Refuse and recycling carts at the curb
Streets & Urban Forestry

Donate, Reuse, Resell

On this page you will find

Resale Stores & Donation Opportunities

Please contact the store, or visit their website, before showing up with items you wish to donate. Not all items you have may be accepted where you want to donate them. 

Agrace Thrift Stores

Contact Information

Website: Agrace Thrift Stores

Phone numbers:

  • Madison-West: 608-327-7072
  • Madison-East: 608-327-7200
  • Madison-Home Store: 608-327-7396
  • Pack Up Pick Up Service: 608-640-0139

Boomerangs Resale Store

Contact Information

Website: Boomerangs Resale Store

Phone: 608-268-0793

Email: boomerangs@doorcreekchurch.org

Dane County Humane Society Thrift Stores

Contact Information

Website: Dane County Humane Society Thrift Stores

Email: thrift@giveshelter.org

Phone numbers:

  • Thrift Store West: 608-709-1275
  • Thrift Store East: 608-817-6780

Goodwill of South Central Wisconsin

Contact Information

Website: Goodwill Donation Locations near Madison

Goodwill has an online form you can use to contact them with questions.

Phone numbers for locations within (and near) Madison:

  • Goodwill Nakoma (West Madison) - 608-224-0781
  • Goodwill Madison North - 608-819-8082
  • Goodwill Madison East - 608-246-3147
  • Goodwill Madison Outlet - 608-820-1270
  • Goodwill Monona - 608-224-0781
  • Goodwill Fitchburg - 608-268-5160

Habitat for Humanity Restores

Contact Information:

Website: Habitat for Humanity of Dane County Donation Information

Request a free pick-up by filling out their online form.

Phone numbers:

  • Donation Hotline: 608-663-1191
  • ReStore West: 608-442-9919
  • ReStore East: 608-661-2813 

Porchlight: Solutions for Homelessness

Contact Information:

Website: Porchlight donation information page

Phone number: 608-257-2534

Open Doors for Refugees

Contact Information

Website: Open Doors for Refugees donation information

Email: donations@odfr.org

Donation Instructions

In order to donate to this organization, you must contact them with a description of the items first. If you wish to donate furniture, you must include photos.  You must wait to receive confirmation from them for the next steps.

The River Food Pantry

Contact Information

Website: River Food Pantry donation information

Email: info@riverfoodpantry.org

Phone: 608-442-8815

 

The Road Home

Contact Information

Website: The Road Home furniture donation information

Donation Instructions

Contact Reynolds Transfer & Storage at their email address: info@reynoldstransfer.com. Include your name, address, and description of the items.  Be aware of the donation and pickup limitations. 

St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Stores

Contact Information

Website: St. Vincent de Paul donation information and donation locations

Need a free home pickup? Follow the information on their website to learn the steps.

Phone numbers:

  • Thrift store information: 608-278-2920
  • At home pickup: 608-278-2920, extension 1

WayForward Resources

Contact Information

Website: WayForward Resources donation information

Phone: 608-836-7338

Email: hello@wayforwardresources.org

Specialty Donation / Other Resale Options

There are many other options locally for your usable goods that cater specifically for the things you have on top of the donation places listed above. 

There are used bookstores, used video game stores, consignment fashion shops vintage toys, and other treasures and antique shops.

Our community is full of opportunities - you may just need to do a little bit of research.

Search online for "resale shops" or "thrift stores" or "donate" plus the item you would like to give away (for example, "donate toys") should reveal additional local resources.

Here's just a partial rundown of some additional options:

Places like the Ronald McDonald House or Gilda's Club accepts certain unused items.

Certain tools may be donated to The Bodgery.

Some items for babies and toddlers may be able to be donated to Babies and Beyond.

Certain art supplies could go to the Hello Art Hatchery. 

Buttons, zippers, and yarn may be donated to the Textile Arts Center of Madison.

Sewing supplies can go to The Sewing Machine Project.  

Vintage clothes can be sold to places like The Good Style Shop or StillGoods.

And there's so many more...

 

Local Share Economy

Social media channels like Facebook and Nextdoor are a great tool to share usable goods in the neighborhood groups that you follow.

And there are many local groups that help connect people to free items on these platforms as well.

On social media sites, searching for "Buy Nothing Madison" or "Zero Waste Madison" should return local options.

There's also Freecycle, Trash Nothing, and likely other groups or organizations.

There is also the time-honored tradition of the yard sale (or garage sale, rummage sales, church sales, etc.).  Many neighborhoods organize coordinated sales to help drum up interest, too.

There are some places that do regular item swaps, like the program put on by the Neighborhood House. Perhaps an organization you belong to could also organize a similar event?

Online Exchanges

There are many popular person-to-person exchanges online for your items.

Options include Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay and relatively newer private companies like LetGo, DeCluttr, 5Miles, WhatNot, and likely many more.

Remember to be safe when making the payment and when exchanging the goods.

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