There's an interesting phenomenon occurring in my apartment building. It seems we've collectively decided to give our neighbors first dibs on our Goodwill piles. Without any discussion or organization, we've begun swapping stuff.
There's a large bureau in the lobby of the building that I've dubbed "no man's land." Residents leave their unwanted items, and it's first come first served. The interesting part is, in my rather antisocial building, I've never seen another person leave their goods. Things appear and I help myself if I'm so inclined, I leave things and they vanish (presumably into a neighbor's apartment). In this one little way, the building is united in a friendly exchange of goods, but it's never been arranged or even acknowledged. We swap magazines, books, home decor and countless other odds and ends, all anonymously.
And it's working — no one's abusing the system. We're clearing our clutter and sharing the wealth. I recently purged my kitchen drawers of all duplicate gadgets and now someone in the building is the new owner of my colander, veggie peeler and cheese grater. I must have created some good trade karma, because a week later, I was running out to buy an extension cord and lo and behold, there was a perfectly coiled 10-footer just waiting for me!
So far, it seems to be a perfect system. I've always operated under the notion that if my donated items are still hanging around after a day or so, I'll drop them at Goodwill, but it's never happened! There seems to be quite a brisk market around here for hand-me-downs, and I'm happy to oblige.
I'm curious, does your building have a swap area? Would you participate?
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Neat! We had a similar system on our short UWS street in NYC - stuff was put out and nicely labeled.
The apartment building where we used to live in Brooklyn had a built-in side table in the entry hall. People would leave stuff there all the time. Whenever anyone left stuff, it would usually be gone in an hour. Overnight was the longest we ever saw something sit.
I got rid of dozens of books, a box of cooking equipment, and a bicycle through the magic of the entry hall table. There was a clothing donation box for Housing Works in the basement, which was awesome too.
In my apartment building we swap magazines. Generally just between a few of us so once we are done with one we write our name on it, cross it out and then pop it in the next mailbox.
This is awesome! I live in a single family home, so no communal swapping area, but I would be totally open to such a thing if I did live in a building with others.
While not the same thing...my sister & her roommate hold a clothing & accessories swap every year around Thanksgiving. You bring anything you no longer want & are allowed to take anything anyone else brings. Anything left over in the end (trust me - there's lots) is donated to a local woman's shelter. I've gotten some nice pieces in the swap before just because someone was tired of it. It also feels good to see your stuff being taken to a new home to be re-loved!
I lived in Hawaii for four months while doing an internship, and the apartment building I lived in had a table in the community room where you could leave unwanted things for people to pick up. It was fantastic when my roommate and I were moving out, because all the shampoo and lotions we had accumulated during our stay (that we couldn't take on the plane) didn't just get thrown out. We left a bunch of stuff on the table in the morning and by the time we left for the airport it was all gone.
This seems to be an NYC thing, for sure. Both buildings I've lived in have had informally designated freecycle spots. Something left there was known to be up for grabs.
My best score to date has been a wood cupboard that I use to store office supplies.
We had a "free" table at my last office --- same idea --- it worked great and I never felt guilty about ridding myself of perfectly functional yet unwanted stuff, because I knew someone would swipe it up the same day!
I've done this in every building I've lived at in NYC. In the Bronx, the spot was right outside the garbage room, on 72nd, it was on the radiator, and in my current building, it's on top of the mailboxes. I've never seen my stuff stay out there longer than a couple hours.
My old building had this system in the hallway alcove outside the garbage closet. I miss it so much. I was so surprised when I moved into a much larger complex (250 units instead of 12) and found no such system in place. But I'll try to leave something with a note in the community room and see what happens.
Someone tried to start this at my office, but it's never really taken off. I don't think we have enough people for it. Most stuff just sits there and sits there and sits there...
In a corner of the laundry room in my apartment building in Seattle when I was in graduate school people left things they no longer wanted. It was a little treasure nook! I found lots of interesting goodies. One item I still have more than twenty years later is a solid original butterfly chair. All I had to do was have the cover made for it.
