Are people much richer these days or just more ‘picky’?

Where I live (UK south coast) we have charities which help people who have been disadvantaged to set up a home using donated goods and furniture. People are usually pretty good in donating good stuff and the recipients are really pleased with their new independence.

At our local community furniture project the issue is lack of storage space.
They only take items that are in the best condition, in vogue, that will move quickly.
There’s a lot of stuff that is no longer desirable, dark furniture, TV display cabinets etc.

No , not just Australia .Here in the UK as well .
You can't give away stuff as you could before .
It really struck me last week.
My friend can't get rid of two perfectly nice sofas .
Now they are soaked in rainwater and ruined .
The irony-she works for a charity that recycles unwanted furniture .
And on a much smaller level -no one wanted two beautifully baked cakes at church .
Two days ago ,
my friend brought me a lot of artisan bread .
I'd just been shopping and brought bread .
I had trouble giving it away .

Could you not have frozen the bread Esmay?

That is the reaction of everyone !
I'd just been shopping and had no room in my freezer .
The artisan bread was from the food bank and not wanted !

How odd that the bread was not wanted by anyone at the food bank.

We are secondhand roses, almost everything in our house is second hand, most of it good quality 19th century antique furniture. Thirty years ago when we moved to our current house it was insured for about £30,000. Today it is virtually without value. We could replace it all for a couple of £000.

We have also been trading antiques for a few years and have background in the trade and have found that auctioneers who used to accept and sell anything and everything, are now highly selective about what they accept and have refused to accept good quality furniture we want to sell because there is no demand for it.

I do not understand it. modern furniture is either very expensive or cheap and nasty with a limited life, when I look at some of our Georgian furniture, over 200 years old and still going strong. No bottoms falling our of drawers, handles still rock solid and unbroken and then realise it will be a miracle of much of this modern furniture even surives 20 years.

Some people say this rejection of old furniture is because it is too big for modern houses, which is nonsense. Look at the size of much of the 19th century terraced housing it is tiny. DH's first home was a 2 up/2 down 19th century terrace. Each room was 11ft square. It was furnished with old furniture. At the other end of the spectrum, there are still plenty of larger 19th century terrace, semis and detached houses around, plus new larger houses.

It’s true second hand or free it’s just not wanted everyone wants the latest new stuff, either they have the cash or a card to pay for it.

We are getting risk of surplus household stuff now we have downsized, it just gets dumped no body wants it.

20+ years ago, we were involved with helping BiL transport solid old furniture from France to the UK. People couldn't get enough of it - wardrobes, tables, chairs etc. It suddenly all died a death. As M0nica says, the demand has gone.

Calendargirl -
My reaction too .
Apparently , it's difficult to cut and doesn't fit in the toaster !

Walking down my road I've seen almost brand new bathrooms and kitchens thrown into the skip .
I had my house valued in the summer and the estate agent said , don't bother to replace the kitchen and bathroom ( both tired )
I can sell it in a couple of days and I guarantee that everything will be thrown out the day after whoever moves in .
Three neighbours put their houses up for sale - one immaculate and one very dated and one somewhere inbetween .
They sold in under a week .
The dated one almost immediately .

Maybe it depends a bit what part of the country one is in (ie in the UK) - couldnt speak for other countries.

In this area (West Wales) I gave away an old sofa of mine to a local charitable group that sells old furniture on cheaply and their only concern was as to whether it was modern safety-rated against fire (it was). Smaller things usually go if I just put them up offered on my Facebook page.

I moved here (from Southern England) assuming no-one would want "older" stuff I had - and very soon learnt that wouldnt be the case. When I started the renovation work on my house the electrician came in with two "sidekicks" and I'd put an old mini-cooker out to dispose of and both the "sidekicks" realised I regarded it as rubbish and asked for it for themselves - so I gave it to the one that asked first.

That's been how things have been from here on - and all sorts has gone - just because someone saw it was about to get chucked or I'd offered it to anyone. I've learnt that a lot I regard as rubbish to get rid of isn't regarded that way here (think it's because it's a poorer area and there's probably also the fact that it's a remote area and buying what one requires was an issue until online shopping came along - cue for Amazon vans are a regular sight here these days).

We have a very good charity shop in our town, which sells beautiful furniture besides lots of other things. I bought a gorgeous tablecloth - morrocan/Indian handmade .£8.
I couldn’t leave it on the shelf for that money. Fits in with my colours perfectly . The stock is changed most weeks , so I assume things are sold quickly.

