one-time jobs.
Certification and documentation. Providers who hold NAID AAA certification submit to unannounced audits of their security practices. That oversight costs money to maintain, and it’s the difference between a shredding vendor and a records destruction company.
Mobile Shredding Cost vs. Drop-Off Shredding Cost
Drop-off shredding is the cheapest option for most people. You schedule an appointment, bring your documents to our facility on Mike Padgett Highway, and pay by the box.
Mobile shredding costs $200 per hour plus $50 for each bin our operator empties into the truck, with a $265 minimum. The truck comes to your location and our operator shreds everything on site while you watch. Our team surveys every mobile project before quoting it, so you’ll know your total before we arrive.
For a large one-time purge, plant shredding usually costs less than a mobile visit. Our team picks up your boxes and transports them under chain of custody to our plant, where we charge $105 per hour plus $8 per box, with the same $265 minimum.
Drop-Off Shredding at a Retail Store vs. a Certified Provider
The bigger difference shows up after you hand over your documents. An employee at a retail counter sets your paper aside until a third-party vendor collects it on their next route, and you leave without a record of what happened to it.
Augusta Data Storage holds NAID AAA certification, so outside auditors arrive unannounced to inspect how our team handles and destroys documents. We weigh your paper at drop-off and keep it under a documented chain of custody until our operator shreds it. You get a Certificate of Destruction for your records before you leave.
How Much Does It Cost to Shred a Hard Drive?
Hard drive and SSD destruction costs $10 per drive with a $50 minimum, and the price drops to $9 per drive for 200 drives or more.That covers physical destruction of the drive, not just a software wipe, so nobody can recover the data afterward.
Deleting files or reformatting a drive leaves the underlying data recoverable with tools anyone can download. Physical destruction removes that risk completely. We also destroy backup tapes and USB drives at $2 per item, and CDs and DVDs at 75 cents per pound.
What About Free Shredding Events?
Free events do come with limits. Organizers usually cap how much paper each person can bring, they only run on specific dates, and they don’t typically hand out documentation of destruction. Seniors clearing out decades of financial records often hit the cap on the first trip.
If you have more than a couple of boxes or you need proof that your documents were destroyed, paid drop-off service gives you both without the wait.
Churches, banks, and community groups that want to host their own shred day can book our mobile truck for a Saturday event starting at $1,200.
Alternatives to Shredding Documents at Home
Home shredders handle light work fine, but they jam on staples and bog down after a few dozen pages. A decent one costs $60 to $400, and replacing a burned-out motor every couple of years adds up against the cost of one drop-off appointment.
Some people try soaking documents in water or burning them. Water leaves paper legible more often than you’d think, burning creates a fire hazard, and neither method gives you any documentation. For personal papers with account numbers or Social Security numbers on them, professional destruction costs less than most people assume.
Get a Shredding Quote in the CSRA
If your staff is feeding documents through an office shredder a few pages at a time, you’re paying for that in labor every week. Scheduled service usually costs less and keeps sensitive paperwork out of desk drawers between purges.
Call us at (706) 793-0186 to schedule a drop-off appointment or request a quote for a mobile or plant shredding project. Our team accepts drop-offs Monday through Friday, 8 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 3:30 p.m.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does paper shredding cost per pound?
Retail drop-off shredding generally costs 99 cents to $1.50 per pound. Augusta Data Storage prices drop-off shredding by the box instead, with $40 covering up to five boxes or bags. If you can’t count your load, our team weighs it and charges 25 cents per pound.
How much does it cost to shred a banker’s box of documents?
A standard banker’s box of office paper weighs 30 to 35 pounds. At retail rates, that runs $30 to $53 per box.
Do I need an appointment to drop off shredding?
Yes. Augusta Data Storage accepts drop-off shredding by appointment only, Monday through Friday, 8 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 3:30 p.m. Call (706) 793-0186 to schedule a time.
How much does mobile shredding cost?
Mobile shredding at Augusta Data Storage costs $200 per hour plus $50 for each bin emptied, with a $265 minimum. Our team surveys every mobile project before quoting it, so you know the total before the truck arrives.
What does a one-time shredding service cost?
Drop-off purges cost $40 for up to five boxes, $60 for up to 10, and $100 for up to 20. Ten boxes would cost roughly $300 or more at retail rates. For larger purges, plant shredding costs $105 per hour plus $8 per box, with a $265 minimum.
Is drop-off or mobile shredding cheaper?
Drop-off shredding costs less. You bring your documents to our facility, and we shred them at our plant without sending a truck to your address. Mobile shredding costs more per visit, but you get to watch the destruction happen on site.
What’s the most affordable shredding option for a small business?
Scheduled service usually costs less than repeated one-time jobs. Our team places locked collection bins at your office and empties them on a set schedule, which spreads the cost out and keeps employees from stockpiling sensitive paperwork.