Recirculate Items with Craig’s List Curb Alert
Need to recirculate (get rid of) extra stuff fast, with minimal effort? Want to feel good about recirculating things that you are no longer using back into the community? Try craigslist.org “Curb Alert”.
The basics: Go to craigslist.org and post an ad to the classifieds, under the “for sale/wanted”, and “free stuff” categories. Put “Curb Alert” in the title, along with a couple of words describing the item or items. In the ad, post pictures of the item(s) and a general description of the location where they will be placed at the curb. Such as, “end of cul-d-sac, Oak Street, Mayberry, NC” or “near the intersection of 10th and West Streets, Greenville, VA”. Put the items on the curb and watch them disappear! In addition, be a good craigslist citizen. Make sure to remove the ad as soon as the items are taken.
Above all, when you recirculate your items, you become free of the burden and create good karma of having provided them to someone who needed them!
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
I think packing is the worst part of moving. However, you have some great tips here to make packing a lot easier. I had never thought to pack all the liquids together, but that makes a lot of sense. Nothing is worse than a broken bottle or spilled chemical. We are looking at moving soon, so I\’ll keep this in mind, thanks!
Thanks Silas. Good luck with your move.
Thanks for the post. I learned something new to share with my clients
Great. This is also how we get rid of used moving boxes. They are picked up before you can blink.
We are a part of a large development, with large homes, smaller homes, and townhomes. We all are part of a Facebook group where we share items that we don’t want. Everyone places them at the end of their driveway and then posts the items on our group. They go within a matter of a day or two. It’s super easy, and we are helping our neighbors with their needs and getting rid of our stuff. It’s a win-win. =) Thanks for sharing.
I like using local facebook groups too. They tend to be more local than Craig’s List. So the stuff disappears fast.
What an interesting concept! We used to have a free pickup in our town, and people would put their things out. What happened was, others would come along and often pick things up before the town’s disposal trucks could get to them.
Unfortunately, some neighbors didn’t like the look of the stuff at the curb, nor the traffic arriving to look and pick stuff up. I wonder if this service is available everywhere? Seems like a way to put a specific time to an item so you don’t upset the neighbors with it being out for days at a time. Great tip!
In my area, things never stay out at the curb for long. Recently my husband was cleaning the garage. I listed 4 things for free “at the curb”. He was amazed how quickly things disappeared. All 4 items were gone in about 30 minutes.
This is great! I had no idea that this service existed. Thank you so much. I will share this information with my clients.
Great Diane.
This is a bit of a revelation – I agree with Seana that in some places that don’t normally allow things out on the curb putting the time limit on it can make all the difference. I’ll definitely be sharing this idea!
Great. Glad you learned something you can use.
Thanks for this, Janet. I learn something new every day!
Thanks for reading Lucy.
A simple yet effective tip! I used to furnish my apartments with free stuff from a curb alert. It definitely works!
Yes. I find some great stuff listed for free and have listed some great stuff too.
I haven’t used Craig’s List for years! My house is on a busy street so I don’t really need to post a curb alert. But I will definitely let my clients know about it. It’s a great tip – Thanks Janet!
There is no need if you have a lot of traffic. Just set items at the curb with a “free” sign on it. Much more efficient!
How nifty. I’ve never used Craig’s list, and have always felt like Freecycle was so much more effort than just dropping something at a charitable site. And sometimes, the schlep just doesn’t feel worth it. I love that this lets you avoid interacting with strangers (good for singletons…and introverts), gets an item out of the house and on its way to someone who really wants it, and seems like no muss and no fuss. I can definitely see myself sharing this with clients!
We also use Facebook Marketplace to offer things for free. It seems more local to me than Craig’s List. I love all the options. Whatever is easiest, right?
Last year, when we were getting ready for our daughter’s wedding at our house, we did a lot of letting go of stuff. We used Facebook Marketplace to announce a “pick-up for free.” As you suggested, we posted photos and a brief description. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I was amazed to see how quickly things went. It was a feel-good situation all around.
We use Facebook Marketplace a lot too. I like it because the sale groups more locally-focused, so you connect with people who live in the same town or suburb.