What is usually left after an estate sale
A well-run sale sells most of what has a buyer, but no sale sells everything. Expect to be left with some furniture that was too big or too dated, clothes, everyday linens, paperbacks and hardbacks nobody wanted, kitchen basics, half-used cleaning products, decor, holiday decorations, the last of the garage, and an amount of genuine rubbish. On the final day of a sale, companies commonly discount heavily and many will let regular buyers take boxes of remainder for very little, so what is left is what had no buyer even at that price.
That does not make it worthless to somebody. Most of it is usable, and a charity shop, a furniture bank or a shelter will put it to work. The trick is to sort it into what can be donated, what must be disposed of, and what is worth one more attempt to sell, and then to move each pile with the fewest trips. Our guide to what to do with the things nobody wants puts the options in the order to try them; this guide takes the donation route in detail.
Check the contract first. Many estate sale contracts say what happens to unsold items: some companies remove them, some buy the remainder for a flat figure, some donate it on your behalf and hand you the receipt, and some leave it to you. If the company is handling it, your job is to get the receipt, and the section below on the company handling the donation covers what to ask for.
Where to donate after an estate sale
Different organizations want different things, and matching the pile to the place is what gets it all taken in one go.
- Charity thrift stores. The large national and regional ones take clothing, housewares, small furniture, books, decor and working electronics, and most run donation centers with drive-up drop-off. Many offer pickup for furniture. They are the default for the bulk of a house.
- Furniture banks and refugee resettlement groups. They furnish homes for families starting from nothing, and they want exactly what a sale leaves: beds, dressers, tables and chairs, sofas in good condition, lamps, pots and pans, dishes, towels and bedding. Many collect.
- Building-materials reuse stores. Run by housing charities, they take furniture, appliances, tools, hardware, light fixtures, doors, cabinets and lumber. A good home for the garage and the workshop.
- Shelters and transitional housing. Domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters and veterans' housing often need bedding, towels, toiletries still sealed, kitchen basics and clothing. Call first; needs change week to week.
- Libraries and literacy groups. For books, records and DVDs in decent condition. Many library friends' groups run sales and take donations by the box.
- Schools, community theaters and senior centers. Craft supplies, fabric, sewing notions, costume jewelry, props, board games, puzzles, musical instruments and office supplies.
- Animal shelters. Old towels, blankets and sheets, which most human charities refuse.
- Religious congregations and mutual aid groups. Often the fastest route for a specific family in need, and often willing to collect.
Call ahead for anything larger than a car load. Ask what they are currently short of and what they are turning away, whether they collect, and whether they issue a written receipt. Ten minutes on the phone saves an afternoon of being turned away at a loading dock.
What charities take, and what they refuse
Every organization has its own list, but the pattern is consistent enough to plan around. In general, a charity takes what it can sell or give away safely without repair, and refuses what it would have to pay to dispose of.
| Usually accepted | Often refused |
|---|---|
| Clean clothing, shoes and accessories in wearable condition | Stained, torn or heavily worn clothing; single shoes; used underwear |
| Solid furniture with no damage: tables, chairs, dressers, bookcases | Upholstered furniture with stains, tears, odors or any sign of pests; particleboard pieces that have been disassembled |
| Dishes, glassware, pots, pans and small appliances that work | Chipped or cracked dishes; appliances with frayed cords; anything recalled |
| Books, records, DVDs and games in good condition | Encyclopedias, textbooks more than a few years old, water-damaged or musty books |
| Bedding and towels, clean and complete | Pillows and mattresses at most charities; some furniture banks take mattresses in like-new condition |
| Working televisions of recent design, computers and phones | Tube televisions, old monitors and printers, most of which cost money to recycle |
| Tools, hardware, garden equipment, bicycles | Gas-powered equipment with fuel in it; anything broken |
| Sealed toiletries, unopened household products | Opened food, medicines, paint, chemicals, propane, ammunition |
| Toys, puzzles and games, complete | Cribs, car seats and other child safety items, which have expiry dates and recalls; stuffed animals at some charities |
The item most often refused, and most often the one families most want gone, is the large upholstered sofa or recliner. If it is clean and undamaged a furniture bank may take it; if it is not, it is disposal, and it is better to know that on Monday than at the loading dock on Friday.
