The tight budgets that often come with being a college student aren’t always amenable to paying hundreds of dollars to furnish your house, apartment or dorm. Case in point: when my dad was in college, he and his roommates used upside-down milk crates as a table.
Thankfully, you don’t have to resort to such measures if you don’t want to, because there are plenty of places in Bloomington to buy second-hand furniture, which is almost always more cost-effective than buying new. It can take perseverance to find what you’re looking for, but what you spend in time, you’re likely to save in money.
Goodwill
With two locations in Bloomington — one near College Mall and the other on the west side near Walmart — Goodwill is a great option when you’re looking for affordable furniture. Most of my apartment furnishings are Goodwill finds: my couch, my kitchen table and chairs, a storage chest, an armchair and miscellaneous small shelves/nightstands. Even overestimating what I paid for those items, the total was less than $300.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore
The ReStore has similar offerings to Goodwill, though with more doors and light fixtures. You can buy pretty much anything (including the kitchen sink) there, often at a discount. Plus, the ReStore’s profits go towards supporting Habitat for Humanity’s mission of building homes in the community.
IU Surplus
You might have seen the trucks around town, the ones whose sides say "IU owned it. Surplus sells it." Those belong, sure enough, to the IU Surplus store, located at 3050 E. Discovery Parkway. They don't just offer desks and bookshelves; I've seen athletic gear and school supplies there, as well.
Facebook Marketplace
There are often affordable pieces of furniture for sale on Facebook Marketplace, and the occasional free item. Make sure to use common sense when meeting someone to buy from them and stay safe. Also, make sure that your search results are set to Bloomington. Otherwise, you might get excited about a second-hand papasan chair that's actually in Ohio.
IU Classifieds
Like Facebook Marketplace, IU Classifieds is an online platform where you can find people selling second-hand goods like furniture. Only current staff, students and faculty can post there — you must log in with your IU username and password — so there’s a greater degree of familiarity there compared to buying from a complete stranger.
The curb
No, I’m not kidding. Around move-out time, either in the spring or whenever leases end, items of furniture that people didn’t have time to sell or donate start appearing along the roads. I once snagged a gorgeous wooden dining table this way.
This article was originally published in the Housing & Living Guide, an IDS special publication.
