Why is it so difficult to give furniture away?

1) Try ebay
2) Get a house clearance company in
3) Put it in an auction
4) A number of charitites take furniture, Emmaus, certainly do and we have a local charity that furnishes homes for people who have been homeless, or fled violence or for other reasons may be given asomewhere to live but nothing to put in it. The British Heart Foundation alsohave furniture shops dotted round the country.

It is illegal for charity shops to sell secondhand upholstered furniture withoiut a permanent fire safety label.

@Chocolatelovinggran, I have noticed that modern plates and bowls are much larger than vintage ones. A modern tea plate is the same size as a vintage salad plate. I wonder if this is contributing towards the obesity problem.

Furniture is big and unless a charity knows it will sell they would have to pay to dispose of it. It's not always that young people are fussy, my children have had second hand stuff, but with smaller houses, will it fit in. Made up furniture doesn't fit I to a car as would a flat pack, if someone had to hire a man with a van they will set cost of that against cost of flat pack, if flat pack is not much different which would fit them.
Yes people get made homeless and need stuff and usually when a plea comes people do offer. But if you are giving away a sofa in Inverness and the poor woman needing stuff now is in Exeter that's not much good.
Freecycle is often a good way or local Facebook groups, if charity shops can't take them, or local community groups who might know of someone in need.
People are saying ercol doesn't go but you do see them being sold. On antiques programmes, so may be worth trying antique shops or auction houses

I have a large brown leather tetrad sofa, which had dark green seat cushions and dingy-looking back cushions. It fits perfectly in my living room and is large enough to be an emergency bed. I did not like it as it was, ugly but then I realised that I could upgrade it to look lighter

I bought new firmer seat cushions and made pale oatmeal covers and then I got rid of all the supplied cushions, to be replaced by 3 large bright feather cushions. The re-furb was pricey but what a difference it made. I now love that sofa and so do my AC

I also had two dark brown taller plant stands with a shelf lower down, I almost took them to the tip but bought chalk paint and wax and upcycled them. Three years on and they still look lovely

My dds do have a lot of our/my furniture given from the time they bought their own homes and still in use.

I find even on freecycle some folk can be so picky.! - its free for goodness sake.😐

We gave my mother's mid century furniture to Sue Ryder where they auction it off, but this was more than 10 years ago so I don't know if they still take it. BHF took our large pine dining table when we moved and I think that other charities do the same.
I'm actually still using a mid-century dining table and chairs myself, as well as a sideboard.
The local authority will take furniture away, for a price, there's not much else you can do with sofas and chairs unless they are fireproof.
I have a lovely 19th century dwarf bookcase which cost us quite a lot but I know that I'll get virtually nothing at auction so it is sitting in our garage.

I've been trying to give it away free - people show some interest but then fade away, or worse, arrange to collect and then simply don't show. The people yesterday were awful, very late, took the two chairs I was offering without thanks, and then quite aggressively demanded "the other four'. I said that I had indeed listed another set of six, which had been taken, but the one they had responded to was for two chairs. They left, but I felt quite scared for a moment or two.

If the furniture is brown and not antique - then it's considered old fashioned .
Some friends of mine used to paint old brown furniture creating a shabby chic look and made a profit .
An enormous rent hike made then close their shop .

At the moment , I'm stuck with a hideous brown sofa set which is not fireproof .
It was refused by the local charity shop .
I've tried everything to get rid of it .
I'm going to pay to have it taken away .

Free Cycle every time. I am amazed what people will take. Old TV sets, collections of CDs & tapes, three piece suites, etc. I have disposed of vertical blinds, curtains.
The gratifying sense of helping students, families in need is worth taking a photo and putting it on Free Cycle. I suppose it depends on what part of the country you live. It is also difficult for people to organise transport to collect larger pieces.