Even some charity shop don't want big items.
When my Mum died my sister and I sorted out her flat, we couldn't even give some items away, even The Salvation Army shop questioned some clothes we took too them, as they only needed the following season.
Some things she treasured we had to take to the dump.
Luckily someone told us about a Charity called "Stella's Voice" they happily took a lots of stuff.

We found exactly the same when we were clearing out my inlaws' house. We sold and gave away as much as we could, but some things just didn't shift, even when advertised for free. We recently took some of the last remaining things to our local auction house, and the man there was telling us that so many people are getting rid of that 'era' of furniture etc now that the sales rooms are awash with it and there just isn't the demand.

I wonder if it’s just that people wanting to buy second hand have so much more choice these days, as there is so much of other peoples unwanted stuff available? There are a lot more charity shops than there used to be, EBay, Facebook marketplace etc.etc, which must because people are shedding their excess and upgrading what they have. Hopefully the tide will turn and we will become a less disposable society.

Working in a charity shop I see this all the time.
It astounds us that we often have pushchairs that cost £500/750
that stand around for weeks. Then we are lucky if we get £20/25.
Sometimes I could cry when I have to rag beautiful curtains. These will always be the type with tape headings. Young people don’t want them because they haven’t got the conventional curtain rail because they can’t afford them.
People would be horrified at the amount of clothes donated still with price tags on.
And then there’s all those beautiful tea/dinner services. There’s only so many you can store😥

I’ve been into second hand all my adult life. From when I was a young single woman. Most of my daughter’s first clothes were second hand.
Other than my beds everything in my home is second hand.

S Hampshire and similar Tuaim including a charity that furnishes homes for abused adults and their families.
When we had our kitchen totally refurbished a few years ago everything went, from the cooker to Pyrex dishes, advertised for free on FB.

I just bought several brand new looking story books for pre schoolers ( 1 grandchild, 4 greats) for only 50 cents each ! Some had the original prices still on - $30-$40. Lovely books,too with wonderful illustrations and hard covers.

Maybe it depends a bit what part of the country one is in (ie in the UK) - couldnt speak for other countries.

Could be. The areas I know about, do a roaring trade in 2nd hand anything.

I think it very much depends where you live.

As many on here know i work in a charity shop we are always busy always and stuff goes off the shelves almost as it comes in
One thing surprises me how many men now use the charity shop, they love it and sometimes I think we have more men than women If ever a toy goes off making a brr brrrrr or whizzzz noise I know there’s a man out there playing with the toys ( for their child or grandchild… ohhh yes)
A lot of young people now come in looking for clothes bargains and the toys really do fly off the shelves

I think the trouble with things like sofas wardrobes or big furniture is people just don’t have the room and maybe it’s a bit old fashioned but not antiquey enough We only have room for small furniture in our shop like a side table, footstool bedside cabinet etc but they often go for upcycling

I remember my mother in law bought a second hand present for one of our children one Christmas, slightly taken aback at first, when she told me it wasn't new. However, it turned out to be an inspired gift, a fort from the Wild West days, high fencing, wagons lots of other different bits and pieces, men in cowboy hats, native Americans in tribal dress. It had been well taken care of, I think she got it from one of her Townswomen Guild sales. It wasn't something that would have been around in the shops at the time. It was a great success giving hours of involved playing time and turned out to be one of the most sought after toys in our house for quite some time.

Some people are definitely "picky" but as M0nica says - even antiques go in fashions.

And then there are rooms and rooms...
We bought some enormous Georgian furniture for our old Georgian farmhouse and brought it with us to this house when we moved. It is really a bit big for where we live now - a large Victorian terrace.

Yes, our rooms are high at 3m plus - but not quite so spacious or "perfectly formed" with bays typical of the period. I doubt we would have bought these huge pieces if we had been living here at the time.

The poster upthread who trades in antiques is correct.

Most people want modern stuff which is poorly made rubbish in comparison with antique and vintage furniture. Fortunately there are a few people who are into recycling and sustainability in a big way and antiques are the ultimate form of recycling. You never really "own" an antique - uou are just the curator of it for your lifetime.

Back in the day this old furniture was appreciated. I sold a lot of it in the 1970s when my grandmother left me the contents of her house. Apart from the tech and white goods there is very little in my house that is "new". I will not give it house room.

... and then there is credit in all it's forms.
We put up with things we didn't really like until we found what we wanted and had the money for it.