We do this in my apartment block with books. There were a couple books on a ledge in my laundry room, and so I brought a few down. Now it's a full out exchange library, where I've found some excellent reads!
I live in a single family house in a residential area and if I have an unwanted item, I leave it at the curb days before my garbage pickup day (typically on the weekend as my garbage pickup day is Thursday). Usually, the stuff is gone before the weekend is over. In the rare case nobody takes it I take to Value Village which is only a few blocks away.
It irks me to see, the night before or the morning of garbage pickup, stuff thrown out. Most people will toss a perfectly reusable item rather than loading it into a car and dropping it off at a thrift store.
Yes!! The building I just moved out of had a bench in the lobby, with an unspoken rule that anything on it was up for grabs. Same goes for anything found outside the dumpster doors in the parking garage-- I've scored a slightly ugly but very functional TV stand and a pile of vintage Playboy magazines!
People leave stuff at the end of their driveways in my neighborhood (bigger items like lawnmowers, furniture) and it usually gets picked up within a few days.
Yes! In our old UWS apt in NYC, there was a spot near the recycling cans inside where people would put things of value that were going to go in the trash otherwise. It was all unspoken, but even the super knew not to remove items from that area until they has stayed there for several weeks.
Hah! I just left a stack of used but good condition moving boxes on the street and within 20 minutes someone had taken them away. This is pretty standard in many working class Los Angeles neighborhoods. I've given away old furniture, garden pots, etc... Only once has something not been taken.
While still in school at Kansas City Art Institute, I would attend their "Pop Drop and Swap" meets they would have every couple months. Anyone from the school was encouraged to bring old clothes and take away someone else's. Anything left at the end would be donated. Now that all my friends and I have graduated, we continue to rotate clothes by hosting swap parties every once in a while :)
In my street we have made it official.
We have a "second-hand"-room. We all have a key to enter, everybody can leave stuff for other to take and the whole thing is managed by a few people. They decide what can be left and what can't. Mostly furniture, books, electronics, kitchen wear and other things like that. It's situated next to our craftshop which is also avaliable to all street inhabitants.
It works really well!
A group of girlfriends and I have regular clothing swaps a few times a year. Every few months, we clean out our closets, bring our bags to someone's house and rummage through the clothes that everyone else brings. Everything left over is donated to the women's shelter or another charity in need.
In our complex, you leave things by the trash room in the basement.
It's a great idea to have a specific spot... we used to have a lot of trading in my previous condo building in California, but sometimes it was hard to tell if something was really up for grabs or if someone might have just needed to leave it there a moment (too much to carry) and planned to come back for it, and I was always concerned about accidentally stealing.
For khoff705 --- I've been interested in trying a clothing swap but don't know how it would work, exactly, with different sized people. Are you and your friends all the same size, or close? Mine are not, so I haven't suggested the clothing swap yet.
My apt building in Chicago had this in the laundry room, there was a table which everyone knew to be the swap table, although never actually designated as such. I got rid of a lot of stuff that way and it was gratifying to see it gone the next day and know someone could use it!
My new building in Sherman Oaks, CA has a tiny shelf in the garage that seems to be the designated area for swapping, I wish it was bigger, but I've already snagged a cool 1940's army canteen and some vintage playing cards that someone left out for grabs...
Yay for recycling!
I do and don't like this idea. I don't like the idea of items going to waste etc but on the otherhand as a member of our condoboard it's frustrating to have to PAY to have the un-wanted junk hauled away all the time. Not eveything people leave is stuff others want, including giant disgusting sofas that some tenant just decided it wasn't worht moving. We get stuck with the bill.
So if done responsibly and with respect to everyone else then great, but if not then no thanks.
We swap at work. Well, "give away" is more like it, since things are not exchanged. There is a file cabinet in the work room and we put things we thing someone on staff might like there all the time. If my things don't vanish in a couple of days (we have a lot of part time people who don't work every day) then I haul it to Goodwill. If somebody else's stuff hangs around very long, I take that away too, being the thrift store maven in the crowd -- I go there once a week anyhow, so not a problem to drop stuff off. Mostly clothes, decor and jewelry so far...
