Trying to sell anything is impossible

For furniture you get a quote for moving within ten miles and jack up the price to include delivery. £250 becomes £350.

Try vinted or ebay

I use Gumtree for furniture.

Vinted for clothes.

British Heat Foundation pick up furniture if it has all the relevant fire safety labels

@daleylama - there is no need to quote the opening post before adding your reply. It is assumed by all that you are responding to the OP. Imagine how long the thread would be if everyone responding did it?! Hopefully this is helpful.

Definitely, though I do have more sympathy for people who struggle when offloading due to bereavement.

It's a tough time anyway, and people don't necessarily have the bandwidth to accept that their beloved relative's often cherished possessions are worth nothing, or not enough to justify any effort. And charities are on the frontline of that.

It's a very new thing for humans to die having amassed lots of stuff that nobody wants and that has to be disposed of. We don't have a rulebook or social norms for this state of affairs.

Are DFS sofas substandard?

Regarding charity shops and house clearances etc.. it feels like there’s the assumption they should be grateful for what they get offered but the reality is, in many situations them taking the stuff off your hands is as beneficial to the ‘donor’ as it much as it is to the charity. If not more so beneficial to the donor because they need it gone and how can they do that without hiring a van etc… would cost more to take it to the skip in time and money.

The time and effort it would take to sell a deceased relatives stuff would take up a lot of time and resources too and as we can see from this thread, there are a lot of time wasters.

They shouldn’t be snidey of course and they should be courteous and remember the items were someone life, but really you need them as much as they need you often.

I’m a fan of natural fabrics and materials, as they tend to acquire a patina rather than just damage. Eg a plastic ie fake leather handbag or shoe gets a chunk out of it - it looks awful. A laminate floor or MDF table chips - similar. Can’t be mended. Compare wood or leather.

Yes they cost more brand new but I pick up wooden stuff at auction for far less than many new items cost. It’s my wooden floor I’m delighted with though - twenty five years and it’s scratched and dented but looks lived in . And I don’t have the cost and hassle of ripping out and installing new. Was pricey but ultimately, wood is renewable in a way laminate isn’t so in the very very long term I can see a forced return to such natural materials.

This.

Also, if you’re getting rid of stuff there is usually a reason why.. it’s tatty, doesn’t QUITE work, is incompatible (see my post about cigarette lighter socket chargers). Doesn’t share the appeal of something shiny and new.

Sounds like you’ve been unlucky but also this is a product of commercialism. The world we live in now means we have almost unlimited options for unlimited stuff. Go back a couple of generations and people just didn’t have so much ‘stuff’. So there’s loads of people trying to offload nearly new stuff unsuccessfully.

Absolutely, and you're right to point out that this commercialism often includes the people doing the offloading as well.

I think part of the issue is that for a while, people got quite used to charity shops, freecyle and the like salving their consciences about getting rid of things they could still use, didn't want but that had plenty of life in them. It not only saved them the trouble of disposal but meant not having to engage with the reality of the commercialism, and also made people feel good about doing something for others too. Almost like trickle down sofas!

Now that element is breaking down, but there's still a residual idea that someone should want and get use out of these things, even though it's not me. Hence there are quite regular threads on here from people about how they can't get a charity shop to take the things they want to donate.

Down our way, stuff gets redistributed for free via the street WhatsApp. Nobody bothers to sell anything.

Me too, but furniture is tricky.

I'm not in the UK but find the same thing here. People want things for next to nothing, and don't get me started on the timewasters on Marketplace. It does my head in.

We bought a sofa for 1.50 on eBay. It cost us £70 to hire a van and took DH and DS both to carry it through her garden. It was that cheap because we were the only bidders! (She just wanted rid of it, it was in perfect nick)

A man with van would have made it too expensive to risk “sight unseen” vs going to the local BHF shop and looking at stock (which they would then deliver for only £30)

It depends on where you live. I sell loads on my local Facebook page but my friend can’t sell anything on hers. I’d look at your prices. Selling stuff for £2 is very low… people can’t be bothered to travel to pick up a £2 item. Have you tried making up £10 bundles and offering delivery? I sell stuff in the week and offer free local delivery on a Saturday morning and go around and drop everything off. No waiting in for people! If it doesn’t sell within a 2-week window I just take it to the charity shop.

Giving it away but getting a tax credit: If you donate to charity that you're registered with, you will get a tax credit worth 30% when its sold ( if not stolen which is what seems to happen too often with my stuff). www.google.com/search?q=charity+donations+tax+credit

Try olio? Ive had some success there we had the whole being sneered at after my nan died they said it was hard to shift the furniture but the prices in the shop! I'm not surprised it was so hard I went to bhf recently they had a battered dining room chair for £35 just one on its own a few months later it's sold at a fiver "shock" (all four legs didn't touch the floor maybe they mistook it for a rare style rocking chair 😁) I think unrealistic pricing really holds stock in the shops years ago the priced fairly low and cleared fast they always had stock now it's always the same stock high prices no movement

I’ve bought almost all my furniture from FB Marketplace( Oak furniture land and ikea poang)
Anglo do collections of unwanted items
BHF will collect large items
FB free to collector and leave outside
Clothing Charity shop. Baby clothes/ equipment to a baby bank or similar?
The money has gone and space from getting rid of clutter is worth more.

Car boot sale?

Facebook selling really has died a death in some areas.

Sounds like you’ve been unlucky but also this is a product of commercialism. The world we live in now means we have almost unlimited options for unlimited stuff. Go back a couple of generations and people just didn’t have so much ‘stuff’. So there’s loads of people trying to offload nearly new stuff unsuccessfully.

I’ve tried to give baby stuff away to charity shops and I spent a literal day driving around and each one wasn’t interested in anything - they were already inundated. I’ve never known a time where it’s virtually impossible to even give away pretty new / good condition items, and I am begrudged to just chuck them away.

sorry that doesn’t really help, does it…

I agree with everyone trying to rehome furniture, especially with BHF. They are a nightmare. They told us my mum's solid matching mahogany furnture was veneer! They wanted the microwave though & reminded me about three times. I took the bugger home with me in disgust. We ended up chopping the furniture up. I had hoped it might go to some mum leaving an abusive relationship or something but apparently no one has any room to store furniture for anything like that. You couldn't make it up.

Sofas are particularly awkward, I think because of moving and transportation. Not everyone can lift and carry them. However, you might want to add a link to Shipley, because you can get someone to pick up and deliver. That's what I did.

I’m seeing a theme here - delivery / transport is a major barrier to sustainable second hand markets…

I had to clear my parents 4 bed bungalow when my mum died and dad moved to a retirement flat.
It was hell. People generally don’t want second hand furniture. I gave away a beautiful refectory table and chairs/smart tv/bookcases etc etc. Mid century G-Plan went for peanuts. .. wore a track to the tip and the charity shops.
If I had to do it again I’d just get in a house clearance company and be done with it.