One stoop at a time: StoopingRVA’s local legacy

One stoop at a time: StoopingRVA’s local legacy

Molly Manning, News Editor 

What do a swordfish-shaped pillow, a stuffed boar’s head and a slightly smelly window AC unit have in common? These are all items that have been “stooped” in Richmond. Instagram account Stooping RVA documents furniture, décor and other gems left on the curb for anyone to claim. 

“Stooping” is described as a way for people to furnish and decorate their homes at no cost by searching for and bringing home discarded furniture, art or other goods, according to a Yahoo Life article. 

StoopingRVA has been “circulating free finds” in Richmond since 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have since garnered over 17,000 followers. The idea originally stemmed from StoopingNYC, an Instagram account founded in 2019 that now has over 484,000 followers, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

A Richmonder continually noticed the free items left on the street when people were moving and decided to create a stooping Instagram for Richmond, which accumulated over 200 followers the first day, according to RVA Mag.

The account relies on the community to run. People send direct messages to StoopingRVA about items they see or are giving away with a location. The administrator then shares them on the account. After the post is up, people often comment when items are gone — sometimes a race ensues as users scramble to get to the free finds first. 

In an episode of RVA Mag’s “It’s Still Our City” podcast, StoopingRVA’s admin shares that some people think donating or selling items to thrift stores feels almost immoral, knowing their items may be sold for more than they initially paid because of the high thrift prices in Richmond.

The account is only for free things, as yard sales and Facebook Marketplace-type selling are not welcome, the admin said on the podcast. Instead, they support another user who created “yardsalerva”, a page for information about local yard sales.

Stooping poses a solution, or partial remedy, to the almost 10 million tons of furniture landfilled every year, according to EPA reports. 

“Fast furniture” is a growing concern among environmentalists, according to the New York Times. This furniture is mass-produced, cheap for consumers and readily available at sites like Wayfair and Amazon. While the furniture is affordable and arrives quickly, it is only built to last a few years and is often tossed out.

Rather than opt for cheaply made and unreliable furniture and furnishings, some prefer to scour the internet and the streets for free, used goods. Conversely, community members would often rather leave their unused or unwanted items on curbs (or stoops) for neighbors instead of throwing them out. 

Stooping stories

Merry Nunnally, a second-year finance student, scored some unexpected treasures with the account’s help. Nunnally said one of her stooping quests began with a trip to pick up a new dress form, but it was gone when she arrived. Instead, she ended up heading to the location of a second post where she discovered a wooden John Lennon poster.

“The John Lennon [poster] was so much fun, because it just felt like I had finally, like, really found something that was so me,” Nunnally said. 

On another adventure for free items, Nunnally said she saw a post for a yard sale that was ending, the hosts giving the rest of their wares away for free, and immediately headed over in search of clothes. A friend called her asking if anything was left, and she let him know what was up for grabs while she waited for him to arrive. 

“I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll hold down the fort. By the way, there’s this silicone horse mask there. You want me to hold on to that for you? ” Nunnally said. “And he was like, ‘Yes, absolutely, do that.’” 

Nunnally’s friends also found items like lamps and music equipment for their new apartment from the yard sale. There is a competitiveness to finding the items since it works as a first-come, first-serve system, with people sometimes even falsely claiming that items are gone to steer others away.

“If you’re playing tricks and telling people that everything’s gone, when everything’s not gone, you’re cheeky, and I respect that,” Nunnally said.

Richmond community member Audrey Boone used the stooping account to help furnish her new apartment. She brought home storage items, chairs, carpet, a pair of roller skates, a skateboard and a bungee chair she says she uses every day. 

“I just like that people want new homes for things. Furniture is so expensive, it’s so expensive, so it’s nice that people just give out things they’re not using anymore,” Boone said. “It’s definitely a Richmond staple.”

Shahar Smith, a Richmond teacher and VCU alum, has been following StoopingRVA since nearly the beginning, in 2020. She has never had the opportunity to grab anything for herself, but donated a dresser through the account, leaving it on the curb. She introduced her neighbor to the concept when he saw someone taking photos of it and later leaving with it.

Smith said the process can feel safer than having to meet up with someone to buy an item. 

“You get rid of the face-to-face aspect of it,” Smith said. “It’s not as dangerous as possibly trying to meet somebody through Facebook Marketplace and going through that whole strange transaction.”

Grace Sager, a third-year craft and material studies student, has followed the account since she moved to Richmond her freshman year and found a pink couch on StoopingRVA. She thinks it is a great example of community members giving back to each other.

“The people were super nice, and strangers off the street offered to help me get it in my car. Everyone’s so nice about free stuff because I think everyone can love free stuff,” Sager said. “I easily would’ve paid like, $100 for a couch like that, and so the fact that I found it for free, I like to brag about it. It’s so beautiful, it’s nice that people in the community are really generous with stuff like that.”

Sager found other unexpected goods in addition to her couch.

“There was a house a few blocks down from where I live and they had a bunch of free stuff outside and there were these two creepy haunted-looking baby dolls and I just took them,” Sager said. “We haven’t had any paranormal experiences yet, but they do look pretty cool in our house.”

She appreciates the time and energy the administrator puts into the account.

“It takes a lot of time and energy to check those DMs and post stuff and update comments and things like that,” she said. “It shows that they really appreciate the free community and the stooping community, and I have a lot of respect for that because that’s not easy.”

The account admin declined an interview with The CT and asked to remain anonymous, but we would like to thank them for the magic of StoopingRVA!