Charities that come into your house to haul away furniture (truck, mattress)

[WalkingLiberty1919D]

I will be moving in a few months, but before then I plan to get rid of some furniture. I prefer to give it to a charity instead of paying a junk company to haul it away, but I can't seem to find a charity that takes furniture and does so by coming into your house and moving it out.

I've looked at a lot of charities and many of them say I have to place the furniture in the driveway. I am a single woman, I can't move some of this stuff on my own... I don't think I can move some of it with help (I broke an arm a few years back and I have a plate and screws in it and it can be troublesome). I have things like a dining room table for 8, a child's bedroom set, a king-sized bedroom set, and a desk to donate (stuff that's too big to fit in my new place).

Charities I've looked into that will require me to move the furniture out of the house include GreenDrop, National Furniture Bank Association, Vietnam Veterans of America, Donation Town, and the Salvation Army. I also looked into Goodwlll (their sites doesn't mention furniture pick up at all) and Habitat for Humanity (they don't mention pick up either, but they had an email to ask and I sent that this morning).

I know some charities are going to be local, but I figured it doesn't hurt to try and get some more ideas here. I just hate to put perfectly good furniture in a landfill... and to be honest, pay to do it since a junk removal company will charge me for removal.

Thanks!

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by WalkingLiberty1919D

I've looked at a lot of charities and many of them say I have to place the furniture in the driveway.

Well, someone does. In YOUR case that means hiring help.
If the furniture has any sort of objective value... a CONSIGNMENT shop will come and get it.

A Commonly Accomplished Sequence:
1) Friday PM: Get it brought down/out to the driveway.
2) Saturday... have a tag sale.
3) Monday AM: The charity truck takes what doesn't sell.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by WalkingLiberty1919D

I've looked at a lot of charities and many of them say I have to place the furniture in the driveway. I am a single woman, I can't move some of this stuff on my own... I don't think I can move some of it with help (I broke an arm a few years back and I have a plate and screws in it and it can be troublesome). I have things like a dining room table for 8, a child's bedroom set, a king-sized bedroom set, and a desk to donate (stuff that's too big to fit in my new place).

Do you belong to a church where people volunteer help, know any young people who wouldn't mind earning a few bucks, have a local store or college campus where you can post odd jobs? Have you asked around at work if anyone needs any of the furniture and willing to pick it up?

[WalkingLiberty1919D]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have asked around with my neighborhood too. In doing so, I had a neighbor volunteer to help me move stuff to the driveway (I would probably need a few more to help) but it's a start. If I have to hire people to move it, I might as well just call a junk company. I did find one that says they donate good furniture they pick up, so even though I would have to pay, at least things wouldn't end up in a landfill. But I am going to see if I can find a way out of paying to give this stuff to charity first.

Of course, plan B is to not bother donating it at all. I have had some luck selling some pieces of furniture on FB marketplace for cheap. People come and move it out and pay me to do so. So that's an option to get rid of things for no cost, but I really rather just donate everything at once to a charity that helps people.

[shallots]

I found Habitat is the only one that will come into your house to pick up. As far as paying the "junk" haulers to pick up furniture - they are not cheap at all. It would be cheaper to hire a couple teenagers to move the stuff to the driveway for Goodwill.

We called consignment shops locally and they couldn't be bothered.

[TruckerDavidJohn]

The Salvation Army came and picked up my Washer and Dryer, sadly only 5 years old. Their only stipulation is that the appliance being picked up must still be in working order and mine was.

[Ruth4Truth]

I recently went through this with a move, OP. I found one, only one, consignment shop that does in-home pick-ups. But you have to show them photos of the furniture first, so they can determine if it's something they want. (This can be done by phone/internet.) Then they also "appraise" it, and give you a ballpark figure of how they'll price it (based on the photos, but the value may be revised upward, when the see the real thing in their store).

So you'd have to call around to consignment shops, and see if you could find one that does pick-ups. Mostly, those places take only what they consider to be "fine furnishings", antiques in decent condition, Asian furniture, and other items considered higher-end.

