DO NOT Donate These 9 Things — Charities Throw Them OUT (Japanese Homes Sell Them)

If there are bags by your door waiting for Saturday: https://twohousesbook.com The book's room-by-room house audit walks every shelf before you pack a single bag, with the same two questions at the end of every chapter, so you decide what to sell, what to give and what to throw away yourself. 543 pages, 96 chapters, every claim sourced. $47 early-bird, 30-day refund. I grew up in a Japanese house. I've now lived in America longer than I lived in Japan. People assume Japanese families are more frugal, or just better at letting go. They aren't. Japan never built the free drop-off door, so a house pays to get rid of anything big, and it decides before it lets go. I go through nine things charities can't use, and for each one, who actually takes it, what it's worth and what day it should leave your house. The last part is what my mother did with my bicycle when I was eleven, and why it answers all nine. For the clean, whole, working things, the American drop-off door is one of the most generous pieces of everyday machinery I know of. Japan has nothing like it. If you make it to the end, leave one word in the comments: done. And tell me what came out of your bag, and if you've ever volunteered in a thrift store back room, what you saw there. Chapters 0:00 the bags by your door 0:45 the one thing nobody can sell 1:34 open the bag and find the stain 2:39 what happens after you drive away 3:27 why my mother never donated a bag 4:46 the back wall of every thrift store 6:04 when did you last open the encyclopedia 7:28 everything with a plug 9:12 the date stamped under the car seat 11:15 the appliance you used eleven times 13:23 who carries the big one out 15:51 the one you should never give away 18:05 what my mother did with my bicycle 20:17 one bag before saturday Sources: eBay and Nielsen household survey on unused items (2007); Adam Minter, Secondhand (NPR Fresh Air); Goodwill Industries International (Washington Post); Evergreen Goodwill (Seattle Times); NBC Los Angeles I-Team; Savers community donation center rates; local Goodwill accepted-items lists; MassDEP used textiles fact sheet; Shinjuku City and Shibuya City oversized garbage fees; Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Home Appliance Recycling Law; Nagoya City recycling fees; Target Car Seat Trade-In; Mercari annual securities report; Statistics Bureau of Japan; Ha-Brookshire and Hodges (2009); Arkes and Blumer (1985). #Declutter #JapaneseCulture #LivingInJapan #JapanVsAmerica #JapaneseHome