Goodwill? Dump? It's just mattress and boxspring, no furniture or even frame. I know about freecycle; this mattress and boxspring are years old and I don't know it would make a good sleep for anyone. I don't want to store it in the garage. I want it gone.
How do you get rid of a bed?
Also I have a coffee table that is just the right height to bark your shins on a lot. It was pretty years ago but now has scratches etc. so that it isn't a great candidate for consignment.
Also I have a Tiffany-style table lamp that probably *would* be a good candidate for consignment. I thought about eBay but the lamp is heavy like you wouldn't believe; I don't want to lug it to post office to sort out shipping, or to pack it and then worry until it reached buyer safely.
How do you get rid of stuff, mamas?
www.craigslist.com
List everything in the free section. Its a great way to get rid of unwanted items and a great way to get stuff that you need. Someone may be looking for exactly what you have.
Craigslist.com
You can ask for money or put it up for free. If you live next to a big city things like that tendt to go fast.
I donate stuff (like the lamp and coffee table) or have a yard sale; you could also try Craisgslist (just be sure to ask for CASH only!). If it is good enough, but not really worth anything, I put it at the end of our driveway with a big FREE sign on it. I don't think anyone takes used mattresses as donations; if you aren't getting a new bed with a free take away offer, the other option is the dump.
If the mattress is not in usable condition, contact your garbage hauler and they will remove it for a fee I think it is around $35, but I have not checked in awhile. If you are buying a new mattress to replace it, you might be able to negotiate removal of the old one as part of the sale. Goodwill cannot take it for legal reasons and technically, it is not legal to sell it, although lots of people do.
Hi Kristen,
I know you have a lot of suggestions here, and I haven't had a chance to read them all, so if this is a repeat, then I apologize.
You can list things on craigslist.com for free. Just mention in your post that the item needs to be picked up and not shipped. Try to include a pic...this helps to sell things faster. Craigslist also has a listing category for things you want to give away (free stuff). Someone may be looking for just that thing you want to get rid of.
Good luck and God bless.
N.
When I moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) I found someone to take my mattress for free on craigslist. You might also look into donating it to a homeless shelter or other charity that needs beds. If it's really past use, there is at least one place that does mattress recycling in the area, though I don't remember the name. Probably just google "Mattress recycling" or something. The coffee table could be donated to Goodwill. There are local consignment stores or higher end charities (remember, you can always itemize on next year's taxes) on Fillmore and elsewhere. I also know there's some kind of ebay-related storefront in the Castro on 18th (near the IGA). I've never checked it out, but maybe they do the packaging/shipping for you...? Just a few ideas.
Dear Kristen,
Try Craig's List.
They have a free and barter section. You'd be surprised how many people will take an old rickety mattress until they can get another one because it's better than nothing. I would recommend putting a picture of it though, that way you won't have to deal with a bunch of people who won't want it after they see it in the end.
My sister organizes a huge annual yard sale and one thing she has learned over the years is that people will turn away from things marked "free". They got brand new furniture and wanted to get rid of a beautiful recliner...one that had the massage feature. Well, the massager didn't work anymore so she figured she would just give it away, and she literally couldn't GIVE the thing away. It was getting late in the day on the second day of the sale and we didn't want to cart it back into the garage so I told her to put a sign for $10 on it. Lo and behold, it took about 15 minutes for someone to think they got the greatest deal on the planet and happily paid $10. For some reason, if we have a box of odds and ends for "free" no one even looks at it. If we say things in the box are a dime or a quarter, people buy them.
If things truly are junk, you can see if your local dump or disposal company will come to pick them up for a fee.
Good luck!
Put the mattress on Craig's List as free first - then try the 1-800-GOT-JUNK - they charge about $100 depending on the amount of space needed in their truck.
Salvation Army will take the furniture and lamps if they are in good working order and you get a tax deduction - goodwill takes furniture at their bigger locations, both will take dishes, clothes, books, small appliances, knick-knacks, VHS or DVD movies etc. You can do a big Spring cleaning!
Join your local Freecycle.org group and list items you no longer want, and people will respond and take it off your hands. It just has to be free. I've both found things and given things away, and it's a great way to help others out who have a want/need, and keep things out of the landfills!
My husband cuts up stuff with a sawsall.Then it can fit better for pickup or we can put peices in the garbage cans. We cut up a couch and a door and several other things,.
you can hire a handyman to take the stuff to the dump or you can call your local garbage service and see if they can pick up the stuff for a small fee.
Try a garage sale, goodwill or hope services (not sure if goodwill or hope services will take them, but worth checking into)
call your garbage pick up company (waste management?) They will do 2 free bulk pick ups a year and will schedule it for your regular garbage day
We are in the process of doing the same thing. You can take the smaller items to Goodwill, most have a drive up that you just pull into and they come out to your car and take the stuff out for you, it's really fast and simple. For the bed or any other large items that you can't deliver yourself, call Goodwill and they will make an appointment and come get the item from you. It's fast, easy and they will give you a receipt for your taxes if you want.
Kristen,
If you have stuff that is useable, please donate it to Casey Family Services or St. John's Shelter. Both help set up first apartments for kids coming out of foster care or help struggling families, etc.
J.
If you live in S.F., I believe you get two free pickups a years for oversized junk via your local garbage company.. Call them and find out, I am pretty sure..
I will join with the others who recommended Craigslist. You would not believe some of the things people are happy to make use of for you.
If you just want to get rid of it-list it for free, put your address out the site (I know it makes me nervous too, but you will delete the post as soon as the stuff is gone) and put it out on your front porch or driveway. Nobody else but the dump will take a mattress, and a lot of the charity shops won't take furniture with scratches on it.
Always try freecycle-- it is AMAZING what others can find use for!
When you go to buy a new mattress most mattress places will offer to haul away your old one for free. I've dropped couches and coffee tables off at the goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Stores.
City Team Ministries takes any kind of donated household item and then GIVES it to a rehabilitating homeless person when they go into their first apartment. They also supply furniture and house wares free of charge to people that have lost their posessions due to house fires, flooding, etc. There are City Team Ministry offices in San Jose and San Francisco. They offer very effective programs and I highly recommend them.
My son's neighobr put things on his parkway with a free sign and they are gone. We have done it a couple times. My husband said it would not work but the items were gone. I see free signs on things all the time on people's lawns or the parkway. Now if they are not gone in a couple days, I would not keep them there; then it gets to be an eyesore for the nieghborhood. When someone buys a new bed they will take away your old one free; that is how we have done it in the past. Sorry I am not more help.
F.
Craigs list has a section for "free" items and you could also sell your lamp on the site.
1-800-got-junk...They come to your house.
I use the same places that have been suggested, Freecycle and Craigslist, Goodwill, HOPE. I've used furniture consignment store in the past for furniture that still has high value, but found out that I can get more money if I sell on Craigslist because there is no commission. BTW, it's Craigslist.org and Freecycle.org, not .com.
If the mattress and box spring are in poor condition and donating them is out of the question, try hiring a local J. R. service. J. removers will usually pick up and dispose of unwanted household items for a minimal fee.
If you hire a J. R. company ask what their policy is on recycling things that can be reused (i.e. tiffany lamp). Some J. removers are very good about donating things to local charity's while others dump everything they pick up.
Good Luck
The J. Trash R. Team
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