There used to be a shed at the local landfill for this purpose, but certain people would park there and hover, "helping" people unload their donations directly into their trucks, so they could haul it off and sell it. Public Works decided this was not the point and that being harassed by the vultures annoyed folks, so they shut the shed down. They also don't permit you to leave stuff at the curb for scavenging, so now we are kind of forced to take things to thrift shops, put stuff into the dumpsters that ARE picked up, or using FreeCycle or Craigslist. Sometimes pickup services for charities are available -- The Boys and Girls Club are running a collection drive for things I assume they collect then sell to thrift shops right now, for instance. The Humane Society does it once a year. People save things up for the known sales.
Hi Griffin,
No, we're not all the same size, and it's true. Some girls benefit more than others. It's great to invite a range of different sized girls, hoping that everyone has at least one match. But it's also an excuse to clean out our closets and drink wine together :)
I live in a building with 5 apartments and there is probably only one person I MIGHT want to swap with (I don't really know since she moved in not too long ago). Other than that, the two guys can keep their junk. I am sure they don't want mine. With me it's a one way street. If I am getting rid of unwanted stuff to clear out and make room in my apartment...I don't need to replace it with other people's unwanted stuff.
That being said, I usually leave stuff outside on "garbage night". Anything that I consider garbage yet half decent (if someone can repair it) is usually gone by the time the garbage people come then next morning, sometimes even sooner. Last summer I put out a cracked brass (not sure if it was real or not...and I didn't care) headboard to be taken away. It was gone in a half hour. All I can say is...more power to them. Things that I don't consider garbage I take to either the Salvation Army or the local animal shelter (if it is something they can use), unless family members confiscate it first.
Not per se, but I do believe the local consignment shop is doing a brisk business. Baby boomers are downsizing and let me tell you, there are some rich pickings down the street. And I have utilized their service. It's been a big help to get rid of inherited pieces of furniture that didn't work, mistakes, etc. Getting down to bare bones now and it feels good. I would utilize a swap, but stuck with CL and consignment stores. Sadly, scammers and spammers and ruining CL.
I will add that when I've given things away FREE on CL, its disturbing how quickly the OBVIOUS hoarders with a car load of, literally garbage, come by and get it. It makes me sad then when some poor young person just starting out and needs to decorate their apartment misses out ten minutes later.
In a large apartment building in St. Louis, where we lived recently, I started a book swap by leaving a small folding bookcase, and some books, in the laundry room. Five years later the swapping is still going strong.
In our Cambridge (MA) 6-unit condo, where we live now, there are two strategies depending on the size of the item: small stuff (kitchen gadgets, books) are left in a box on the front steps of the building; larger items (tables, storage furniture) are left leaning against a tree between the sidewalk and the street. In this centrally-located pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, most things are gone within hours.
We are in a house and we'll leave things outside, for example, some dining room chairs that were in good shape, but didn't suit our decor anymore. We had stored them in the basement for a few years, dragging them out a few times to use when we had a big group over. Oddly enough, someone took 3 of the chairs and left 1. When it comes to upholstered stuff, we've listed a very good sofa on CL for free. No one took it - I guess people are worried about taking upholstered furniture - and we ended up contacting someone a few doors over who I knew could use it. We asked them if they knew anyone in the neighbourhood who could use it - I didn't want them to feel awkward - and when they heard we were giving it away, they were thrilled. We also listed a huge glass table on CL for free - got a lot of calls about that and fortunately someone did come and pick that up.
On two occasions I've put bureaus outside my apartment door and put up a sign in the elevator. Both were gone within a day.
I've also participated in a (primarily) clothing swap where I was the largest participant. I contributed a lot of great items that were way too small for me and were snapped up by others. The organizer made sure 1) that we included accessories (scarves, purses, shoes), so I scored some lovely items, and 2) that we were fed. I think we all chipped in five bucks, or maybe we brought something. Of course, food and clothes stayed in separate rooms.