Habitat For Humanity may be the people to call, if your furniture is more run-of-the-mill, medium-end stuff.

[WalkingLiberty1919D]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I recently went through this with a move, OP. I found one, only one, consignment shop that does in-home pick-ups. But you have to show them photos of the furniture first, so they can determine if it's something they want. (This can be done by phone/internet.) Then they also "appraise" it, and give you a ballpark figure of how they'll price it (based on the photos, but the value may be revised upward, when the see the real thing in their store).

So you'd have to call around to consignment shops, and see if you could find one that does pick-ups. Mostly, those places take only what they consider to be "fine furnishings", antiques in decent condition, Asian furniture, and other items considered higher-end.

Habitat For Humanity may be the people to call, if your furniture is more run-of-the-mill, medium-end stuff.

I would say what's left is run-of-the-mill, medium-end stuff. Luckily, there isn't much left. I kept all the antiques and hand-made furniture (AKA, the good stuff).

As an update to my question and thread... since I am home all weekend and this question was on my mind I decided to try something. I put stuff on FB marketplace and either gave it away or sold it dirt cheap (like $5 a piece). The idea is to not have to have it hauled away. I can always just give money to charities I like instead. The only bad thing is being tied to the house all weekend and the one person who ghosted on me (but I found someone else who wanted a small kitchen table and chairs and was happy to haul it off).

All I'm left with now to get rid of is a dining room table for 8 (and I might have a charity that helps refugees interested in that and will take that for me for out of my house for free when I move), a couch, a set or fruit wood end tables with marble tops, a coffee table, and my daughter's 3-piece bedroom set and her desk (same refugee charity might like her stuff. They need kids furniture and the bed is a trundle and sleeps 3 when the bottom bed is pulled out--perfect for a small space/small apartment). But I am waiting on that stuff because we use it right now. It's literally the bare minimum we need to live our accustomed lifestyle.

Someone is picking up my entire bedroom set this afternoon. I plan to sleep on an air mattress on a frame and put my clothes in the closet (I have built ins in the closet like a chest of drawers). But I don't want my daughter to have to live my Spartan lifestyle so I am keeping most of her furniture until the bitter end so her personal space is the same. The only things we got rid of was a bookshelf. She donated a lot of her books to local schools and the library. What she's keeping fits nicely into a small moving box.

[susancruzs]

Interesting reading this thread as I will be moving to Iowa from Wisconsin when I sell my house. My sister passed away in January, she lived near me. Now her daughter, rest of my family is in Iowa.

We had a one day estate sale, used FB marketplace, priced things really cheap and were amazed how well things went. Her house sold immediately, which was also a surprise. Her daughter had to get back to Iowa so we moved leftover furniture to the garage, St. Vincent de Paul came. Small stuff we dispersed to local thrift stores. St. Vincent will not come in the house anymore. A few years ago they did, not since Covid.

I'm looking to get a mover, getting rid of things, buy new in Iowa. In my 70's, don't feel like it. I did when I came from Illinois, younger, 60, with bedroom/dining sets, 2 sleeper couches, bookcases, bicycle, lawn mower, etc.!

A new hoarders thrift store opened in our small (11,000) town, they will pick up stuff. It's been great, they take everything. Otherwise I have to drive 10 mis. to a Goodwill or a bigger St. Vincent Store. Fortunately, finances are o.k., my furniture isn't valuable, no sentimental attachment. I've given away things already.

This is an older thread, hope the OP's move is or has gone well. Being an older single person, having to sell a house, empty it of furniture is a chore but so far organizations here have been helpful.

[susancruzs]

A correction to a sentence in my post:

I'm NOT looking to get a mover, getting rid of things, buy new in Iowa. In my 70's, don't feel like it. I did when I came from Illinois, younger, 60, with bedroom/dining sets, 2 sleeper couches, bookcases, bicycle, lawn mower, etc.!