Hello,

I'm in the process of leaving Switzerland, and have several household items I'd like to giveaway.

Does anyone have experience with the Brockenhaus? I've not donated through them before and wasn't sure what the process is. Do they take anything (as long as items are in good shape)? Are there certain locations where we need to drop things off?

Thanks so much for any insight you can offer.

http://www.zuercher-brockenhaus.ch/flash.php

http://www.brocki.ch/zuerich/index.cfm

you could try www.tigel.ch or emmaus at Dubendorf.

I guess the easiest thing is to get on the telephone and call a few and ask if they will take your stuff.

It will probably depend on your location. I found brocki-land very good and they have a big collection/distribution area so they might be able to help...

You could also list your stuff here on the forum and see if anyone's interested in taking it for free.

If you just want stuff gone, and don't mind paying a substantial amount of money, you could try 'helping hand'.
http://www.rentahand.ch/

They will do just about anything, removals related...for a fee...

Great, thanks all. I'll check out these sites for more info.

They are the best thing ever here in my town. I have found so much awesome/brand new/designer stuff in these places for dirt cheap. Are there good ones in other towns too? I went to one in Winterthur today that was really expensive with a bunch of crap.

I went to one in Brienz that had a really interesting collection of cute small furniture items. Unfortunately nothing I could take home on the train back to Zurich But for someone with a car, it's well worth a look.

Try also 'Brocki-Land' - the more you buy, the cheaper it gets...and it's reasonably well organised. Nothing has a price, but I've only once walked out of there with over 100Chf on the bill, and that was because we bought a heap of snow clothing and shoes...

We have one down in Thun called InterBrocken Haus and it has some cool stuff, but is super expensive. I thought that some of the furniture was WAY overpriced for being used. From what I know, the prices and deals vary from store to store.

I looove brockis. My gf and I frequent them once a week. We were in two this afternoon and found some gems.

In my opinion, the best one is HIOB International. Not only do they have really good stuff, it's cheap. They also donate a lot of it to charities. Looks like they have one in Schaffhausen.

We love BrokenHaus too, but they do vary what they stock, opening times/days vary. Prices are usually good, but sometimes one has to negotiate at the cash, the more one buys the bigger the discount. Some shops amaze us at their low prices, one wonders if it worth the time they take to clean the stuff. Others specialise, one particular one only open 2 short days a week, specialised 50% in old boxed train sets. Went to that shop twice, the first time brought something the 2nd we did not, but had a hard time by the owners in leaving without buying anything!

Hmmmm....I used to loooove them, until they profited from our impending move, and virtually stamped an "L" on my forehead.....sure wish I had found a storage room and kept all that furniture. I would be embarrassed to tell you what they paid us..