I lived in a apartment building in downtown Seattle in the late 1990s that did this. I redecorated constantly - it was fabulous! And there was everything from dishes to clothes to furniture.
I live in a small town in the midwest(as in under 12,000 people) and I leave unwanted furniture and larger items outside, but I've noticed if I don't leave a sign marked "free" people won't take it. Sometimes I'll leave a box. The longest anything has lasted was overnight!
My old apartment in Ottawa (the same apartment as
Grr.. HTML dumb today. Anyway, basically wanted to say that in my old apartment (the same one as this one: this one there was a laundry room where people would always leave things. Over the years I picked up a blanket bench, two small rolling filing cabinets, two three-legged stools, a few awesome vintage necklaces and a tonne of books. I've given away lanterns, a handmade chest of drawers, unused makeup, jewellery, and all of it's gone within a day or two. It's one of the things I really miss about communal living.
in my San Francisco neighborhood, the street IS the swap box. anything remotely useable is snapped up very quickly. there is some great stuff out there--but you need to be quick.
i live in Hamburg/Germany, and we are using the row of mailboxes in the hallway to display stuff we do not want anymore. if things are too big they go on the floor in front of the wall the mailboxes are on, with a sign saying, free. it works nicely. books, kitchen stuff, CDs … i have left or picked up a lot of things there.
People will leave free boxes on the sidewalk in my 'hood. I got a reusable shopping bag, an apron, embroidery floss, and some Bert's Bees hand cream. Woot, woot.
We have a giveaway table at work. Some folks leave stuff there that should have gone directly to the landfill or the ragbag, but I have read & returned magaznes, scored scrubs that fit (&are not cutesy-woo prints), eaten bananas from the kitchen with a few brown spots--the patients only get the bright yellow ones--& been very pleased to help people dispose of their garden surplus, which, pre-table, they had to leave under the timeclock like orphans on a church doorstep. Tomatoes are much better if they haven't been stepped on.
My condo in Hawaii Kai on Oahu had a little library in the lounge area where you could leave or pick up books or magazines. Also on Oahu, we'd leave bigger stuff in front of the house a day or two before bulk pick up day and it usually was gone before the pick up including a fish tank, a futon frame and a completely torn up folding chair (that was the most surprising!).
I've also worked in an office with a book, dvd and company tshirt area. We were required to wear Ts from the company's gift shop (tour company). When anyone left the company or got tired of certain shirts we left them there. Someone was always happy to take them.
Similarly, I live in a residential area with a lot of rental units, but also a lot of long-time resident. One of the houses in the area got literally emptied onto the curb over the course of a week last year, and I would estimate that less than 25% of it actually went to the trash. If it's at least 75% functional, someone in my neighborhood will probably want it.
I am a member of a Freecycle group. It's a yahoo group that is moderated by volunteers. The rule is that you must post exactly what you have to give away and your approximate location (neighborhood name, usually) -- or what you want to receive and where you are willing to go to get it. No posting of vague items or "free piles" because Freecycle is about saving resources and getting specific items to specific people, not wasting car trips to check out promising free piles that don't work out.
I've used it both ways. Mostly to get rid of stuff or to respond to others' posts when there is something I want. But I have also posted my own needs, and occasionally struck gold. The best one ever was a trumpet case for my son when he really needed one for school -- a good case is pricey!
Brilliant! I wish we had a good place to put stuff for swapping. Although, we have a resident who is an extreme hoarder (don't get me started...) so I can guess where a lot of it would end up. :( We do, however, have some very hardworking scrap collectors who go up and down our alley daily, so quite a bit of stuff that's left outside gets taken before the garbage collectors come.
people leave things in the lobby. mostly when they move out. i have put out old books and other things over the years. the old super had no problem with it. when he left the interim super put up signs about not leaving garbage (again to people who had moved out). new super doesn't seem to mind. i like to put things out on friday evening and take back what's left on sunday evening. gives most everyone a chance to see it.