Pickup services, and how to book one
A house's worth of leftovers is more than a car can move, and most people cannot spare the days. Several kinds of pickup exist, and they differ in what they take and what they cost.
- Charity pickup. Free, usually for furniture and large items, often with a minimum and a wait of a week or two. The driver takes what is on the list and in acceptable condition, and will refuse what is not, on the spot. Have everything in one place near the door, and have the receipt ready to be signed.
- Junk removal services. Paid, fast, and they take everything, usually priced by the truckload. Many sort what they collect and donate or recycle part of it, and some will tell you which charity received the usable portion, though that rarely comes with a receipt in your name.
- The estate sale company's clean-out. If the contract includes or offers one, the company empties the house, donates what can be donated and disposes of the rest, and should give you both the donation receipt and its own invoice. Our guide to clean-out services explains what they cost and include.
- Curbside and free-to-a-good-home. In many neighborhoods a sound piece of furniture on the curb with a "free" sign is gone by evening. Check local rules on curbside items first.
Book the charity pickup as soon as you know the sale dates, for the week after the sale, and confirm it. A cancelled or late pickup with a house closing in three days is how usable furniture ends up in a dumpster. If time is short, a junk removal service as a backup, booked for the day after the pickup, is cheap insurance.
Photograph the donation pile before it goes
A photograph of what left the house, beside the receipt, is the record a tax preparer wants and the record that answers a relative who later asks about the bookcase. It takes a minute and cannot be done afterwards.
How a donation receipt works
People are often surprised by what a donation receipt is and is not. It is a written acknowledgement from the charity that it received a donation from you on a date, with a general description of what was given. It is generally not a valuation. The charity does not, and in most cases will not, tell you what the items were worth; that is the donor's responsibility, and the figure on your return is yours to support.
In broad terms, a deduction for donated goods rests on three things: the organization qualifies to receive deductible contributions, you have a receipt or acknowledgement, and you have a reasonable basis for the value you claim, which is generally what the items would sell for in their current condition, not what they cost new. The larger the value claimed, the more support is expected: above certain thresholds a more detailed acknowledgement, a separate form filed with the return, and for high-value items a qualified appraisal may be required. Those thresholds and the forms change, and whether a deduction is useful at all depends on how the return is prepared, so the practical advice is this: keep the receipt and a dated, itemized list with a value beside each line, and let a tax professional tell you what it is worth on the return.
Two points specific to estates. First, who can claim the deduction depends on who owned the goods when they were given. Items donated by the estate, from the estate's property, are generally the estate's contribution, not the executor's personally; items that passed to a family member and were then donated are that person's. Which is better depends on the estate and the people, and it is a question for the estate's attorney or preparer. Second, valuing a house's worth of household goods is tedious and easy to overstate. Use the sale itself as the guide: the estate sale company priced these items to sell and did not sell them, so the fair value of what remains is modest, and a claim that says otherwise invites questions. Our guide to whether you owe taxes on estate sale proceeds sets out the general picture.
This is general guidance, not tax advice
The rules on charitable deductions, the thresholds that require extra paperwork, and whether an estate or an individual should claim a gift all depend on the return and change over time. Nothing here is advice for your situation. Keep the receipt and your list, and ask a tax professional.
What to write on your own list
The receipt from the charity will usually say something like "three boxes of housewares, one sofa, four bags of clothing." That is enough for the charity; it is not enough for you. Beside the receipt, keep your own list, made on the day, with a line per item or per category, a note of condition, and a value that reflects what a thrift store would charge for it. Many charities publish guides to typical thrift values that help with this.