If an old pine/teak or oak dresser is painted in black Matt paint it looks completely different. My youngest son is buying his house and will complete end of the month. He was looking at an oak dresser for £800. I offered him a dresser we had spare and he did not look impressed but I showed him a picture I found on internet of same style dresser just painted Matt black and he said he liked that. He's now going to paint the old dresser Matt black and saving himself £800. I'm taking that as a win. I have a G plan table and chairs and we just upholstered it in a lighter colour. The table does not have a mark.on it because I always used a protector under a tablecloth. The chairs look fab now too. I don't like waste even though I could afford to buy new. I prefer good quality even if old fashioned. I offered my son an old I might wait until he has renovated the dresser then offer an old oak chest of drawers for his spare room, maybe he can Matt black paint it too.

My friend's aunt past away and the charity shops refused all of the good furniture and white goods, but took the clothes. The family were going to hire a skip to dump the items because they didn't know what else to do with them and they had 3 days to vacate the rented house. I sent an email to the Salvation Army who were so glad of it all and actually came with their own van to take it away.

The odd piece put outside with a sticker " please take" worked well for me, and for my youngest DD when she and her husband bought a house full of junk. My middle DD has a lovely Ercol dining table and chairs set from grandparents which are for eating, homework, craft projects etc - absolutely not treated with reverence! Interestingly, the furniture seems small compared to much modern stuff, which suits her modest sized house. I noticed the size issue also in relation to china- my wedding set (52 years old ) has smaller plates and bowls than those sold today.

It's all very well 'young people' wanting everything new, but let's face it, many of them will get themselves up to their necks in debt to have it all. I'm glad both my daughter and son were more sensible and saved up to buy what they needed. There are so many young families out there with massive debts now - all for the sake of wanting to go one better than everyone they know on social media. I know that's not the cause for all - and I'm not tarring them all with the same brush, but if I know quite a few in that situation, I'm sure others do too.

Have you tried offering on olio app or nextdoor.co.uk
We've had more success with both these rather than fb

What about an auction house that way they will collect and yes you will have to pay commission, but at least it will be gone.

Our local British Heart Foundation will collect items of furniture.

They won't take upholstered items that don't have a fire safety label.

We used a Charity called "Stella's voice" they won't take furniture if it hasn't got the Fire label,or lamps with no safety sticker but they will take, knives, forks, spoons, pots pans. Vase's, Bedding everything.
They collect, just mark up what you want to go.
They distribute it to the needy families setting up new homes, after family "trauma".
Just Google to see if there is one in your area.

calendargirl theres rarely anything thats more than 4 years old ...thats why charities and will take it .Its still in fashion.

Yes, we're allowed to say it although I must say not all are like that.
But perhaps the young people I'm thinking of are middle-aged people!

My "main" dining table is almost 2.5m long and 1m wide. It does not fold.
We have 14 chairs to "go with it" (two need work). I know and accept it won't be easy to re-home eventually but it was perfect for us with a big family as we had it made for us. I think I am reconciled to this - but was pleased this week when one of my daughters commented on what a "really useful table" it was!
Keeping fingers crossed she still thinks this when we eventually move!

Now there are only two of us we tend to sit at one end - but it does nean I can leave stuff out at the other end!

Yes, many of us made do when we had our first homes, but things have changed for the better. Isn’t it better to be glad of that rather than seeming to want the same for young people today? Remember that we were probably younger, too. I was 21 when we bought our first home, and very few young people can do that now, as prices are so high.

It is sad to see loved ones’ prized possessions going unwanted - I do understand that, but they had the pleasure of choosing and living with things they loved. I also understand that young people want to do the same in their turn.

We had the same when mil went into care we had to pay the council to take her stuff away.it looked so sad all piled up outside her house. Such a shame.

Fleurpepper, exactly, even had to put up with the hideous brown/orange carpets for years - along with the blue/white huge pattern curtains!

I know, we are not supposed to say that young people today are very fussy- but ain't that the truth. When we got married, we had absolutely nothing. Mouldy furnished flats, then when we bought our first house, we made do with hand-me downs from colleagues, I made bean-bags, OH made a bed with bit of pine and slats, and second-hand shops- and slowly replaced as we went along. And never used credit, or bank of mum and dad.

Truth!