House Clearance

[Maggiethecat]

Probate recently granted for a relative’s estate and the house will be listed soon.

There are some big pieces of well-made furniture which we haven’t been able to shift eg dining table, sideboard, wardrobes.

Auctioneers we contacted say that there is a little interest in this type of furniture these days.

Last resort is that we get a company to clear them for free in the expectation that they may be able to sell them and keep any profit for themselves.

We would prefer if someone could take them for free and offer us something for them.

Has anyone managed to use a company offering such a service?

List them on Facebook marketplace place for at a low value

Will consider that once we have a contract for sale in place if we can’t get a company to deal with.

Yes. British Heart Foundation will come and collect any furniture they can sell in their shops. That would not include upholstered furniture or beds that do not have the necessary fire safety certificate. They also take electricals, as they service them before selling them.
In my county there is a scheme run by the county council to collect furniture and household goods which are sold through a scheme allowing people on low incomes to furnish a home. We also have a very good charitable organization that funds hospice care through its charity shops and big outlet store.
If none of these types of disposal work, there is always Gumtree and similar, and Freecycle which is brilliant because people collect from you.
Hope that helps OP. I know what it is like!

Thank you.
BHF are collecting bags of clothes, did not think to ask about furniture.

We’ll see how we get on and whether we have any appetite for trying to sell online!

That is exactly the kind of table I keep checking FB Marketplace for! If you're around the midland/north, I really hope you put it on 😊

We need chairs 😁
where’s the property OP ?

Depending on where the house is located, this charity takes furniture:
https://betel.uk/furniture-donations

We used BHF recently to clear items from my mum's house. Not sure if it's just a local this, but here they will only take five items for free and then they charge. You will need to book an appointment for them to come and look at what you want them to take and then they give you a price. I think we paid about £700, which included 2 wardrobes, 2 double beds, a settee and an armchair (which needed to have the fire safety labels attached), a couple of bedside tables, a small chest of drawers (3 drawers) and a fridge.

That’s reassuring to know that someone might like to buy furniture like this.

But sorry, it’s in London. Hope you do find something near you.

London

Seems they don’t cover the South

People always pick up things and furniture if you put it on https://freecycle.org/ .

I would put on FB marketplace/ gumtree/ Freecycle for a low price and see if anyone offers for it.

Seen your in London, depending on location in London, transport may be a problem. It's not something you can drag on the tube with you.

Alternatively are there any grass roots homeless/ helping people set up first homes/ helping victims of DV set up home/ helping refugees with first homes charities nearby? The local grassroots homeless and DV charities near us (in the north) all collect furniture and all homeware.

We have a local Facebook Freecycle page for my town and surrounding villages and most things I've given away there have gone and people collect. Facebook marketplace worth a try but bulky furniture like that won't be easy to sell because people have the cost of hiring a van or a man with a van to transport. Plus you get a lot of time wasters so depends if you are local and how much hassle or local the property is to you as you may find people don't always turn up.

BHF we have had mixed experience with. They ask for photos and we were told any brown, dark furniture doesn't sell so they won't collect it. A local hospice shop was more flexible on what they would take so worth looking for local charities.

But you may have to be realistic about what demand there might be for the style and size of furniture. Appreciate it's difficult when it's from your loved ones home and was probably very special and loved by them wig memories attached.

It’s beautiful. I sold similar on eBay for £50. A big van collected it. It was full of similar furniture. The buyer ships it to Saudi Arabia and sells it there he said.

I agree it’s a lovely table and chair set i would also be interested if it were closer to where we are! Definitely put it on FB market place or eBay!

Try ebay or FBM or Gumtree to start. I find its better to put a low price than offer for free, you get fewer people wasting your time.
Maybe offer the table and chairs separately and a discount if people other pieces at the same time.

This charity might be interested and interesting https://emmaus.org.uk/your-local-emmaus/?region=greater-london

As soon as I saw you are in London I remembered I saw this online recently
https://www.mylittlehomeemporium.com/pages/about
Can’t vouch for them and you may be south/east/west but just a thought.

Thanks, will have a look at these!

That is good quality furniture. If you can be bothered, I think you would find buyers through eBay or Gumtree, but I know there is so much to do when dealing with probate, clearing a home. If you are in South London, St Raphael’s Hospice has a furniture collection centre and they do such fantastic work ❤️

That looks like a nice set of dining room furniture - is it Chinese rosewood?

I have sold quite a lot of vintage furniture through Gumtree - if you do lots of pictures and a detailed description with measurements, and price it reasonably (and are open to negotiation) here is a good chance you will find a buyer. Companies like Anyvan are useful for transporting heavy furniture.

I have never tried selling big items through eBay, but now that it is free for non-business sellers that could be worth a go if you list it as collection-only - as you are in London you have a large potential market.

When clearing my parents' home, I found an auction company linked to a house clearance company - they took everything away that was left after family members had taken their pick, listed anything saleable for auction, and donated or dumped the rest. The value of the items they auctioned covered the cost of house clearance and they paid the proceeds on top of that to me. But if you have already tried a local auction house, maybe there isn't enough saleable stuff to make it worth their while.

Depending on which part of London the house is in, you could try the Emmaus Project. My mum lived in south London and they took most of her furniture and also smaller things, including her record collection and some electricals.

Yes, south London. Will look at St Raphael’s too. My relative was very philanthropic so maybe a charity is the way to go but not entirely up to me.

Not sure of the type of wood but like the rest of the pieces it has been around for decades and is in excellent condition.