Where to put old furniture
Four realistic things you can do with old furniture, and when each one makes sense.
Where to put old furniture in Riga: give it away, sell it, take it yourself or book a removal. We compare the options and how much work each one takes. Four realistic things you can do with old furniture, and when each one makes sense.
When a piece of furniture is no longer wanted, the choice usually comes down to four options. Each suits a different situation, and the main difference is how much of the work falls to you.
1. Give it away or sell it
If the item really is usable, this is the best deal — it costs you nothing and the furniture doesn't get thrown out. But it's worth being honest about what actually goes and what doesn't.
Buyers usually turn up for solid-wood furniture, for fairly new pieces that are still in production, and for things that are intact and usable straight away — a wardrobe with all its doors and runners, say, or an undamaged table. What practically never goes is a worn, stained upholstered sofa, a wobbly chipboard wardrobe, a mattress, and large sectional units the buyer would still have to dismantle.
The second thing people underestimate is time. An advert doesn't mean a buyer. You'll be answering questions, arranging viewing times, often waiting in at home, and being stood up. Most buyers assume you'll help carry the item out — especially if it's heavy or on an upper floor. Realistically this can drag on for weeks, and it's entirely possible the item never goes at all.
2. Take it yourself
You can take furniture to a waste sorting site. Before you plan the trip, check three things: whether the item will fit in the vehicle, whether you'll have a second person, and what the particular site's conditions and opening hours are.
Transport is the most common mistake. A double mattress and a sofa won't fit in a car even with the seats folded down — the mattress doesn't bend and a sofa's frame is rigid. In practice you need a van or a trailer. A wardrobe and a bed have to be dismantled first, which means a screwdriver, somewhere to put the parts, and accepting that old chipboard can break as it comes apart.
You need a second person not only for the weight but for the turns — turning a heavy object alone in a stairwell is the moment the wall gets scratched or your back gets hurt. And count the whole round trip: carrying out, loading, the drive, the queue, unloading and the journey home. If you already have transport and it's a single item, it can be done in half a day.
3. Wait for the building manager's skip
Blocks of flats periodically get a bulky-waste skip placed in the courtyard. It costs you nothing extra, but there are two limitations. First — you don't pick the date; the skip appears when the building manager arranges it, and a long time can pass between rounds. Second — you still have to get the furniture downstairs yourself, dismantling and carrying included. Leaving it by the ordinary bins in the meantime is not allowed: why you can't leave furniture by the bins.
4. Book a removal
A removal service solves exactly the part that stays with you in every other option: dismantling and carrying the item out of the flat. We arrive at the agreed time, dismantle, carry out, load and haul away. We collect from upper floors too when there is no lift.
It is a paid service — from €30 per item, excluding VAT — but you know the price in advance and you don't have to find transport, a helper or a free day. The full price list by furniture type is on a separate page.
How to decide
Honestly: if the item is good, try giving it away or selling it first — just set yourself a deadline, say two weeks, so it doesn't stand there for a year. If it is already downstairs or on the ground floor and you have a van or a trailer, taking it yourself is cheaper and perfectly sensible. If there's no hurry, it's a single item and you can get it downstairs — wait for the building manager's skip.
Booking a removal is worth it when the problem is physical rather than financial: the item has to be dismantled, it's on an upper floor with no lift, it's heavy, or there are several things to go at once. A fuller comparison is on do it yourself or hire a removal service.
Good furniture — try giving it away or selling it. Transport and a helper — take it yourself. No hurry and it's already downstairs — wait for the skip. Needs dismantling, sits higher up, or several items to go — book a removal.
See also: furniture drop-off points in Riga.
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Frequently asked questions
Furniture can be handed in at waste sorting sites or put into the bulky-waste collection your building manager arranges. In both cases you have to get it there yourself.
No. Furniture is bulky waste, and it must not be left next to household waste bins.
Taking it yourself is cheaper in money if you already have suitable transport and a helper. A removal costs money but saves you the time and the physical work, and it includes dismantling and carrying out.
That can't be predicted. Something in good condition can go in a few days, but a worn item can take weeks — and often no buyer turns up at all. If you have a fixed deadline, such as handing over a flat, don't rely on selling.
Practically never. A sofa's frame is rigid and doesn't bend, so it usually won't fit even with the seats down. The same goes for a double mattress. Things like that need a van or a trailer.
If you take it yourself — usually yes, otherwise it won't go through the door or fit in the vehicle. If you book a removal, you don't have to dismantle anything; we do it.
List them all in your request — then we bring a suitable vehicle and everything goes in one trip.