What would you say if somebody offered you a free piece of furniture?

[Zixixibi]

In my comic Legacy Of A Fighter, you can find out what the main character, Chiv, would say to this seemingly normal offer!

BUT, I am truly, legitimately curious what YOU would say? Why do you think someone would offer you free furniture? Would it be broken, or cursed? Maybe it's your twice removed great Aunt who suspiciously left you her furniture after her mysterious death (believed to be caused by watching a really, really funny comedy show)?

And what would you receive from them? Would it be all you could ever hope for? Like an engraved box with your Grandma's gold chains from her hip hop rapping days inside? Or would it be incredibly lame? Like a calendar with pictures of rock landscapes for each month, but each rock has Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's face plastered on it? And a STOCK IMAGE watermark plastered on each page? And each day has been checked out with an X. Thanks Anna's Mom's friend!! NO wonder nobody wanted this at your garage sale!!!

[BlairFujin]

Well, depends from who... I did get some free furniture from my parents cause they wanted to help me out when I moved out and they had some chair and a desk that were kinda just collecting dust...

but if some random person where to come up to me and offer me free furniture I wouldn't trust them and would try to find what's the hook here...

[Zixixibi]

Very straight-forward and logical! I like it! Realistically I think most people would never accept accept something for free that could be as potentially large or pricey as a piece of furniture.But then I suppose a piece of furniture always could be something fairly small like a framed picture!

[NickRowler]

I'm poor so most of my furniture are from family members, neighbors cleaning out their house, and junk people left out for trash.

I guess if it was a stranger, I would not take anything that looked bulky, broken, moldy, or a sofa/mattress.

[Zixixibi]

Sometimes one person's junk really is some else's treasure, though! As long as it's like you pointed out, there isn't anything grotesquely wrong with the piece of furniture, it's really good for the earth to recycle and repurpose things! Plus it's really only a new phenomenon that people are expected so much to be always buying new furniture, with how industrialized things are now. I think it's so sad how these days so many things are treated as disposable and often people don't bother to repair or repurpose things, they just throw them out.

[RedLenai]

I would probably ask what's the furniture, since well, first I'll need to know if it fits in my apartment, and second, if I need it.
I would probably request to see it before making a decision, I don't mind broken stuff, I can either fix it or exchange the pieces/materials after dismantling it.

I would totally reject if it's moldy or dirty with spiderwebs or anything that resembles cockroach eggs, I'll burn it without hesitation xD

[abigaillmartin]

Me: Is it an antique and is it Victorian or 70s???

[Zixixibi]

OH LORDY I've heard stories of people getting freezers from various places, and I'll tell ya, THAT'S one piece of furniture you'll want to be check before you retch

[Zixixibi]

Retro (and antique!) stuff is the best! I would totally even take something like a CD player or old radio, that stuff is always cool!

[abigaillmartin]

Or go even more old school… a gramophone! Or a wax cylinder or a piano roll!! YEAAAAAH!!

[cherrystark]

This situation is not that strange where I live. When people move or buy new furniture, if they don't have room or a use for the furniture, they try to give it away before donating it. My first "sofa" was half an old recliner sofa. My sister had the other half. My current couch was once the "sitting room" sofa of a friend of a friend who owned a furniture store. I have other friends and family whose furniture is second or third hand. I found my nightstand by a dumpster and my vintage desk was a gift from a friend of my sister.

If the furniture piece has meaning, set the stage for it. I've seen stories that follow a life cycle of an object and it's really interesting. But in terms of storytelling, furniture is probably one of the least "magical" plot devices without context. People love to give furniture away for free or cheap in the right situation.

[VividRunning]

I'm not creative at all, so here's my story:
Bob from House Depot was building a wooden gaming chair, when he messed up. He couldn't sell it or use it, so he decided it would be best to just give it out for free. Bob sat on the edge of the sidewalk, holding a sign that said "Free gaming chair" every single day for five years. On august 27th, 2023, an old woman named Matilda saw the sign, and took the gaming chair. Ten years later, as Matilda was sitting on her wooden gaming chair playing Roblox or something, she finally found her long lost friend Bob and they played Roblox together for the next ten years, until Matilda passed away. Bob went to the funeral, and instead of a gravestone, they used the very wooden gaming chair that Bob had given Matilda on that fine day. Her name was carved on the top, and under that it read "'xxx_SnIperBOBrepInS_xxx is and will always be my hero"

Oh wait, the question is what would I say? I would just say no and carry on with my day.

[TheLemmaLlama]

"I'm technically homeless."

(Though if a box with gold chains inside actually counts as furniture, I might take that?? :'D)

[theyrebothakilogram]

I'm taking it. I was sold at "free"

[Zixixibi]

I like your story. It really touched my heart! LOL Honestly though, the craftsmanship of the chair must have been pretty good to hold up for 25 whole years!

[Zixixibi]

You're right! It's normally not such a strange thing, and I think calling it a bizarre offer for my character without providing further context for her situation was a bit of an oversight, so I fixed the wording to make it gel better with the title.

[2DLenzy]

Me, being a suspicious person, would drill them the following questions:

1): Did someone die on it? - gotta know how deep to clean it.

2): Did someone do 'the nasty' on it? - same excuse, but heavier cleaning.

3): Was this involved in a crime(excluding 1 and 2) - like if someone had a 'stash' in it? Not going to jail because someone offloaded their sins on me, lol!

and:

4): (optional) Did the dog chew/pee on it? But scratches and smell can be buffed out, so not a biggie.

If "no" is answered to at least 3 of the above, I'd at least say "Thank you", depending on what it is.

[Zixixibi]

LOVE the suspicious questioning! I've always got these same sort of questions on my mind when looking at something used, like if someone I didn't know very well offered me some furniture, I would for sure ask so many questions they would probably just be like "Never Mind."

[Kaisei]

It's totally normal for people to offer up free furniture; as they move, downsize, go through different life stages, etc. Selling furniture takes time and energy that you might not have, and much of it doesn't have a high resale value. My third cousin gave me a dining room set, but we ended up leaving the chairs at the apartment dumpster when I moved again because they didn't fit in the trailer (someone else was busy carrying them to her own apartment before we pulled out of the parking lot). I eventually gave the table to my sister.

That said, I would be suspicious of any upholstered furniture from unknown sources because of bed bugs; you can shampoo out general ick, but bedbugs are persistent. Mattresses are a no-go. Wood or metal furniture is okay - easy to inspect and clean.