one couch too many

February 2, 2011 1:17 PM

My beloved is leaving her apartment in Oakland, which means getting rid of her couch. She arranged with a local thrift store to pick it up, but upon inspection they were unwilling to do so, citing "sun damage". Now she has only about 48 hours to get the couch out of her apartment and get rid of it. Any suggestions? Goodwill no longer does pick-ups.

(apologies if this post is veering into commercial territory - I'm really asking about how to get rid of bulky furniture fast in the Bay Area.)

posted by fingers_of_fire to Grab Bag (19 answers total)

Free craigslist. It'll be gone in like 10 minutes.
posted by brainmouse at 1:18 PM on February 2, 2011 [6 favorites]

The Salvation Army in my area does bulk pick-ups, if you call in advance and cart it out to the curb.
posted by muddgirl at 1:18 PM on February 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

What happens if you leave it there? I did this to a couch. I found myself without burly friends at one point and I had one of those hide-a-beds that weighed about as much as a Volkswagen. I couldn't get it out by myself, so I asked the landlord, he said he;s see if the new renters wanted it.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:19 PM on February 2, 2011

What brainmouse said. I had a bed I needed to get rid of in a couple of days. Put it up on the Craig's List free section, and I had about 50 emails in a few hours. And I'm sure there will be some that say they can pick it up any time and have a truck or whatever to transport it.
posted by aloysius on the mixing boards at 1:20 PM on February 2, 2011

Craigslist, free, you move it within 24 hours, first one who shows up gets it.
posted by iamabot at 1:20 PM on February 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

Free craigslist. I just did that with a recliner. I could have got $50 bucks, but as a free item, it was gone in under two hours.
posted by Hylas at 1:20 PM on February 2, 2011

If you still like the idea of donating it to a charitable organization that will come get it, try Military Order of the Purple Heart, Vietnam Veterans of America, or similar. (Some may not accept large furniture, so definitely check first, but it's worth finding out.)
posted by FlyingMonkey at 1:28 PM on February 2, 2011

I can't stand craiglist and all the associated hassle of flaky people, so I second Salvation Army as they pickup, and you can schedule the whole thing online!
posted by Joh at 1:46 PM on February 2, 2011

My mom moved into a place where the prior tenants had left their couch there. She's still got it six years later. I second cjorgensen. Ask the landlord if you can leave it there. The new tenants might appreciate it.
posted by clone boulevard at 1:49 PM on February 2, 2011

I've had similar success with free Craigslist a few times. As iamabot mentioned, one thing I'd suggest is not holding it for anyone. I've always had people ask if I would hold it for a few hours and then they inevitably never show up. Just get rid of it as soon as you can.
posted by dhammond at 1:52 PM on February 2, 2011

Freecycle. Also very quick.
posted by b33j at 2:04 PM on February 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

When I had to get rid of a water-damaged couch (and a bunch of other things, gah!) from my Oakland/Fruitvale warehouse space a few years ago I used EcoHaul and was very pleased. (They might not be the cheapest around but their service was outstanding and completely hassle-free for me.)
posted by hapax_legomenon at 2:05 PM on February 2, 2011

Freecyle, first come first served.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 3:40 PM on February 2, 2011

Free section of craigslist. I got about 20 responses in an hour, and I posted fairly early on a Sunday. Couch went to the first person who gave me a number and said they had a truck.
posted by shinyshiny at 4:41 PM on February 2, 2011

If the ordinances in her municipality allow it, she could put it at the curb with a big "free" sign.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 4:41 PM on February 2, 2011

Where I live people (myself included) just put that kind of thing out on the sidewalk, with a note like "PLEASE TAKE ME" and the things usually disappear pretty quickly.

Having said that, we've been using Freecycle a bit recently, too.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:59 PM on February 2, 2011

A friend had issues with all kinds of charity organizations and complained about it to me.

I suggested SPCA (specifically, the British Columbia Society for the Preventation of Cruelty to Animals).

I don't agree with some of their policies, but their thrift store operation was more than happy to make trips out and take stuff away in short order.
posted by porpoise at 10:33 PM on February 2, 2011

Here in L.A. it's increasingly difficult to get charitable organizations to pick up couches because so many people are trying to unload cat-scratched, irreparably stained, and fire-damaged couches. I had an excellent leather couch that I could not have physically moved myself, so I took a chance and hired a guy for $20 to bring the couch to a local thrift store. Once they saw it they were thrilled. It was worth the $20 to be rid of it, so maybe you can try that angle.

Is your friend having a new couch delivered? I just gave the driver 20 bucks to take it with them. They could keep it or give it away, I didn't care.

Now maybe someone can tell me why no one wants to take a $600 almost-new Sanyo portable A/C unit. Grrr.

Good luck!
posted by Room 641-A at 11:31 PM on February 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you dont have luck with Craigslist, consider listing it on Freecycle also - I've had good luck giving away items using FC
posted by darsh at 8:11 AM on February 3, 2011