In an age when Facebook is seemingly being abandoned by the masses, there are a number of groups that are keeping us clicking. Florence is a city that sees a lot of people coming and going, and with the natural ebb and flow of people comes a high amount of secondhand furniture. Navigating the world of buying and selling online can get confusing when there are numerous groups all with very similar ideas, but when several of them amass over 80,000 members, a new addition to the home is always worth a scroll.

Facebook Marketplace is a great place to start as it is open to all and search results can be filtered by location, price range, condition and type. Anyone buying or selling needs only a Facebook profile, making it very accessible, and many of the items uploaded are free.
In Florence and its surroundings, there are a number of dedicated Facebook groups for exchanging furniture and other secondhand items, where members can advertise their items and others comment on their posts to reserve them. Communication between buyer and seller is usually done in private, where both parties can organize a mutually convenient time to pick up and pay for secondhand goods. Rules, again, vary group to group, but often forbid spam posts, advertisements for jobs, and ensure that the items uploaded follow certain guidelines. These typically state that each post should have clear pictures, accurately define its condition and forbid some types of advertisements, such as for homes or holiday rentals, weapons or animals.
The idea to buy and sell between individuals has a number of advantages, from environmental to economical. Secondhand furniture is almost always more affordable than new, and with no middle-man, there are no hidden fees. As a free and publicly available service, Facebook connects individuals and fosters a sense of give-and-take between neighbours. It also gives everyone a chance to have a clear-out and earn money from what they no longer need. When secondhand items find a new owner, they are saved from a landfill fate, and after all, one Facebook user’s trash is another FB user’s treasure.
Here are some groups for picking up secondhand steals in Florence
- FMs4Ms For Sale or Free Subgroup (group in English catered to kids’ items)
- Te lo regalo se te lo vieni a prendere Firenze e dintorni (83,174 members)
- Se me lo regali, vengo a prenderlo-Firenze (9,544 members)
- COMPRO/VENDO Firenze (86,430 members)
- Compro vendo baratto regalo Firenze (12,438 members)
- Mercatino Usato Firenze (13,015 members)