For each donation
- The date, the charity's name and the branch or truck that received it
- An itemized list: "oak bookcase, good, 1", "women's coats, good, 4", not "furniture"
- A condition note for each line
- A value per line, and a total
- A photograph of the pile before it left
- The signed receipt, stapled to the list
File it with the rest of the estate's papers. Our guide to estate sale records and how long to keep them explains where it sits in the folder and how long a donation receipt should generally be held.
When the estate sale company handles the donation
A company that clears the house after the sale will often donate the usable remainder as part of the job. That is convenient, and it is worth agreeing three things about it before the sale rather than after. First, that the donation is made in the estate's name, not the company's, so the receipt is yours. Second, that the company gives you the receipt and, ideally, a list of what was donated. Third, what the company does with anything of value it finds in the remainder; the contract should say whether it keeps it, sells it and pays you, or asks. A company that clears the house and quietly keeps the best of the leftovers is not doing anything unusual, but you should know it is happening. The estate sale or donation guide covers how to decide, before the sale, what should be sold and what should go straight to charity.
If the contract lets the company buy the remainder for a flat sum instead, that is a sale, not a donation, and there is no receipt to chase. Take the figure, note it on the settlement, and move on.
What cannot be donated, and where it goes instead
Some of what is left cannot go to anyone and has to be disposed of properly. Paint, solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals, propane tanks and old fuel go to the county's household hazardous waste program, which usually runs collection days or a permanent drop-off. Medicines go to a pharmacy or police take-back bin, never the trash or the drain. Old televisions, monitors, printers and computers go to an electronics recycler, and many counties run free events for residents. Mattresses, in many areas, have a dedicated recycling program. Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and ammunition each have their own route, and the county's waste website will name it. Firearms are a separate matter altogether and are covered in our guide to selling firearms from an estate.
Anything genuinely broken, soiled or worn out is landfill, and it is smaller than it looks once the donatable items are out. One dumpster or one junk-removal truck usually covers it for an ordinary house. If it does not, the house may need the kind of help described in our guide to estate sales and hoarded homes.
What to do next
Read the contract's clause on unsold items, book the charity pickup for the week after the sale, and keep a list and a photograph of everything that leaves. If the sale has not been arranged yet, describe the estate once and local estate sale companies will reach out to you, free; ask each what happens to what does not sell. Then read our guides to what to do with the things nobody wants and clean-out services, so the last week of the house is planned rather than improvised.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a tax deduction for donating estate items?
In general, a donation of goods to a qualifying charity can support a deduction if you have a receipt and a reasonable basis for the value claimed, and the return is prepared in a way that uses it. Who can claim it depends on who owned the goods when they were given, the estate or an individual. Thresholds for extra paperwork and appraisals apply, so keep the receipt and an itemized list and ask a tax professional.
Will a charity pick up furniture from an estate?
Many will, free, for furniture in good condition, usually with a minimum and a week or two of notice. The driver will refuse damaged, stained or pest-affected pieces on the spot. Furniture banks, housing charities and the large thrift chains are the ones most likely to collect; call ahead, book for the week after the sale, and have everything gathered by the door.
What will thrift stores not accept?
Commonly: stained or damaged upholstered furniture, mattresses and pillows, tube televisions and old computer equipment, cribs and car seats, chipped dishes, appliances with damaged cords, opened food, medicines, paint and chemicals, and anything that has been recalled. Each store has its own list, so ask when you call about the pickup.
Does the estate sale company donate what does not sell?
Some do, as part of a clean-out included in or added to the contract, and they should give you the donation receipt in the estate's name along with their own invoice. Others buy the remainder for a flat sum, remove it without donating, or leave it to you. The contract's clause on unsold items says which, so read it before you sign.
How do I value donated household items for a receipt?
The charity records that it received the items; the value is yours to assign, and it should generally reflect what the items would sell for in their current condition, roughly what a thrift store would charge, not what they cost new. Make a dated, itemized list with a value per line and a photograph on the day, keep it with the receipt, and ask a tax professional how the figure should be reported.