I donated an entire truck of furniture to our Habitat ReStore. They came with a truck and loaded it. Gave me an inventory of what I donated. I took the deduction, it was more than I would have if I had sold it. And I helped them out.
I hate garage sales and you always have tons left over that you then have to figure out how to donate. I skip that step and just donate. So much easier.
Before you list them on free cycle or Craigslist…put a post on YOUR FB page to your friends. Let them know that you have stuff to give away. My kids have both emptied out whole apartments that way…sold or gave away to friends…or friends of friends.
Then if you you really don’t want to have a tag sale…or can’t…if anything is suitable for setting up housekeeping…contact a local women’s shelter who helps relocate families. Sometimes they will pick up…but if not…they are a very worthy place for donations. Your kitchen and LR furniture, in particular, might be helpful to them if theynare setting up an apartment for someone.
I have heard that AmVets will pick things up…but they won’t schlep it out of your basement. If you can move it to the garage, they will come and get it.
Old TVs? Some people have had good luck getting rid of them on Freecycle. We just take them to the landfill.
I volunteer at a local charity thrift store. Your basement sounds like what many of our donations are like…and we are grateful for them (except the TV…we don’t take them or computers…or children’s things).
Oh…one more suggestion because we have to do this all the time…re: electrical appliances. There have been MANY recalls on small and medium appliances. Many. We are now looking those up…and we are cutting the plug off of anything with a recall…because we have NO idea if this has been done. We also cut the plugs off of any small appliance with any visible damage to the cord. Then it goes to the landfill. So…if you have small appliances…you might want to just ditch them…especially if they are old.
One last thought…is there an agency near you that sets up group homes? They might be happy to have some of that furniture.
Some communities or states have an age limit to donate old appliances. Eg, here, you can only junk a refrig older than 8 or 10 years, no group can take it to re-use. Even our local Salvation Army won’t take old tvs.
I’d look for local groups that set up housing for women/families in need or immigrants, rather than trying to find that one family yourself.
I had no luck asking local religious orgs for ideas, believe it or not. Maybe ask United Way. Good luck. It’s nice to try.
I triple the suggestion of Restore, Habitat’s retail store if you have one in your area. Had to clear my parent’s home and Restore took most of it - if I had the time, they would’ve had a truck pick up. Salvation Army took what they didn’t - even a mattress set.
The only time I sold anything was 20 years ago. Never again. people coming to your house and they like to haggle of the price you thought was very low already. At least half an hour with each person. We have GreenDrop that takes just about everything even bulky furniture.
We have a Goodwill within 2 miles of my house, and that is where I always take old clothes and other small items because it is close. I am embarrasses to say I did not know Habitat had a resale store; there is one very near me; I will absolutely give them a call.
While I would love to sell at least the furniture and recoup so money, we always think our belongings are worth more than they really are. My daughter’s bedroom set was not cheap, and she would love me to keep it as she hopes to move back to the states in a few years. I was happy to keep it while I had a huge unfinished basement, but I am not dragging it to the next house as I have no place to store it. The other furniture, while nice enough, doesn’t owe me anything, so I am happy to donate.
The last time I tried to donate a 40" big box tv, I could not find a single place willing to take it. We had just purchased our first flat screen tv, and while the old tv was in great working condition, not one single shelter, church, daycare center, school would take it, even if I delivered it to them. I can recycle electronics for $10 a piece, so that is what we did. I still have 3 other tvs to get rid of; I am sure no one will want the 32", but maybe the two college tvs will find a home somewhere. It is a shame as they are all in perfect working order, just not flat screen!
The other big item I totally forgot about is the gym equipment in the basement that hasn’t been used in years. It will have to be dismantled to get out of the house, something we don’t want to mess with, but might have to. I would love the new owners to keep it just so we don’t have to deal with it; something I need to look into! I will post this piece on my neighborhood FB pages as that would be the easiest. I will also post the better stuff we have there as I am comfortable with one of my neighbors coming onto my home. The FB page my niece mentioned, anyone can join and I am not sure I want to deal with that. I will start with our FB page, and then go the donation route after that. Again, while I would love to get some money for these items, I would rather they leave the house with little work from me!
The funny thing is, though I had emotional connections to many ordinary pieces, once they were gone, they were gone. IME, no regrets and some sense of relief (maybe even triumph) that I had let them go.
If you have blankets or towels, the animal shelters love to get them.
We gave some furniture and interview worthy clothes to a group called A Wider Circle which helps military families in need. There are many worthy groups that will come and take your things, just look around a little.
Even things that I considered junk people came and picked up for free via Freecycle or Craig’s list. For Craig’s list, you can do a “curb alert” and leave things outside - no one needs to knock on your door. Just make sure to remove the listing promptly when the stuff disappears. For Freecycle you would choose someone based on their email to come pick up the stuff and then you provide your address. I got rid of the previous owner’s old vinyl floor tile that way to someone who was grateful to have it to refloor a concrete garage as a studio space.