I just recently hosted my first swap party at my house. I invited some female friends and encouraged them to all bring things that another woman would like. We mostly had clothes and accessories, but we also got some books, unused toiletries, and household items. I took the leftovers to the Big Brothers Big Sisters donation center. Everyone had fun, and I plan to do it every 2 months. I am bound to get a slightly different crowd each time, and I am considering encouraging themes, such as "Santa Screwed Up," where we can trade presents we didn't really love, for January and "Back to School," where we can trade school supplies and books for September. The themes are, of course, just suggestions, and everyone is simply encouraged to bring things that other guests might like.
We lived in a neighborhood with a lot of apartment buildings. When we moved, we left a couple of chairs and a very large bookcase. They were gone within a couple of hours. We were leaving some more items and someone walked by and said they had taken the bookcase and were clearly excited about it. I'm glad our stuff didn't go into a landfill.
Not so much in my current building, which is a huge high-rise. But in my brownstone apartment on the UWS, we definitely had a system like this in place. If goods hung around for more than a day, they went out by the curb where they disappeared in seconds. I think i's pretty common on the UWS--I found tons of great stuff both in my building and on the curb!
Single family, detached house here. We don't speak to any of our neighbours unless we absolutely have to (like when a storm blew down our dividing fence). We've been in the street the longest now (13.5 years), and while we've tried to make an effort to greet new neighbours, it's usually met with suspicion, and sometimes downright contempt - so we've given up and keep to ourselves. And in our local government area, putting unwanted items (whether free or for sale) on the verge is prohibited except once a year when they have a "council clean-up" day when we can have things like whitegoods and other large things collected as part of our rubbish collection. We've had letters in our mailbox from the Council advising that someone in the neighbourhood placed items out, and the Ranger was called and they got a pretty hefty "littering" fine for their trouble, and reminding us that it is illegal to place things on the verge. Yes, we have incredibly petty local government around here...
Freecycle is an amazing resource for getting things you want, decluttering, and keeping stuff out of the landfills. That is our large scale swapping. Our apartment complex is huge, but has an unspoken agreement to leave any useable unwanted stuff next to the dumpsters, but not touching them, for anyone who might want it. On a smaller scale, the mailbox areas are often graced with unwanted items that are usually snapped up in short order - even those 'what was I thinking?' food items. We left a small tv with attached vhs player once, and it was gone before we got back down with the remote!
These things are how we've furnished much of our apartment, shelving units, tables, chairs, a desk, my daughter's keyboard, stand & music (our latest freecycle), power tools, appliances... You name it. In this economy, helping each other out like this is one of the wisest things we can do. Oh! That reminds me - the soup swap is coming up!
In my Southwest suburban development, the Vietnam Veterans of America collect every other month. They send us a yellow plastic bag in the mail with the pick-up date on the envelope. They welcome clothing and household goods, including smaller pieces of furniture. If an item is too big, we just tape the bag to it, so they know it's for them. According to their website, the material is used "to support programs that address the concerns and needs of all veterans."
In some areas the VVA doesn't do regular drive arounds, but people are encouraged to schedule a pick-up when they have unwanted items. Call 888-518-VETS or see their website for detailed instructions.
http://www.clothingdonations.org/donate-old-clothes-to-charity/
I love the idea of trade parties with themes. Especially "Santa Screwed Up." LOL.
I love this idea =)
In our building, there is a fine line between re-using each others' things (including books) and residents just dumping stuff thinking they're doing us all a favor. Sometimes yes, most times no.
More than anything, though, I never ceased being amazed by stuff I find at the trash room. Here is a list of things I have taken away from the trash room in the last 7 months and freecylcled on my own (ie, the items were not mine):
Three irons (not working - industrious people picked them up to repair)
More boxes and packing material than I can remember
Big bag of mugs
Dress rack
Trash can (wastepaper basket)
Magazines
Books
Plastic storage drawers
Flatware
Dividers
Chainsaw
(and this, just in the last 7 months)
We should absolutely not be allowed to throw these kinds of (big) things away. We should either have to pay to have them disposed of, or figure out a way to get them back into re-use.
