apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Mainly thrift stores such as the Goodwill as I never think to try Craig'slist to sell/give stuff away and most of what I've had to donate wasn't valuable enough to try and sell on Craig's list to begin with.

- i donate clothes, books, glasses, cell phones and computers

- i sell furniture on craigslist

- i put random, small items (computer speakers, flower pots, a laundry bin) on the curb. in my neighborhood, things usually get picked up within the hour

I'm a new york ATer, so I'll just comment. I generally donate or leave it out for someone to adopt. I actually registered for craigslist and then chickened out. If the item is valuable in any way, though, I use either a consignment shop or an auction house.

I've been using Facebook's marketplace as of late. It's a good place to target all of the poor college students and the younger crowd that are just moving out on their own and could use free stuff. All of the items I've listed have been out of my house within a day or two, so far.

For large amounts of stuff, I have a local charity that I call, that comes and picks it all up for free. I recently decluttered and stacked 18 boxes outside along with a few large pieces of furniture. They picked it all up that day.

I put other, because it's split between giving stuff to friends, donating, Craigslist, and the curb. If it seems actually worth the time then onto Craigslist it goes, if not one of the other places.

I do like goognightdean does, plus sell clothes to used shops before donating the rest. Tried to use freecycle a few times, but here in Oakland, at least, it's a total nightmare. Easier to put it on the curb if I want to get rid of something or to look on CL if I want to get something.

I usually call a few friends (we all call each other when getting rid of stuff) and let them know what I have; after they're done, I take the books to the library, and the clothes/household items go to the various charities around town.

sell what clothes I can to somewhere like Buffalo Exchange, give the rest to Salvation Army

sell furniture on Craigslist

pretty much everything else goes out on the curb and is always gone in less than 24 hours.

I'm really curious what it is about Craigslist that makes people uncomfortable - can anyone explain?

all or any.

Overall, I've heard more good things about craigs list than bad. In my case, I'm the problem, not craig. It's just outside my comfort zone.

Speaking of Craig's List, I sold my old car on there. It ran, quite well, but needed a lot of attention to keep reliable and needed body work due to neglect on my part the last 2-3 years I had it (total of 7 years all told). Guy had one similar to it, year, color and everything but it had a blown engine if I recall and we sold it to him via CL for $900 Feb 2006.

I love Craigslist. I've used it to: sell a car, furniture and other household items; buy furniture and other household items; give away free jars, furniture, moving boxes, a huge plant; find movers, jobs, apartments. Over the years I've only had a few flakes, so I've been lucky.

The people I know who are uncomfortable with it say they don't like the idea of people coming to their homes. Or they just don't have the time to sit around and wait for people.

My church has yearly garage sales and that's when i unload all usable unwanted goodies. It's amazing how much donations just from members pile up!

Funny thing is many of the church ladies will buy something one year and in the next year donates it back. It's a cycle...and I've become part of that. Heh-heh.

my neighborhood is next to a university so there's a tradition of just leaving things out on the curb an extra day before trash collection. pretty much everything gets taken. i've also brought clothes to the local thrift shop.

We've gone through a lot of baby clothes, toys, gear in the last 5 years and I have been happy to hand the good stuff down to friends in need. Extended family are the first to be notified if there is any furniture or electronics. Then the rest goes to goodwill.

My boyfriend says I'm always editing, and our neighbor (she turns 5 in Sept) loves to come to our place to figure out what has moved, what's been recovered in new fabric, what is new and what is gone.

Clutter disturbs me greatly. This is partly because of my personal aesthetics and commitments to living more simply, partly because I used to move at least once a year, but also because I've worked with homeless people who have no home. Some have lots of stuff, thinking it's somehow their security, but it's all jammed into oversized plastic bags that end up ripping.

- Craigslist for furniture: I recently posted two items and got full asking price; people came on time, were extremely appreciative, and even wrote letters of thanks

- Craigslist for free: when I found myself with 48 square feet of packing popcorn, I posted this and the stuff was picked up within an hour!---and it went to someone who sells often on ebay, so she could certainly use it

- Books: I learned several years ago to keep only a few. Mostly I check books out from libraries, but others I give to Friends of the Library for book sales. I discovered joy in locating books from used stores many years ago, and realized I can let someone else have that same buzz if I release my incredible finds. Share the wealth!

- Clothes: If something comes in, then something MUST go out. Buffalo Exchange rocks! And in those rare moments when they won't take something, I'll give it away free

- Kitchenware: Thrift stores and homeless shelters love 'em. How much stuff does anyone need in the kitchen? (See Mark Bittman for much more on this)

- Accumulated pens, images on notecards from friends, maps from travels: Try your local public school. Too often teachers have to buy or scrounge for such items. We're lucky in Portland to have SCRAP (see www.scrapaction.org for more), and they love this stuff.

- Calendars that come unsolicited in the mail: give those to homeless shelters, you'd be amazed that many homeless persons have never owned or used a calendar, yet have multiple appointments at various locations over the course of a month. Personal organizers are good for this too. This is actually one example of what I buy (in near bulk) are dollar stores in late Jan/early Feb to redistribute.

- DVD's: come on, how many times does anyone REALLY watch most of the movies they've already seen? Why hang onto this?

- Treasures from yard/tag/thrift sales including vases, dishware, etc., that seemed to good to pass up: if it's not part of your style, you can ditch it and you will survive!

Don't get me wrong...I buy things now and then, but have committed to letting go of something whenever I decide to acquire something else. But if it ain't truly beautiful or useful, then why stash it in your space?

Overall, letting go of things isn't difficult if you think of it like flossing or regularly scrubbing the stove. It's just part of the well-examined, deliberate life that allows space for meaning and discovery.