You can also get on NextDoor and then only your small (or larger) neighborhood would see the post where you sell or give something away. I’ve never had any trouble with this.
There are many people out there who might want your stuff. If you have a maid service or gardner, ask them if they know anyone who would want your TV. Ask young people if their friends are just moving into an apartment, etc.
Most places won’t take gym equipment…well the machines…either…due to liability issues. But thenland fill will!
If you have a Habitat resale store near you, I would suggest them.
I hate to diss an organization…while I know goodwill does help some, I won’t donate to them anymore…because of the amount of money that goes to their management.
Regarding old-style TVs: Through Freecycle, I had a woman come and take a 32-inch one so her 9-year-old could have one in his bedroom to play video games on. That was unusual, however, and they most of them just wind up at the dump.
@twoinanddone The old towels, blankets and sheets were the first to go to my vet and doggie daycare; they sent what they didn’t want to the local shelter.
@thumper1 That is the problem as it would take a truck and several men to handle the machine; seems silly to pay people to haul something to the dump, although we will be doing that with real trash. We had a guy come in after my parents estate sale and haul everything left away. He got paid to take everything left in the house, from trash, junk and items of value and it was a huge job. He then takes the items worth anything to flea markets and sells there. So we paid someone to take everything, and then he made some money on what he took; a great deal for him! He did say he would never do this again as it was a huge undertaking, but I will give him a call as I don’t have a tenth of the stuff my parents had.
I have a local organization that helps people get back on their feet and will pick up; will check with them and Habitat and see who will take what. My goal is to have it picked up and disappear so we don’t have to haul it ourselves. We both have bad backs, so not looking to schlep furniture around. Actually I had not trouble lifting and moving things until I packed and moved my parents almost 3 years ago. Two herniated disks later, my lifting heavy items days are over 
We will pack most of our own boxes, but the movers will be handling everything else. After moving the kids multiple times and my parents, my husband and I have moving down to a science; this will be the first move that we allow others to help pack!
When I emptied my mom’s house, she had one of those huge wood console stereos (sliding doors, etc.). It remained after the estate sale, and again after the “everything must go sale” - then I took 2 pictures and listed it for free on craigslist and the cutest couple came and got it. They re-purpose “vintage” stereo and TV consoles and the like. They were delighted to have it and I was even more delighted to get rid of it. This was in Florida. I have found more and more there are “Flea Market Flip” types out there that would LOVE to get their hands on decent quality items for free to tear apart and re-purpose. I don’t know if craigslist is for everyone, but the FREE section was a blessing for me at that time. We even have a whole market here 3x a year of all these types of items. If I’d had that albatross here, I’d have contacted the organizer to see if he/she could help me find someone who would want it.
We have given items to the Habitat Restore as well. One challenge with them and many other organizations that will come to your home and pick up is that they won’t come inside your house. So you have to figure out a way to get items into your garage. Certainly not as big a deal as hauling them away but not a small endeavor for large pieces of furniture.
Two friends recently needed to empty houses. Both went the estate sale route for ONE reason…the estate sale person guaranteed an EMPTY house after a certain date.
In both cases, the estate person first removed anything that was antique or valuable and could be sold on consignment. Then the estate person actually set up…and ran the estate/tag sale event. Then…after that…the estate person emptied the house.
In both cases, things the family wanted to keep were either tagged or moved out prior to the estate sale. After the sale…everything else was left was removed.
The families were not there for the actual sale. They did arrive at the end.
I was going to suggest Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Ours will pick up stuff. No one wants old TVs or old computers… If you live on a busy street, sometimes just putting things in the front yard will make them disappear.
@thumper1 - do you happen to know what the payment arrangement was - what % the estate company took? Also, did the estate company itemize everything they sold with prices obtained?
Check your local laws as some cities/towns/regions ban placing of electronic items at the curb and will impose serious fines on individuals who violate those laws.
For instance, you’re not allowed to leave any electronics on the curb in NYC and some homeowners/buildings in my area have been cited with heavy fines for violations. A reason why it’s much more rare to see abandoned electronics on the curbside in the last few years than before.
NextDoor is a good suggestion from @greenwitch . Also, there’s an app called OfferUp that’s much better than using Craigslist. It seems to draw in a better clientele, I think. It’s pretty popular around here.
https://offerupnow.com/
The home owners paid NOTHING.
I really don’t have any idea totally what the payment arrangement was…but for consigned things, they got 40% of the sale price. They got 1/2 of the proceeds from the estate/tag sale.
But the bonus was they were both left with EMPTY houses…which otherwise they would have had to pay to get emptied.
Both felt this was well worth any additional money they “might” have made by getting rid of the stuff another way.