Furniture Pickup for Second-Hand Shops and Charity Furniture Stores
Maxmove collects used furniture from donors, private sellers and office clearances and drives it straight to your warehouse or the buyer – with an instant price, carrying help on request and photos at handover.
- Instant price before booking
- Live tracking on every drive
- Insured transports
Used furniture: the stock sits in other people's homes
Second-hand shops, vintage dealers, charity furniture stores, furniture exchanges and used office furniture dealers do not get their stock from a wholesaler but from flats and offices: house clearances, donors, office moves. Every piece is collected individually, often from an upper floor and at a time the donor sets. Many charity stores collect furniture in good condition for free because that is how they get saleable stock – and their own vehicles are soon booked out. The sales side is no different: the buyer has paid for the sideboard but has no car it fits in.
What goes wrong is usually foreseeable. The wardrobe has not been dismantled, the sofa will not fit through the front door, nobody is home, or the piece turns out to be unsaleable on site and the drive was wasted. Used goods add one more issue: they come with existing damage. Without a record of their condition, you cannot later show whether a scratch is old or new.
With Maxmove you book collection and delivery as a direct drive at an instant price – from donor to warehouse, from shop to buyer. Floor, lift, contact and dimensions are in the order, you request carrying help in the same booking, and the proof of delivery records time and condition at handover with photos.
What second-hand dealers have collected and delivered
Used furniture and appliances from homes and offices – single pieces or a whole clearance.
- Sofas and armchairs from house clearances
- Vintage sideboards and chests of drawers
- Solid-wood wardrobes, dismantled
- Dining tables and chair sets
- Bookcases and display cabinets
- Used fridges and washing machines
- Desks and pedestal drawers
- Office chairs from office clearances
- Beds, slatted frames, children's furniture
Typical collections in Cologne, Bonn and Essen
Donation, sale, office clearance: three drives from everyday second-hand furniture retail.
Donation from a flat clearance in Cologne-Lindenthal
A charity furniture store in Cologne-Kalk receives a donation from a flat clearance in Lindenthal: a three-seater sofa, a wardrobe, a dining table with six chairs. The relatives send photos and dimensions beforehand and have the wardrobe dismantled before the appointment. You book a Sprinter L2 with carrying help and enter floor, contact and time window. The driver loads, drives straight to the warehouse in Kalk, and the proof of delivery confirms arrival with photos.
Teak sideboard from Bonn-Beuel to Bad Godesberg
A vintage shop in Bonn-Beuel sells a 1960s teak sideboard to a buyer in Bad Godesberg. Veneer edges and sliding doors are delicate, so the shop pads edges and corners and takes out the glass shelves. A van with a 2.6 m load length is enough; the sideboard travels alone in the load space across the Rhine. The buyer follows the drive, signs at handover, and the photos show the condition in which the piece arrived.
Office clearance in Essen-Rüttenscheid
A used office furniture dealer buys the fittings of an office in Rüttenscheid: desks, pedestal drawers, office chairs. The property manager reserves the goods lift for one morning. You book a Sprinter L3 or 3.5 t box van with up to 1,200 kg payload plus carrying help; whatever does not fit in one drive, you book as a second drive for the same morning. The destination is the warehouse in Essen-Altenessen, where the goods are checked and refurbished.
What has to be settled before every collection
Used goods bring their own risks: existing damage, unclear condition and pieces nobody wants to buy any more.
Photos and dimensions before the appointment
Ask the donor or seller for photos and dimensions before you book a drive: width, height, depth, material, visible damage. That way you decide in advance whether the piece is saleable and whether it fits through door and stairwell. For the order you also need floor, lift, a contact with phone number and a time window when someone is on site. A collection note records which pieces were taken over.
Dismantle, empty, secure
Under German carriage law, packing and loading safely for transport are the sender's job unless agreed otherwise (§§ 411, 412 HGB, German Commercial Code). For used furniture this means wardrobes empty and dismantled, screws in a labelled bag, glass shelves and mirrors packed separately, doors and drawers fixed. The donor or your team does this; the driver does not dismantle anything. During the drive the driver is responsible for load securing in the vehicle (§§ 22, 23 StVO).
Record existing damage
Used furniture shows signs of use. Photograph its condition before collection so old damage can be told apart from new. At delivery, the proof of delivery adds photos, timestamp and signature. Visible transport damage must be reported at delivery at the latest, hidden damage within seven days in text form (§ 438 HGB). Record it in a damage report.
What cannot be sold is bulky waste
Maxmove transports goods that will be resold or passed on – not waste. If a piece turns out to be unusable at collection, it stays with the donor, who registers it for bulky-waste collection with the local waste authority. Settle this when you accept the donation so that no drive ends with a piece your warehouse cannot take.
Which vehicle suits which collection
Compact van for chairs, chests of drawers and boxes of household goods up to 400 kg; van with a 2.6 m load length for a sofa or sideboard; Sprinter L2 with 1.8 m interior height when wardrobes should travel upright or a donation consists of several pieces; Sprinter L3 or 3.5 t box van for house and office clearances up to 1,200 kg; 7.5 t truck for larger volumes up to 3,000 kg. Loads over 3,000 kg run as a [special transport](/sonderfahrten).
| Vehicle | Макс. вес | Европоддоны | Макс. размер груза | Price | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small VanПодходит, например Washing machine, armchair, moving boxes | 400 kg | 1–2 | 160 × 120 × 120 cm | from €94.05Base fare €29.90 | Book |
| VanПодходит, например Sofa, 1–2 room move, moving boxes | 900 kg | 2–3 | 270 × 160 × 130 cm | from €112.95Base fare €44.90 | Book |
| Large VanПодходит, например Wardrobe, 2–3 room move, bulky furniture | 1000 kg | 3–4 | 330 × 180 × 170 cm | from €130.05Base fare €54.90 | Book |
| 3.5t Box LorryПодходит, например Retail goods, tail lift, large furniture | 1200 kg | 6–8 | 430 × 210 × 210 cm | from €211.24Base fare €129 | Book |
Published examples for Köln → Düsseldorf, weekdays at 10:00 (Berlin time). The binding price for your addresses is shown before booking.
Bigger, open-bed or heavier than 3 t? On request as a special run
How a collection works with Maxmove
- 01
Check the piece, create the order
Using the seller's photos and dimensions, create the order: pickup address, destination, floor, lift, contact and carrying help. You see the vehicle, the earliest pickup window and the binding instant price.
- 02
Collection from donor or seller
The driver contacts the person on site, takes over the prepared goods and secures them in the vehicle. With carrying help booked, driver and helper also carry from upper floors.
- 03
Direct drive to warehouse or buyer
The goods travel to their destination without reloading. Shop, donor or buyer follow the drive live via a link, no app needed.
- 04
Handover recorded
The recipient signs digitally and the driver photographs the delivered furniture. You retrieve the time-stamped proof of delivery in the order.
Why Maxmove for Second-hand furniture retail
Do not lose the sale over transport
The sofa, wardrobe or sideboard will not fit in the buyer's car? Book the right van at the point of sale, see the price upfront and give the customer a delivery they can track live.
Collections without your own van
Donations and purchases come in irregularly. Instead of keeping a vehicle for peaks, you book collections from private addresses, house and office clearances as needed – with floor, lift and time window in the order.
Condition at handover on record
With used goods, proof matters: photos, timestamp and signature show how a piece arrived. For fixed collection days at charity stores or dealers, we set up recurring orders.