It’s no secret that a walk down any New York City block on trash day will require you to dodge heaps of unwanted items. While most of these items are probably not anything you want in your office, there’s a reason the saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” caught on. Some people love old furniture!
Tossing your old furniture out to the curb can be tempting before you embark on an office remodeling project, but it’s not without consequences. If your office furniture donations are oversized or otherwise not able to be picked up by a regular trash truck, you can get stuck with penalties that compound over time. The next logical option is donation, but it can be difficult to know where to start or how much lead time you’ll need to ensure it’s done right. Not to mention the hassle of lugging chairs and conference tables through Manhattan traffic and crowded streets.
In this article, we’ll provide practical tips for donating your unwanted office furniture in NYC so you don’t have to worry about unnecessary fines or bother with vetting resources.
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Benhar Office Interiors |
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GreenDrop |
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The Salvation Army |
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Neighborhood Groups |
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Start-ups or Other Small Businesses |
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Religious Organizations |
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Junk Haulers |
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Our furniture management services are designed to take the pressure off business owners and their teams during the moving or redesign process. Our project managers take care of everything, including furniture disposal and office furniture donations.
We have a wide network of partners we can call on to recycle, appraise, and donate unwanted office furniture items, so you can feel good about your impact. Our services ensure you don’t have to rely on a third party or take your office staff away from their day-to-day tasks to independently list the furniture, communicate with interested people, and coordinate pick-up – we do all that for you.
In recent years, GreenDrop has grown in popularity because it offers free walk-in drop-offs and scheduled pick-ups, allowing you to dispose of unwanted items without much effort. In New York City, there’s one location on the Upper East Side and a few other locations in the surrounding suburbs.
When you take items to GreenDrop, you can ask for a tax receipt, which can offset costs for your business. However, GreenDrop has a long list of items it doesn’t accept, including large appliances, electronics, books, and furniture exceeding 50 pounds, ruling it out as an option for most office furniture donations.
The Salvation Army is known nationwide for its large presence at grocery stores around the holidays, but its offices and thrift stores operate year-round for those in need. Compared to GreenDrop, it accepts a broader range of items, but it may not be the best fit for organizations that want their items to go to people who will use them.
The Salvation Army has full discretion to sell its donations for a profit, so it may not impact your community the way you hoped. This option can be great if you have an office in an area the organization can easily accommodate, but you may want to look elsewhere if you want a more direct donation process.
The Buy Nothing Project, NextDoor, and other neighborhood networking sites can be great resources for decluttering and removing unwanted office furniture ahead of an office renovation. With this option, you can post photos and lists of your unwanted items or a curb alert for local people to pick up and repurpose for their own needs.
This option relieves budgetary pressure on your organization, but you may have to deal with no-shows or coordinate people to pick up the items on their schedule, which can put more on your plate.
More than 300 million start-ups are launched nationwide every year. NYC has one of the largest populations in the country, so you can assume that a large percentage of start-ups begin here. While some companies have a lot of seed money, not all are created equally, and you may find one that would love to accept an office furniture donation. By networking with local organizations, you may be able to connect with start-ups and other small businesses that don’t have the budget to fully furnish their space and would love your old furniture.
If you have a religious organization, church, or synagogue close to your heart, contact them to discuss your options for office furniture donations. Keep in mind, religious organizations may not have the resources necessary to work on a tight turnaround or specific schedule, and you may not have any say in where your old furniture eventually ends up. Plus, you have to factor in the hassle of packing up and transporting the furniture to them.
If free options can’t accommodate your desired timeline, moving companies and other junk haulers may have more open availability. You’ll have to pay a significant sum for large-scale donations, but you may be able to write it off as a typical business expense.
That said, many junk hauling companies don’t take the time to donate your items unless their mission explicitly says so. As such, this option should be reserved as a last resort if you can’t find altruistic organizations that can accommodate your needs.