I have sympathy with this earlier expressed view:
"I do and don't like this idea. I don't like the idea of items going to waste etc but on the otherhand as a member of our condoboard it's frustrating to have to PAY to have the un-wanted junk hauled away all the time. Not eveything people leave is stuff others want, including giant disgusting sofas that some tenant just decided it wasn't worht moving. We get stuck with the bill.
"So if done responsibly and with respect to everyone else then great, but if not then no thanks."
Me personally the best thing I got on freecycle, a very nice laptop table on wheels.
I live in a house divided in three apartments, with my boyfriend and me on the top floor and one of the best friends of my mother underneath us. Since we're a young couple and the apartment isn't that big, we share a vacuum cleaner because it isn't used every day, and we share the same internet. In return, we set up a digital movie and series-library, so she can watch anything we've downloaded which is already a huge collection. And she joins us for dinner every other week with my mother and sister. We also look after eachothers pets.
I tried something similar with one of the women's groups at church - I sent an email to our study group, letting them know that I had done a purge and they were welcome to bring a box of their own stuff for after class. We set everything out on the tables, like a yard sale, and "went shopping." I got rid of nearly all of my stuff, picked up one or two things I could use in the kitchen, and everything else went to the women's shelter support store.
Think it's time to do it again, before Christmas ramps up!
Both at my parents' apartment as well as in my building, the swap goes like this: I put something I don't need on the stairway and by the next day, it's gone. Also, if I see something I need at the neighbors' door, I help myself. It works just great and I've got rid of lots of stuff in good condition that I was bored of.
My apartment building in Chicago does the same thing on a table in our basement. We leave this we no longer have us for & find treasures. My best find was a baker's loaf pan that I turned into a planter for my succulents.
I am actually a resident property manager and started this in the apartment community where I live/work. We use a shelf in the community laundry facility and it has worked out quite well. I've seen everything from dishes to TV's put out for the taking. I've even put laundry soap and softeners out there that I had bought in the process of trying to find something that wouldn't aggravate my daughter's eczema.
It works well for us.
Yes! It's another reason why I love living where I do. We don't have a problem with stuff being left out if it's obvious no one wants it, thankfully. I'm a renter, but most of the people in my building own their condos. I think that might be one reason everyone is more responsible about taking care of the building. And there's not enough room for big items. That little spot downstairs and freecycle have been a blessing to my family! And a convenient way to bless others. :)
I love swapping and have swapped clothes with colleagues at work and have been meaning to attend one of Thrift Collective's (http://thriftcollective.com/) clothing swaps in NYC but haven't yet. The only thing I don't like is the way that people leave clothes out on their fences/stoops to swap in Brooklyn (mainly Park Slope). I've never actually seen anyone take clothes left out and they inevitably get rained on or worse. I wish people would stop doing that and instead set up a swap with friends/neighbors/jobs or put in the effort to donate the clothes.
We have the same system in my apartment block - it even extends to furniture, TVs and BBQs! These large items are "gently" placed beside the big BFI bins so they can be "rescued" by others in need. It's a great way to share the wealth AND reduce the size of our landfills. I think it should be actively encouraged in every shared building!
I LOVE this! Writing a blog about it now.
I tried to start this in my current building. I put out magazines and they leave but no one ever leaves anything.Anyone have suggestion oh how I can get the rest of the building to participate.
I live in Chicago, and my 7 floor building does the same thing. I have utilized the lobby to get rid of larger pieces, like my practically brand new Ikea desk, to smaller cookware items. The one downside of leaving larger items is that they won't always get picked up. My building will usually allow things to stay down in the lobby for a few days, before to the building manager moves it to the alley (at least that is what I am assuming he does). I think this system is convenient way to share your gently used items, but I will admit I rarely if ever take from the piles. With the influx of bed bugs in larger cities I am too paranoid to pick up any stray items.