The West Hills are foothills of the Tualatin Mountains, the Willamette River splits east from west, and Mount Tabor is an extinct cinder cone east of the river. When Zelbi opens in Portland, giving something away starts with one photo, and a person nearby comes to collect it.
Skip the donation drop-off in Portland
Portland already has a city route for big items. Bulky pickup runs through your garbage company, with a flat $18 fee per trip and $29 for each extra-large item, such as a sectional couch.
Metro runs a tool that takes an item name and lists nearby donation, recycling and disposal places. On Zelbi you take one photo and pick the day and time that suit you, then meet the claimer or leave the item outside.
Free furniture pickup in Portland
The bulky pickup covers houses, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes, and your garbage company must collect within seven days of a request. Renters ask their landlord to request it, because the landlord holds the garbage account. On Zelbi, the claimer comes on the day and time you picked.
Portland averages 157 days a year with measurable precipitation. Bulky items must be at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on pickup day, and a late set-out still costs the pickup fee plus a second-trip fee. With Zelbi, you set the time an item goes outside and the claimer confirms that moment in the app.
Free stuff near you in Portland
Searches for "donation centers near me" run in the 1K-10K range each month across the Portland metro, and "craigslist free stuff" in the 100-1K range. Zelbi's map shows each listing as a neighborhood area, never an exact address, so a desk in Hawthorne can be posted without anyone's door being pinned.
Neighborhoods range from the Alberta Arts District, an art, retail and restaurant area, to the Pearl District in the northwest part of the city, and St. Johns in the north.
Items on Zelbi are free. The only charge is a $2 platform fee, paid by the person who claims an item; giving something away costs nothing.
A simpler alternative to Craigslist free, Freecycle, Buy Nothing and Trash Nothing
The city's Resourceful PDX guide suggests Buy Nothing groups, Nextdoor, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for giving things away, and Craigslist lists one Portland area. Zelbi keeps back-and-forth messages to a minimum, since the listing is written from a photo and scheduling happens in the app.
One photo, done
Zelbi writes the description from the picture, so there is no listing to type out.
Accounts behind claims
A claim is linked to a Zelbi account and a payment that has been authorized.
Cancel before the cutoff
A claimer can cancel for free until two hours before pickup, and a later cancellation carries the $2 fee.
Zelbi is an independent app. It is not affiliated with Craigslist, The Freecycle Network, the Buy Nothing Project or Trash Nothing. Their names belong to their owners.
Moving or decluttering in Portland?
The city's Resourceful PDX moving guide suggests sorting belongings into sell, donate and give-away piles. Photograph each give-away item, and Zelbi drafts the listing.
Leaving Portland State University housing means filing a contract cancellation request first, unless the move falls in the last three weeks of a spring or summer term. Returning keys can be a walk-through at the Broadway Service Desk, which runs daily at 1:00pm.
Bring Zelbi to Portland
From the West Hills to Mount Tabor, what you no longer need can find a new home nearby when Zelbi opens in Portland.
Join the waitlist