Attempting to donate furniture to charity

They can't sell furniture without a fire safety label and as you say the furniture is old, maybe that's why they won't take it either. It seems a shame if you feel they have life in them.

When we moved here we had two nearly new DFS armchairs to give away and the furniture project said they were only taking recliners. I didn't know everyone had got so fussy.

That is very strange and disappointing Judy.
I would think someone in desperate need wouldn’t be the slighted bit bothered if chairs didn’t match a settee they were given.

In fact isn’t mis-matched furniture fashionable now?

Sometimes these charity places don’t make it easy for those wanting to donate.

Have you got a local Freecycle online? I have got rid of a few items that method. Admittedly some people are looking for Smart flat-screen TVs but there is always somebody who will try their luck.

If the furniture is old (before the fire regulations came in) it’s not possible to even give them away if they don’t have all the fire hazards labels on them
What you could do is advertise them on a local page like fb and put them outside and people will take them if not you have lost nothing as you ll have to have them taken to the tip either way but at least that gives them a chance every time I have something surplus to requirement I put it outside my back gate and within hours it has gone
A funny story I put some pipes outside after some house improvements they soon went a bit later there was a knock on the door I went to answer it there was an middle aged man who said I ve taken sone pipes from by your back gate I don’t suppose you have the brackets to go with them do you ?

I agree JenniferEccles other than the fact that they shouldn’t be accepted if they don’t carry a fire safety label I would have thought that the charity could pass them on to someone. Surely if you have nothing you would be very grateful. Like many people most of my furniture was given to us second hand by family and friends. Perhaps charities and people are too fussy these days.

We have a tv table that we cant get rid of for love not money! Weve tried selling it cheaply, donating it to charity and taking it to a junk shop. It's now under the car port waiting to do to the dump. Such a waste.

In a bout of over-enthusiasm I bought a lovely wooden crib to keep for use here when our first DGS was due. Of course every visiting baby after that arrived in a Moses basket or a car seat, so it was used for maybe ten hours in all. The first charity furniture shop we offered it to said there was no call for nursery furniture , the second charity said they had too many baby things, the third took it and sold it the same day. I just hope someone got some use out of it!

I have got rid of several things lately on FB marketplace - they go very quickly both FOC and well priced items. Got a few things to put on tomorrow.

Ditto other items, I rang four charities for a clean, working oven and small freezer, no interest. Freezer now going free to someone local, cooker to the scrap man, feels like a real waste of the cooker.

I didn't know everyone had got so fussy.
We commented on this years ago when we moved here! When we lived in London people seemed better off there but that's perhaps because they didn't turn up their noses at second-hand furniture or school uniforms.

We do now have an upcycling depot but apparently no-one wants 'brown' furniture.
Well - paint it then. That's what we did in the 1960s

You could try your local Sell and Seek, quite easy but you do need photographs.
We put my Mum's old stuff into the local Auction Mart - it only made a few pounds but it seemed such a shame to dump it. We put stickers on electrical goods to say they were in working order, but I don't know whether it made any difference.
Look in your local paper for Furniture Sales (or similar).

We had a large perfectly good television. The charity we hoped to donate it to asked if it was flat screen. When we said no they did not want it. We gave it to someone with a car boot stall. It went within 4 minutes

Have you tried your local Freecycle/Freegle? We found a home for a single bed via that.

I recently offloaded a large oak sideboard we’d had for donkeys’ years to the British Heart Foundation. It was in very good condition though.

Dd uses Gumtree a lot, ditto FB marketplace, for both buying and offloading. She got a huge mirror in perfect condition - for free! - via one of those, forget which though.

I've currently got 3 black sacks full of boys clothes on freecycle, for the second time.
Quite a lot of it is brand new, the uniform, well I'm sure some of you know about that.
Lots of branded tracksuits, and a pair of kickers, worn 3 times.

No takers. I'm cross!

We had a nearly new, barely used sofa we couldn’t get any charity to take - despite having a fire safety ticket, we were told people wanted leather! Friend’s son took it for his flat - pink, but he wasn’t bothered!
When DF died there were 3 almost new Parker Knoll armchairs - again we couldn’t find a home for them.

Please don’t blame the charities we have very very limited space to store items in most shops don’t have the space needed for furniture a big backed tv will not sell for love nor money and take up a lot of room and is heavy
it is a huge shame but it’s not the charities fault
Sell it or give it away yourself

I m a great recycler Why don’t you sell those items yourself MissA on a local site or give them away on Freecycle

These stories are particularly surprising when all we hear about from some quarters is the alleged level of poverty in this country.

Yes clearly items donated have to be clean, in good condition and to adhere to up to date safety regulations but this is a story I have heard repeatedly from friends wanting to find a good home for perfectly serviceable items.

They're on freecycle, Bluebelle, for the second time, as no interest last time.

I'm off selling for now.
I've not got the energy required these days.

I have given away quite a lot on Gumtree. It’s a free site, just google gumtree then your area. So for example “Gumtree Sunderland”
You will need photos. to upload.

We've donated to Emmaus in the past but they're not so keen to take things now. I get the impression they're short of volunteers. And it must cost a bit to send lorries to pick things up.
That was in France, but I know there are branches here too.

We went to a big sale in France which Emmaus sime years ago, i had never heard of them but was told they helped the homeless abd yes there are branches over here.
We had an interestimg day wandering round the hundreds of stalls and found a few bargains which fitted in the back of our fiesta and reluctantly left the larger items because of space.
Loved the vide greniers and brocantes in France.
We are hopeless at selling items and usually give them away but was really happy when we sold a JL cot bed the other day trouble is they have just phoned to say its missing a leg.

I commented to my OH the other day that people on Freecycle have started requesting specific brands of the items they want.

Charity shops around here were swamped with so many people having clear outs during lockdown, Many volunteers are retired so possibly wary and isolating. One of the homeless charities here have used their extra grant to buy a storage unit so they are able to store more items.