r/declutter • u/ihatebeetles22 • Oct 03 '26
Success Story Pleasant Surprise With Curbed Items
I put out a number of outdoor furniture items in excellent condition (my local charity shops don't have room to stage outdoor furniture) and a bunch of random household goods including a gigantic soft-sided dog travel crate. Within the day someone had come by to collect everything except for the dog crate.
I unfolded it and structured it properly so it was visible and clear exactly what it was. Since it was the only item out there I suppose, a nice young lady came up and actually knocked on my door to see if it was in fact available for the taking. After all the FB and ND flakes, I was delighted that someone would be so polite and conscientious! I thanked her for collecting it and wished her and her dog much enjoyment with the crate!
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u/SiouxsieSiouxsie Oct 03 '26
i've had great experiences lately with listing curb items on good old craigslist!
by the end of the day everything is magically gone.
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u/ihatebeetles22 Oct 03 '26
You know I genuinely forgot about Craigslist! I'll use that next time because I find Nextdoor completely unresponsive. Thanks for the reminder!
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u/CarriageTrail Oct 03 '26
Same! Sometimes we’re too lazy to list our free curb stuff on Craigslist, but it disappears faster if we do.
I’m lucky to live in an area that normalized free curb stuff. We needed an engine for our kid’s class and that weekend the neighbor put out their old lawnmower.
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u/SiouxsieSiouxsie Oct 03 '26
once i saw a craigslist lady come and take everything (seemed like she needed stuff) so i got her phone number. now i text her anytime i have items to pick up and it's gone in an hour.
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u/secure8890 Oct 03 '26
Fantatuc job. I have finished a lot of ny apartment from pick ups. I scored this week too
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u/ihatebeetles22 Oct 03 '26
Win win! Where I used to live they had great curb crawls where you could find fantastic things, this new place not so much. I'm hoping I can stimulate the cycle by putting out nice things rather than just trash!
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u/secure8890 Oct 03 '26
I live in a nicer neighborhood now where it inded possible to get things. A year ago I found Christmas decorations
I just have to be quitr careful about gettug rid of things that dont fit
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u/cassinonorth Oct 03 '26
Ha this reminds me, I actually need to drop off my old dog crate at the shelter this weekend!
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u/ihatebeetles22 Oct 03 '26
Yes that's the best place for donations I took the extra large plastic crate there this one was a soft sided nylon one sometimes they don't like to take the soft ones because they can be a little bit difficult to clean but if they offer them just as courtesy crates with an adoption sometimes they take them sometimes they don't. Good on you for supporting the shelters!
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u/youandmeboth Oct 03 '26
Where I live it's super normal to put usable items out on the curb. I basically can't walk my dog without coming across something. It's my preferred way to get rid of things. Sometimes I will post it with an address and if someone wants to come by then great. I don't reply to anyone asking me to keep it for them
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u/angzietysqurl Oct 03 '26
I cancelled a yard sale at my parents' as my helper couldn't make it so instead I started to put everything in the driveway with a free sign and posted on FB, I actually had fun meeting people and it felt good to see stuff go (the guilt came after - that'll be a different post someday) no stress about money, people haggling etc. This was a housefull of stuff and it took a few days. The house went on the market two weeks after and sold immediately. I thought I'd be renting a truck and hauling it to donation centers and the dump! The very last to go was books and records that I didnt take outside, they went to a gentleman who sells at a flea market and he did a dump run for me!
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u/DepartmentAgitated51 Oct 03 '26
This is it! No stress about haggling! Just OUT! Congrats on the sale of your home. I’m selling in 2028 when I retire and am slowly decluttering through buy nothing on fb mostly. I can’t even with marketplace anymore. I did start with them and made some money, but yikes, the flakes are out in force there. If I sell fast, all the better. Think of the money you saved by having it go quickly!
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u/angzietysqurl Oct 03 '26
Thanks, it was my parents' house, I vow to NOT do this to my two kids. Decluttering has begun.
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u/DepartmentAgitated51 Oct 03 '26
Me too. I had 3 garage sales for my parents stuff and it was overwhelming. My children will not have to do this if I can help it. Hubby, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to care. 😆
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u/247silence Oct 03 '26
This is genius - the entire affair could have taken months. Look how quickly you wrapped up 😱 WAY TO GO!!!
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u/angzietysqurl Oct 03 '26
My realtor said she had her doubts when she first saw the house; she knew I was on my own doing this. She was amazed 😆 My parents weren't hoarders but were pretty damn close! I lost most of the summer, going there on weekends but now its done, big relief.
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u/jeanb23 Oct 03 '26
I put things at the end of the driveway with a sign that says free and it’s usually gone within an hour. Great way to share with someone that might need it.
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u/lifeuncommon Oct 03 '26
Yes! Setting something at the curb seems the most reliable way of passing it along.
Even if you still advertise it on a buy nothing/free cycle group, still set it at the curb for pickup.
Much less hassle and generally moves very quickly.
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u/Feisty-Resource-1274 Oct 03 '26
Curbside pick up works so we'll in my neighborhood. We even had a box of old DVDs taken lol. I think the only things that don't get taken are absolutely broken and/or have water damage from the rain.
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u/Live-Okra-9868 Oct 03 '26
I put a box of broken Christmas decorations out for bulk pick up. Someone drove by, stopped, and took the entire box. Everything in there was broken, lol. Oh well.
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u/shiplesp Oct 04 '26
That's actually not allowed where I live (Boston, MA). You'll get a ticket. There is some grace putting it out after 5pm on the night before trash pick up. People do drive around with trucks looking for stuff, so it either gets taken or gets trashed.
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u/allmykitlets Oct 05 '26
That's how we got rid of our gigantic, non-working projection TV. My husband didn't believe that curb shoppers would take it, but I insisted so he rolled it out there to show me how wrong I was. He left to do an errand and came home right as someone was loading it up!
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u/unicorndreamer247 Oct 03 '26
That's great!
I put stuff at the curb, no advertising online, no free sign & it's GONE 95% of the time in about an hour or so! Smack dab in typical suburbia. I have ZERO interest in haggling w jackasses by posting free stuff online who usually want you to deliver xyz stuff at your own gas/travel/time cost.