Where To Get Rid of Your Old Stuff
Updated: May 05, 2024
It's time to hit the refresh button on clutter. Here's where to sell and donate your old stuff, including the unusual bits and pieces.
Why Declutter Your Home?
Decluttering liberates our minds and frees up room in our homes. Plus, other people can benefit from our stuff once we no longer need it.
“Decluttering can help you create both physical and mental space to focus on what you truly care about,” says Ben Hardman, creator of the website Tiny Eco Home Life. “And when it comes to the environment, it’s a great idea to donate or resell, so those items can be reused.”
But sometimes it’s hard to know what to do with all the stuff we’ve finally decided to part with.
“The good news is that the majority of our unwanted stuff can be donated or recycled,” says decluttering coach Julie Leonard. “And as you will see, your clutter could make a big difference in someone’s life.”
Here’s some advice from Leonard and Hardman about how to easily and responsibly ditch your old stuff.
Thrift Stores
Tried-and-true thrift stores like Goodwill, the Salvation Army, Arc and the Humane Society are great places to donate lots of household items, with the proceeds supporting employment and community programs. For safety reasons, many won’t accept some electrical items, car seats, mattresses, chemicals and, of course, weapons.
Donation etiquette dictates items should be clean, laundered and in reusable condition. If possible, label the bag or box with its contents, and don’t inundate organizations with items they don’t typically take.
“It’s always worth giving them a call ahead of time to check that they have the capacity for donations and to find out what they are accepting,” says Leonard.
Online Marketplaces
Facebook Marketplace is currently the most prominent online selling tool in most areas. You can post items for sale or as giveaways, everything from holiday decorations to your used car.
“Facebook Marketplace is really good for getting rid of random items,” says Hardman. “Recently, I’ve bought an office chair, a baby jumperoo and a table.”
Other online venues to sell household goods include Ebay, OfferUp, Mercari and For Days. Because Ebay has a more national audience, it’s a particularly good place for getting rid of items like specialty computer cables, rare books and collectables.
Online Donation Sites
Some apps, sites and forums connect community members looking to give away items, including BuyNothing, Freecycle and Nextdoor. Depending on where you live, some of these groups are more or less active. Facebook Marketplace also has Buy Nothing groups, plus you can create curb alerts for free stuff you’ve left in your front yard.
Speaking of curb alerts, in many places you can also just put whatever you don’t want near the sidewalk with a “free” sign on it, so whoever wants it can simply scoop it up. And don’t forget about yard sales, which double as a good excuse to meet more of your neighbors.
Sporting Goods Stores and Marketplaces
Many towns and cities have sporting goods stores, like Play It Again Sports, that buy or consign skis, golf clubs, weights, wetsuits, hiking boots and other outdoor and fitness gear. Outdoorsy communities also tend to throw yearly community ski and bike swaps.
A number of online outlets, like Patagonia Worn Wear, Geartrade and REI, let you trade in or sell used outdoor clothing and hard goods. And if you want to restock anything, these are also good places to find deals.
Sporting Goods Donation Sites
Many charities will gladly take your old gear. “They put them into the hands of those who need them, and you can really make a difference in someone’s life,” says Leonard.
Some of them include:
- Let’s Play It Forward: Helps charitable youth groups and individuals get the gear they need to play sports.
- One World Running: Accepts any condition of used running shoes to promote fitness and health awareness. “Even your really old shoes are sent to Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe campaign, where they are broken down and recycled to become playgrounds and running tracks,” says Leonard.
- Peace Passers: Distributes soccer balls and accessories to children worldwide.
- Bicycles for Humanity: Relocates bikes to people in developing countries for transportation.
Clothing Marketplaces
From T-shirts to designer shoes, there are a wealth of online sites where you can sell clothes, including Poshmark, ThredUp, The RealReal and Grailed. “Currently, I’m seeing a huge surge in popularity with Vinted, and many of my clients having great success decluttering their closets,” says Leonard.
You’ll need a little patience with this route, because most outlets insist you keep your clothes until someone buys them. Then you pack them up and send them off.
Specialty Clothing Donations
For wedding dresses and other gowns, Hardman recommends the Priceless Gown Project and Becca’s Closet, where your fancy duds can be reused by someone who could not otherwise afford them. “No need to leave them to gather dust in the closet,” he says. “Make your cherished memories available for someone else to enjoy.”
You can also give away your suits, ties and other business attire at Project for Pride in Living and Jails to Jobs.
“With COVID came home offices, and many of us never returned to our office buildings,” says Leonard. “If you’ve made the shift from suits and smart clothes to a more relaxed work attire, give someone unemployed a helping hand by donating to one of these charities.”
Women’s Shelters, Homeless Shelters and Food Banks
For obvious reasons, these can be great places to donate clothing and other supplies. Leonard says they’re especially good for offloading items thrift stores won’t take, like bras, surplus toiletries, cosmetics, perfumes and gift sets.
“There are also a number of charities that send bras to women in Africa, where it’s proven that they can improve women’s safety,” she says.
Other places to get rid of bras are Free the Girls, which helps survivors of sex trafficking, and The Bra Recyclers, which have drop-off points around the country.
As for that pantry of food you’re unlikely to eat, you can find your nearest food bank via Feeding America. “In 2022, 49 million American turned to food banks for assistance, so consider clearing out your cupboards and donating,” says Leonard.
Books
“Books can be sentimental and hard to let go of,” says Leonard. “[But] they also create a lot of clutter in our homes.”
Once you have a stack you can bear to part with, start sticking them around town in Little Free Libraries. Public libraries will often take donations, too, especially with popular or local-specialty titles. Or make a little cash by selling them through an online outlet like BookScouter.
Specialty Items
Organizations are becoming ever more resourceful at keeping stuff out of our landfills and putting it in the hands of those in need. Some ideas for ditching unusual, specialty and hard-to-get-rid of items include:
- Give old towels and rugs to the dogs and cats at your local animal shelter. “I love animals, and it makes me genuinely happy to be able to help in the smallest way I can,” says Hardman.
- Bag up worn out, stained or ripped clothing and linens and take them to your local donation center. Some will take them, especially if you label the bag “rags,” says Leonard.
- Walmart Vision Centers accept eyeglass and hearing aid donations, a great way to give the gift of sight and sound to someone in need, says Leonard. You can also mail glasses to the Lions Clubs and hearing aids to the Hearing Aid Project.
- For expired medications, empty them into one bag, then take them to a local hospital or sheriff’s office for disposal. Send the bottles to Matthew 25 Ministries, where they’ll help medical care in developing countries.
- For easy recycling of difficult items, try a service like Ridwell, which picks up stuff like plastic bags, batteries and light bulbs from your front door.
About the Experts
- Julie Leonard is a certified life and decluttering coach with more than 30 years of psychology, mental health and coaching experience. She is the creator of the Simplify Your Life coaching program and The Intentional Happiness Circle, and author of Intentional Happiness: The Life-Changing Guide to Being Happy and Staying Happy.
- Ben Hardman is a writer, environmentalist and the creator of the website Tiny Eco Home Life, a platform that helps people live more sustainable lives and reduce their impact on the environment. His business has been featured in outlets like The New York Times and BBC Radio 1.
Originally Published: December 04, 2023
