At times when people can't sell their used furniture but need to get rid of it anyway, they could decide to give it away free. And I've seen ads, lots of ads, people giving away desks, chairs, filing cabinets, etc. Most of these may need some minor repairs. Great for someone who doesn't want to spend much money on office equipment. If you haven't saved money by getting some free office equipment, you ought to try it some day.
We did once and it was FAB! My husband's previous company wanted to get rid of all their office furniture, in order to get in new stuff. But they weren't selling, they were asking them to help themselves to all sorts!! We got a lovely corner table, a massive office desk and good quality office chairs, all for free! Sadly, when we moved countries, we left it all behind to save on shipping. So we had to start afresh when we got here.
True, I remember my dad's company just threw in a box of extension cords to be disposed of, and they are good as new because their company was moving to another building. My dad got 1 of those long extension cords and too bad he only got one, since he said there were a lot of those cords being thrown away.
I was able to get a couple of free computer chairs a few years ago when I was first setting up my home office. A neighbor happened to be getting rid of theirs as they were moving and they said I could have them if I wanted, so I gladly took them! They would only have gone into the skip otherwise and been thrown away so I was glad to be able to get more use out of them. I don't have them any more since both of them did eventually break about 2 years later, but it was 2 years worth of use they got!
I have never come across such ads in my country. Those who give out furniture and other household items are usually tenants who are moving to distant destinations and are in a hurry to dispose off the extra items to rate on transportation costs. But it comes at a drastically discounted cost rather than free. I recently bought a seat for $2.
I have had a computer chair, another chair with writing platform and other few furnitures from various sources that were giving them out for free. It was very nice opportunity.
I have got mostly stationary discount on some of the local Malls. So I'd not say they were free but they were enough to qualify for the free type. I have never got any chair or other stuff for free. I guess it'd be expensive and not many stores would be able to give that to people these days. I hope someday I get anything such as that for free.
