Free Collection of Unwanted Furniture
How to get rid of your unwanted furniture for free
Looking for free furniture collection near me? Maybe you have a sofa that is in perfectly good condition but you want to get rid of it because you’ve just bought a new one. Or maybe you’re moving home and can’t take some of your furniture with you. Rather than take it to a recycling centre or pay a waste collection company to remove it, it makes sense to get it collected for free. This article covers each of the three ways you can do so online, with lots of links and details on how they all work:
1. Sell furniture online
There are a few websites where you can sell your unwanted furniture online. The best known are Gumtree, Facebook, Preloved, Shpock and Wallapop. Let’s look at each in turn…
Gumtree
How: go to “sell” and instead of selecting “freebies” as your category, find the one that most matches your item. For example: “Sofas, Armchairs and Suites”. Complete the details for the rest of the listing (including some photos) and choose the price you want to sell for.
Contact: chat to people via the email or telephone number you provide.
Payment: arrange payment yourself.
Facebook marketplace
How: in the marketplace section, find the ‘create new listing’ button and complete the details. Set a fair price and post. If you don’t have one already, it helps to have a ‘complete’ Facebook profile. This includes a profile picture, a bit of information about yourself and some friends. It makes you more trustworthy when people come to collect any items.
Contact: chat to people via Facebook. You may get people haggling for a lower price so if you’re set on the one you decided, be firm but polite!
Payment: arrange payment yourself.
Facebook forums
How: find a relevant reuse forum in your area. Try keywords like Buy and Sell Newcastle/ second hand Exeter and make sure that you’re allowed to sell within the group. Some forums are strictly for free giving and receiving and you’ll be kicked out if you violate that! Assuming it’s allowed, post your item for sale with some pictures.
Some examples of Facebook forums where you can sell or give away your old furniture.
Contact: check the comments of your post or your messages on Messenger – depending on the group’s rules.
Payment: arrange payment yourself.
Preloved
How: find the “place advert” button, select a category and complete details for your listing.
Contact: chat to people via the email or telephone number you provide, or through the site/ app.
Payment: arrange payment yourself.
Shpock
How: on the app, tap your profile and follow the “add new listing” button. Complete the details and post.
Contact: people message you via the app/ website with an offer/ counteroffer and sometimes a message. Choose whether to accept the offer or not.
Payment: choose whether to accept payment via Shpock or organise payment yourself. Shpock can’t help you if something goes wrong with private payment.
Wallapop
How: find “list a product” button and fill in details. Wallapop doesn’t seem to be too popular in the UK yet but we are including for completeness.
Contact: chat via the app/ website.
Payment: accept payment via Wallapop after the exchange.
2. Donate furniture to someone online
If you want to give your furniture away for free but for whatever reason it isn’t suitable for a charity, then there are plenty of non-charity websites that can help you. The following ones are by far the most popular for free furniture donation: LoveJunk, Facebook marketplace, Facebook forums, Freeycle, Freegle, Gumtree, Trashnothing, Nextdoor and Olio. Let’s look at each site one by one:
LoveJunk
LoveJunk is the only online marketplace focused exclusively on the removal and reuse of bulky items, so it’s ideal for free furniture collection.
How: create a free listing in seconds with a couple of photos via their online form or app. Tick the ‘Reusable’ box when completing the form to let nearby junk reusers (reuse charities and individuals who are looking for free second hand furniture) know about your listing. Any junk reuser who is interested in your furniture will get in touch using LoveJunk secure messaging. Then you can decide which person or organisation you’d like to donate to. If no reusers are interested, you can also use LoveJunk to get quotes from local licensed waste collectors to remove the item. All collectors have reviews and ratings to help you make an informed decision.
Contact: you can chat to junk reusers and collectors via LoveJunk’s secure messaging system. So, there is no need to share your personal contact details with strangers. Equally only your postcode area (not your full postcode) is shown in the listing. So, disclosure of your full pick address is entirely up to you.
Facebook marketplace
How: Nearly the same as if you were selling it. On the marketplace section of Facebook, find the ‘create new listing’ button. Choose ‘item for sale’ and then complete the details. The important part is to set £0 as the price and include in the title and/ or description of your item that it is free and for collection.
Contact: People can message you through your Facebook account via Messenger if they’re interested.
Facebook forums
How: Find some local reuse forums. Try keywords with your town name, for example: Wandsworth reuse/ Stockport freecycle/ second hand Norwich. When you find one, join or request to become a member. It’s worth checking the rules of the group before posting! These groups are run by volunteer admins so they will probably notice if you try and sell something on a free giveaway only page.
Contact: Sometimes people reply in the comments and sometimes they message you privately and directly on your Facebook account. This can depend on the group’s rules.
Freecycle
How: find your town group within Freecycle. You are allowed to join more than one if you have a few nearby groups. Make an “offer” post and complete the details (title, general location, description, pictures and a couple of tags).
For a bit of extra help, we’ve written a Guide to Freecycle where you can find out how to sign up and use the site.
Contact: People reply to your listing on the site and you can organise collection via Freecycle. Note that there’s no app for Freecycle so any activity is done on desktop.
Freegle
How: Freegle works exactly like Freecycle. Just list an item in a relevant town group with a short description and some pictures.
Contact: Speak to people via the site after they reply to your listing. There is an app for Freegle but it’s not very user-friendly, so we recommend just using the website from a desktop.
Gumtree
How: Go to the “sell” button. The first step asks for a category of the item you’re looking to get rid of so type in/ select “freebies”. Then complete the rest of the information for the listing, including £0 for the price.
Contact: depending whether you leave your email address or phone number, you’ll get messages from people interested in your listing.
Trashnothing
How: works just like Freecycle and Freegle. List your unwanted furniture plus pictures and a couple of lines describing it.
Contact: chat with people and arrange collection via the site.
Nextdoor
How: find the “for sale and for free” section and then the “post a listing” button. Set the price to free, complete the rest of the listing and post.
Contact: message people via the Nextdoor site or app and arrange collection.
Olio
How: on the app, tap the “Add” button and then “Free – give away free food/ non-food”. Complete the listing and post. We’ve included Olio for completeness here, but right now it’s very popular on the food side but not necessarily for non-food items.
Contact: message through the app and arrange collection.
3. Charity collection – donate your unwanted furniture to charity shops
For your good quality, preloved furniture, some charities offer a free furniture collection service. This is a great option to consider because your items go to a good cause. However, any upholstered furniture (fabric sofas or armchairs, for example) must have fire labels attached or a charity can not accept them. Note: fire labels aren’t a problem if you’re giving away or selling to an individual, so if you can’t find a fire label, then consider the other options!
These are the main charities that collect furniture from your home for free.
- British Heart Foundation – go to their website, type in your postcode and see if BHF can collect in your area. Complete the form by filling in all necessary details to arrange your free furniture collection.
- Sue Ryder – visit their main site or contact your nearest store.
- Salvation Army – visit their main site or contact your nearest store.
- Red Cross – go their site and enter your postcode to see if there are any furniture and electrical stores near you.
- Emmaus – find your local shop and arrange a free furniture collection via telephone or email .
- DEBRA – type in your postcode, check if your nearby store offers furniture collection services and arrange one via telephone.
Large amounts of furniture
Do you have a lot of furniture to clear out? Shelter offers a full and partial house clearance service. Full is chargeable but a partial house clearance is free. The service collects furniture and electrical items in good condition. Check if there’s a Shelter shop near you and arrange a house clearance via telephone.
