Moving out, clearing out a flat, or just finally getting round to that spare room — at some point you end up with furniture, appliances or garden tools that are still perfectly good but no longer needed. Throwing them away costs money in Switzerland (Sperrgut fees add up fast) and feels wasteful for something that still works. Donating is the obvious alternative, but it's not always obvious where to start. Here's a practical rundown.
The fastest option: give it away directly, for free
Before you load anything into a car and drive it anywhere, consider giving it away right where it is. On Pikitup, you post a photo and a location, and someone nearby comes to pick it up — usually within a day or two for anything genuinely useful. No sorting criteria, no opening hours, no drop-off queue. It works for furniture, appliances, electronics, kids' stuff, garden tools, books, clothes — whatever you'd otherwise donate or scrap. It's also the only option here that doesn't involve transporting anything yourself.
This matters especially for items a charity shop might turn away — a sofa with a worn corner, a fridge that's a bit older, a lawnmower missing its bag. Someone nearby will often still want exactly that, for free.
Charity thrift stores (Brockenhaus)
Switzerland has a dense network of charity-run secondhand shops — usually called a Brockenhaus in German-speaking areas, run by organisations like the Heilsarmee (Salvation Army), Caritas and dozens of independent regional associations. They take furniture, household items, electronics and more, resell them cheaply, and put the proceeds into their social programmes. Many of the larger ones offer a paid or even free pickup service for bulky furniture — worth asking when you call, since it saves you the trip.
The trade-off: most Brockenhäuser are selective. They need to resell what they take, so items have to be in solid, working, sellable condition, and some shops are temporarily overstocked and pausing certain categories (typically large furniture or old electronics). Always check with the specific shop before turning up with a van full of things. Pikitup lists thrift stores by city — Zürich is one example; it's worth checking whether your own town has a similar listing.
Household items and appliances
For things like kitchenware, small appliances, lamps or bedding that a Brockenhaus might not want in bulk, giving them away directly tends to work just as well as donating — and it's faster. Someone furnishing a first apartment, in particular, is often glad to find a full set of kitchen basics or a working microwave for nothing.
Garden tools and equipment
Garden tools are a special case: they're bulky, heavy, and hard to give a "sellable" condition to (a used lawnmower or hedge trimmer is hard for a shop to price fairly). They're also exactly the kind of thing a neighbour with a small garden is happy to take off your hands directly — no charity middleman needed. If you're clearing out a shed or garage, this is usually the quickest route.
Clothes
For clothing specifically, Switzerland has textile collection bins run by organisations such as Texaid, found at many recycling points and Gemeinde collection sites — good for items that are simply worn out. For clothes still in decent shape, giving them away directly (or via a local Kleiderbörse / clothing swap) keeps them in use as clothing rather than getting sorted for export or recycling, which is usually the better outcome for anything still wearable.
The bottom line
If an item still works, giving it away directly is usually faster than donating it, and it guarantees the item actually gets reused rather than sorted, exported or occasionally binned by an overstocked shop. Charity thrift stores remain a solid option for items in shop-ready condition, especially when you want the proceeds to go toward their programmes rather than to a stranger. Either way, before anything goes to the dump: check if someone nearby would take it for free.