Attempting to donate furniture to charity

I don’t think that people should be offended because charities won’t save them the trouble of disposing of tat they don’t want any more. And everyone, rich or poor is entitled to express preferences. I despair of the Victorian do-gooding attitude in some of these posts!

Yes. Although the fire safety label was on our suite it was very small.
Never be tempted to cut it off.

It's the fire safety issue.

MissA it's amazing, isn't it.
No- one has any money but turn their noses up at good second-hand school uniform etc.

I remember when we lived in London going to a 2nd hand school uniform sale and a well known (then) TV actress buying some of my DN''s uniform for her DD.

Have you tried your local Freecycle/Freegle? We found a home for a single bed via that
We got rid of a rarely used single bed like that. A woman said she wanted it for her grandson who had worn out one bed by bouncing up and down on it!

(We had inherited a very expensive one which was brand new.)

Oh MissAdventure I read "..and a pair of knickers, worn three times. No takers. I'm cross"

Actually, isn't there a site where worn nicks and smelly shoes go for a lot of money? You could try there?..

If they are in good order, why not put them in an auction? You may not get much for them but anything is better than nothing.

I tried to donate a modern dining table in good condition, no-one wanted it because I wasn't including the chairs.
After I put it on gumtree for free, I was inundated with messages.
The gentleman, who took it, put it in his van and drove off without as much as a thank you! ?

We has a similar problem with a sofa we got rid of two years ago. It was in good condition and had the fire safety label, we tried to sell it for a low price but nobody was interested. So we contacted our local authority refuse department who collect large items for £15 but as we are senior citizens we didn't have to pay. Apparently senior citizens can have four large items per year collected free of charge.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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).

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

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 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.