If you’re looking to spice up a room with some newer furniture or find replacements for old, broken down couches or chairs, there are many options available to you. Obviously, you could go to a store or find some furniture online at a shop, but it can get pretty expensive if you’re on a budget. You could go to used furniture stores or thrift shops, but many of the offerings might be as old as the furniture you’re trying to replace. If this sounds like you, the best place to get gently used furniture or some kitchen appliances might not be a store at all, but actually your local college or university during graduation season.
This might seem odd, but more and more people are heading to colleges and universities to find replacement furniture, appliances, and other goods. Every year, students are moving out of their dorms or apartments after graduation and many of them are discarding old-to-them-but-new-to-you furniture, much of which is less than four years old. Beds, dressers, tables, sofas, easy chairs, and many other household items are left on the street for trash pick-up or for anyone that wants to pluck them, including fellow students. However, this type of scavenging isn’t what’s being recommended (even though that is an option). You could show up just before graduation and move-out day to offer to take it off their hands and into your truck for cash or Venmo instead of dumpster diving.
If you live near a university and would like some newer furniture, consider researching the move-out date of the students through their college’s website so you know when the timing is right. If you have a specific furniture need, you could make flyers with an email address on them explaining what furniture you’re looking to buy and spread them around campus. This way, departing students may reach out to let you know if they have something you’re looking for that they’re not taking with them.
It’s understandable to be skeptical about this process, but the number of students trying to get rid of their furniture is to the point that many universities and colleges have developed different programs to address this issue at the end of semester. While it’s good there are programs offering to remove these items for student free of charge, it might be more enticing for them to let you take some of their furniture in exchange for some cash instead.
They get some cash, you get a living room. Win-win.Photo credit: Canva
If this sounds like a bit more work than you’d like to do, there are other ways you can get quality furniture that college students have discarded. You can browse Facebook Marketplace or other similar social media classifieds focused on areas around the college to see what has popped up for sale. Similarly, many college students donate their furniture, kitchen items, and other goods to Goodwill, so it’s worth checking out the Goodwill store near the campus regularly to see if there are any great finds available at a great price.
No matter which direction you choose, it’s worth investigating your local university’s campus and nearby apartments whenever you are searching for a new piece of furniture or an appliance. For the college student, you’d be helping them move out something that is gently used but cannot be taken with them back home or to their new job after graduation while also giving them some money for it. For the environment, it’s less waste being thrown out before it has outlived its use. For you, you’ll get some good replacement furniture or upgrades at prices better than any brick-and-mortar store or online shop. Everyone wins.
Take home pay is becoming less and less as expenses rise year after year.Photo credit: Canva
Making bill payments gets harder each year.Photo credit: Canva
