The Random Questions thread

I have a really nice bunk bed set - pottery barn with a built in desk and shelves. Kid has grown out of it, I’m not storing it.

Don’t want to do a Facebook marketplace or anything that someone would come to house (safety/security).

Happy to break it down and take it somewhere. Who will accept it? How do I get it to someone who will use it?

Perhaps take a photo and post on Facebook Buy Nothing (or other local social media site).

Do you have any charity thrift shops or furniture resource centers nearby? They do pickups.

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Community Clearinghouse and some churches that help needy families do some furniture pickups. We donated several beds in this manner.

So my son just moved into his first apartment and insisted on buying furniture via Wayfair instead of going to a traditional store. Big mistake. Lower quality IKEA where you have to put everything together yourself. Some pieces didn’t quite fit. Dresser top came with a sizable ding in it. He learned his lesson.

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I have had luck with Costco furniture. I bought a bed and my daughter ran out and bought the same one.

Habitat For Humanity also has stores where you can donate furniture, or organizations that help resettle people immigrating from other countries.

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I have also had good results with Costco furniture. We bought D a loft bed with a desk underneath. She used it for several years until S decided he wanted her to have a daybed that he bought her so he could lounge on it while she was at her desk (which he also bought her) and computer.

Also bought decent wooden chairs from Sam’s Club—solid wood!

We have a Wayfair entry bench for our sunporch. We found the instructions to be straight forward and it is a very sturdy piece. We’ve also ordered rugs and accessories and have been very pleased.

We have a Wayfair stand alone store near us and they have a wide price point of options. Some are higher quality than others and you can find the assembly information on line so you know what you are getting into.

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Thanks for all the replies. I will try a few places! (Maybe I will take a photo and stop in and see what they will take first…)

I just ordered a bed and frame from Mattress firm, but saw what seems to be essentially the same on the costco website for half the price! Ugh.

Mattresses are REALLY tough to compare across places unless you have the specific Mfg part #. Resellers will spec a specific price point and though visually it might be the same mattress - or even have the same model name as something sold elsewhere - what’s inside the mattress could be very different. For mattress places that “price match” it’s also a game that the mattresses they sell are specific to them (part #) so they never have to price match because no one else sells the exact same mattress.

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Back when I was in grad school I had time after defending my dissertation and graduation to go bed shopping, as I was moving to a new city. I went to a gazillion stores and made a comprehensive list of the stores/mattresses/model names/prices, etc. And yes, they were hard to compare b/c of the slightly different model names. It became a pretty comprehensive list, and one salesman offered me $50 for my list!

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Same thing happens with Tires. Town Fair Tire (and others, just happen to be familiar with this one) will “price match” but most of the tires they sell are unique to them at a Mfg. Part # level. Make/Model will read the same but go in with a competitor add and they’ll show you it’s different.

Have also come across this with Televisions/electronics at Best Buy and Home Appliances at Lowes & Home Depot.

Visually the stuff looks the same but they’ve cheaped out on something internal to hit a price point for the big box store. Not necessarily a bad thing but something that shouldn’t be quite so opaque to the consumer.

I do this frequently with home items. Find what I love and then do searches by picture or name or style and look to see another retailer who might have it for a better price.

I’ve done it for many rugs, side chairs, coffee tables etc

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Does anyone know anything about koi ponds? We’re considering purchasing a home that happens to have one. The idea is scaring me, as I don’t know the first thing about them.

Fish—especially larger ones like koi—give me the creeps, so I’d never go anywhere near a koi pond :rofl:

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While on the subject of Wayfair, never, NEVER, buy plumbing fixtures from them. Our interior designer steered us toward a Wayfair bathroom faucet and it failed after a couple months, flooding our bathroom, kitchen floor and basement, causing around $26,000 in water damage. On inspection, the copper threading on the faucet was paper thin - even worse than down-market home brands from big box stores.

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Unless you intend to keep it, just fill it in. Which certainly can be an unbudgeted expense when buying the house. Usually they’re pretty shallow (3-4 feet). If the seller is leaving the fish there you can probably call around to a few places to find someone to buy them from you. They can be more valuable than you might think.

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Koi ponds can be a lot of fun. Unless you live where there are large birds (like herons or cranes) which consider them easy appetizers.

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$ as wedding present. $200 for family member. $100 for friend of my child/know the parents but not super close friends. Is this reasonable? I’m very out of the loop. Attending both. Both are full sit down reception.

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