8 Ways To Get Rid of Your Old Furniture Before Moving

The hassles of making your new home comfortable for you and fixing your previous apartment for the new tenant is stressful.

The additional trouble of dealing with your other possessions which you no longer need can be overwhelming. You certainly want to avoid moving unwanted items to your new home to save valuable space.

So, you need to get rid of this stuff before you move. You will also be saving money on the cost of moving as you would be able to use a smaller truck.

Moreover, there will be less stuff to load and unpack at your new home. We will show you how to get rid of your old furniture ethically, you can even earn some decent revenue from the stuff no longer need.

Here are 8 ways to get rid of your old furniture before you move:

1. Organize A Garage Sale
2. Give Stuff Away To Family And Friends
3. Use the Craigslist Free Stuff
4. Use the Freecycle Network
5. Donate Your Unwanted Possessions
6. Talk To The Waste Management And Scrap Yard Managers
7. Haul it to the Dump
8. Schedule A Curbside Pickup

1. Organize a Garage Sale

Holding a garage sale is the best way to reduce the bulk of your possessions you need to move and still put some good cash into your pocket.

A Garage sale is perfect when you have lots of things to sell besides your old furniture. But you will need to take time to organize the event properly, advertise it, and make the event attractive.

Separate the furniture items that you no longer need and take the time to clean them so that they look decent.

After that, find out the prices of used furniture items in your area to get an idea of their worth.

Organize all the household items that you no longer need including your furniture for a Garage Sale. Once you are set, you can also leverage online platforms such as OfferUp, Nextdoor, Craigslist, and LetGo to increase the exposure for your garage sale.

Follow the steps below to help you achieve your Garage Sales objectives.

1. Choose an appropriate time to hold your garage sale. It has been observed that a bright Saturday in the first weekend of the month yields the best result for garage sale events.
2. Publicize your event. Spread the word around about your garage sales event; tell your friends, co-workers, and neighbors about your sales event. You can even go further to use various social media platforms to increase the awareness of your garage sale. Place an ad in the local newspaper and put signs in strategic places within your neighborhood about a week before the event.
3. Get your stuff ready. Put your stuff in the best shape before the event. Clean and polish when required to make them more appealing to the buyers.
4. Make your location safe and attractive. Prepare the location for the Garage Sale to be safe and attractive. Look around the area and remove all obstacles and dangerous items. You can hang balloons and play soft music to make the location attractive.
5. Give your buyers a good deal. Make sure you give your buyers a good deal for the garage sales items. Offer discounts for buying multiple items and even lower prices for the things you are eager to dispose of. You should also consider giving away smaller items for free to those who have bought your expensive items. For instance, you can give unwanted books to the person that purchased the bookshelf.
6. Be ready to negotiate. Bear in mind that your primary goal is to get rid of your old furniture and other domestic items you no longer need. So, be ready to negotiate the offer price because profit is not your primary goal.

2. Give stuff away to family and friends

In a scenario where you are not able to sell some of your unwanted possessions, you should talk to your friends and family members who might love to have them.

Take a picture of the stuff and send it out by email or post it through WhatsApp to your friends and the groups you belong to.

Chances are high you’ll find someone who will be glad to have them. Although this method does not bring you money, it saves you the cost of transporting items you do not need. Moreover, you will not have to clutter your new home with unnecessary things.

3. Use the Craigslist Free Stuff

This method requires that you go through the hassles of moving your unwanted stuff out of your home to the street. But using the power of Craigslist is perhaps the fastest way to get rid of the items you no longer need.

Many people do not realize that besides selling things, they can also give away free stuff at Craigslist. When you post your items on the “curb alert” of “free stuff” section on Craigslist, they will be gone before you know it.

Simply snap the picture of the furniture you want to give away and post it to the free section of the Craigslist website.

4. Use the Freecycle Network

Freecycle is a global grassroots movement that has groups in major cities of the world. The goal of this movement is to allow members to exchanges items free of charge within their community. Check out your community group at freecyle.org where you can offer your furniture and other stuff you no longer need.

Chances are high that someone would love them and come to pick them up.

5. Donate Your Unwanted Possessions

Many charity organizations or even your local church can find a good use for your furniture if they are in good condition.

Although most of these organizations prefer light furnishings, they may as well accept your heavy furniture. An excellent approach is to call any of the organizations listed below to know if they can take your furniture donations.

You can search for local chapters of the following organizations in your city:

• The National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA)
• Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)
• The United Way
• The Salvation Army
• Donation Town
• Goodwill

And furthermore, there are some charities that will pick up your donations for free.

6. Talk To The Waste Management And Scrap Yard Managers

When you cannot sell your furniture, and nobody is willing to pick them up for free, the next option available to you is to attempt to trash it.

However, most waste management companies do not collect oversized items. So you will want to be sure the waste company will collect your bulky furniture before going through the stress of dragging them out to the street. You will be compelled to carry the bulky furnishing back indoors if the collectors ignore it.

The policies of various waste management companies differ from one location to another. In some places, they collect almost anything except electrical appliances.

In other places, you will be required to call the waste management company and schedule a time to collect your bulk items. Most waste companies will charge at least $50 to handle “bulk pickup.”

In some other places, you will be required to buy and attach a special tag on bulky items to get them collected on a normal collection day. Such tags a usually inexpensive, a $10 tag will allow you to dispose of most bulk items such as tables or mattress.

Another option is to use the service of private companies that specialize in garbage removal. These services are quite expensive compared what the public waste management service charges. A typical example is the ads you find reading 1-800-GOT-JUNK.

There are scrap yards in every major city of the world. Perhaps your city has one as well. If you do not mind the hassle, the best approach is to haul the unwanted properties to the scrap yard. The operators will gladly collect the items, and might even pay you for them.

On the other hand, you can call the scrap yard operators to pick up your bulky furniture. They can oblige for free, or charge you a small amount for the service.

However, you should bear in mind that paying to dispose of your old furniture should be the last resort when all other options failed.

7. Haul it to the Dump

When all the methods explained earlier failed to yield positive results, its time to haul your old furniture to the landfill by yourself.

Depending on the rules of your city, most landfills will receive your old furniture for free, or charge a nominal fee for it. If you do not have a vehicle that can handle the task, you can pay a hauling service to help you move the unwanted furniture to the landfill.

8. Schedule A Curbside Pickup

Depending on where you live, you might be able to access a free curbside pickup of your used furniture. Find out who your trash management company is and give them a call. Usually, in many neighborhoods, you’ll get one free curbside pickup per year of bulky items like dressers, armoirs, entertainment centers, etc.

You must have realized that getting rid of your large furniture may not be as easy as you thought. That is why you should not wait until the last minute, start planning to sell or donate the stuff you no longer need on time.

Do not leave your used furniture on the side of the street without scheduling a curbside pickup. You may get fined for littering your street. You should ask your neighbors or contact the waste management company for clarifications. When all the other options fail, dispose of your old furniture in an environmentally-friendly manner -carry them to the landfill.