Beware The Specialty Donations Trap

One of the most common traps we see clients fall into is having great motivation to clear things out but then getting delayed wanting to get the items to specific people.

“This jacket would look great on my sister!”

“My neighbor is a collector, maybe they’ll want this pottery”

“Someone can use this for art”

“My cousin just had a baby, she’ll want this collection of Harry Potter books”

Don’t spend a lot of time playing matchmaker with your stuff if the goal is to get things out and clear some space. We want to avoid landfill, but there are plenty of other donation options without waiting for the opportunity to hand things off to a specific person. Your pile of good intentions really becomes another pile of clutter and defeats your goal of letting things go.

Send a quick photo off to the person in question and be ready to move on with a Plan B.

Plan B

If dropping off at a thrift store doesn’t work for you, try these options:

Give It Away in Your Community

• FreeCycle / NextDoor / CraigsList

• FaceBook Marketplace

• Leave it out on your curbside for a few days

Set a Time Frame

Give yourself a specific time frame (we like 1 week!) to find that interested person and then donate it if possible.

Don’t Overthink It

The point of a donation is re-use. So long as the item gets to ANYONE who actually wants it, your goal of getting it out of your home, and out of landfill, is accomplished.

If you feel overwhelmed by too many options, remember that donating to a generic thrift store is just fine! They appreciate higher value items because they can sell them sometimes outside the store online to make money for their cause. Interested shoppers self select to choose your items so it will end up in the hands of someone who wants it.