Current Events > Our Economy was built on Useless shit: Millenials won't take Parents' heirlooms-

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/goodwill-overrun-stuff-millennials-gen-151400853.html

No one wants the family china. At least not the generations set to inherit it. Tom Verde writes in The New York Times that millennials and Gen Xers are uniquely resistant to the influx of furniture, kitchenware, and general stuff that comes with their parents' downsizing. They can't even donate it.

"We are definitely getting overrun with furniture and about 20% more donations of everything than in previous years," Michael Frohm, the chief operating officer of Goodwill of Greater Washington, told The Times.

An entire industry has sprung up around figuring out where the stuff will go. Professional move managers help seniors downsize and dispose of the belongings their grown children won't take, charging about $50 to $150. The full cost of the service, which may include an estate sale, can reach $5,000 or more, The Times reports.

It's not all that surprising when you think about it. For one thing, younger generations might not have the space to store table service for 12. The average age of homeownership has been pushed back, and the number of millennials who own homes is at a record low.

Experts say it's partly economic — 20- and 30-somethings buckling under student-loan debt and having trouble securing work right out of school don't have the disposable income for many of the traditional life markers, like buying a home or getting married — but these grown kids may also have different value systems.

Consider some of the movements of the past few years:

-- Tiny houses are cheap, mobile, and have extremely limited storage. But that's not deterring the people flocking to more-limited living space. Even the multimillionaire CEO of Zappos lives in a Las Vegas trailer park.

-- Minimalism and capsule wardrobes. Marie Kondo famously jettisoned everything that didn't "spark joy" in her best-selling book, "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up." And one of the hottest trends in the fashion blogosphere in the past few years is the capsule wardrobe, in which you wear only a fraction of the clothes you own, ultimately aiming to isolate those you no longer need.

-- Early retirement. The way people retire is changing, and some people are doing it earlier than ever through a combination of aggressive frugality and extreme saving. As one example among many, take Brandon, who retired at 34 after years of extreme frugality. He told Business Insider he could hardly find ways to spend his money.

-- Renting everything. Many younger adults see the appeal of renting everything, including homes, phones, clothes, and cars. And companies are happy to help them do it.

-- Experiences over things. Psychological research has repeatedly found that spending money on experiences rather than tangible things makes people happier, an ethos embraced by 20- and 30-somethings, some of whom even cast aside traditional jobs and lifestyles to travel the world for years at a time.

In fact, Business Insider's Kate Taylor put together a list of the industries struggling most in the shadow of millennials' disfavor, like casual-dining chains, napkins, cereal, and golf. The younger adult generations want something different from their parents — and apparently, it starts with heirlooms.

Proof that Baby Boomers had too much money to spend on useless crap..
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another industry ruined thanks millennials
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All I get from these sorts of stories is that millennials are less idiotic consumers than Baby Boomers
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Nobody wants their parents old outdated looking couches and shit, wtf. Plus as the article says an industry that solves the problem is now booming as a result.
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Doom_Art posted...

All I get from these sorts of stories is that millennials are less idiotic consumers than Baby Boomers

Hard to be an idiotic consumer now that everything is 5x more expensive and salaries have not gone up to match housing prices and inflation.

Must have been nice to be an adult in the 90s...
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I'm not sure this article understands the difference between heirlooms that have been passed down in a family and a 20 year old piece of shit couch.
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Furniture and kitchenware is useless crap?

It's no surprise here: people buy a lot for a family. Family moves on and buys their own stuff. Mom and Dad want to downsize to what's needed for 2 but people only want new stuff so you can't get rid of it. The cycle will repeat for the next generation.
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lightwarrior78 posted...

Furniture and kitchenware is useless crap?

If no one wants it, then it is considered useless crap.
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lightwarrior78 posted...

Furniture and kitchenware is useless crap?

I used to work for Goodwill and the answer is very much yes.
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Jiek_Fafn posted...

I'm not sure this article understands the difference between heirlooms that have been passed down in a family and a 20 year old piece of shit couch.

To many ppl, that's what heirlooms are. Many 'vintage' couches are just pieces of shit that's been refurbished.
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Doom_Art posted...

All I get from these sorts of stories is that millennials are less idiotic consumers than Baby Boomers

Nah, we still consume stupid shit - just not the stupid shit the Gen Xers and Baby Boomers did. I personally don't see the value in owning something I'm never going to use, or aren't going to use often enough to justify the cost. China that you bring out once in a blue moon because "it's a special occasion"? Fuck that noise.
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lydiaquayle posted...

lightwarrior78 posted...

Furniture and kitchenware is useless crap?

If no one wants it, then it is considered useless crap.

Maybe I see a difference between "useless crap" and "was useful once" or even "is useful but people would rather spend more money for new things."
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lightwarrior78 posted...

Maybe I see a difference between "useless crap" and "was useful once" or even "is useful but people would rather spend more money for new things."

The thing is, many of those things weren't that useful in the first place. How often did your family host a 12-person dinner?

Even for Thanksgiving, my parents didn't use the 'good china'.
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Alucard188 posted...

Nah, we still consume stupid shit - just not the stupid shit the Gen Xers and Baby Boomers did.

We definitely consume a lot less stupid shit - at least physical items.
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lydiaquayle posted...

Alucard188 posted...

Nah, we still consume stupid shit - just not the stupid shit the Gen Xers and Baby Boomers did.

We definitely consume a lot less stupid shit - at least physical items.

Yeah instead it now all goes to DLC.
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damn millennials
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Furniture and cookware is definitely useless crap when it's the seventh sofa someone has tried to cram into your one-floor townhouse.

Frankly, my question is why do our parwnts have so much junk and why buy it just to give it away?
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No joke whatsoever, the only furniture I habe ever purchased is a mattress and a sofa, and just walking around I see...

Two tables
Two desks
Two beds
Four nightstands
Three bookshelves
A treasure chest
A freaking armory or whatever you call it
Make that four bookshelves I forgot the one in the bedroom
A sofa, most of a sectional and a loveseat
11 chairs
A TV tray
And whatever the hell this is:


This is after giving away a table, two sofas (one belonged to the aforementioned sectional) and a bed.

Oh man I just realized I didn't count the lamps...
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china dinner sets need to be on the "too awesome to use" tv tropes page. My family has never used the good china for anything as far back as I can remember
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I see this as a significant issue on the horizon. My mother in law is significantly attached to historical family furniture. As was her mother.

Some day, I'm going to need to figure out what to do with approximately six beds.

And the chairs. What am I going to do with 12 chairs. All antiques. All with a story. We just don't say out loud what we are going to need to do.

NeoShadowhen posted...

Some day, I'm going to need to figure out what to do with approximately six beds.

There is always someone needing a decent bed. Donate that shit. If the local receiving places can't accept them, then ask if there are any people they know of that could use them - that's how I got rid of my hideabed a few years ago. Last resort is to advertise them for free on your local online buy and sell market.
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B-b-b-but I thought millennials were poor and couldn't afford new stuff!

Doom_Art posted...

All I get from these sorts of stories is that millennials are less idiotic consumers than Baby Boomers

This. We spend less money on junk
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good. materialism has become a cancer in this country.

lydiaquayle posted...

industries struggling most in the shadow of millennials' disfavor...napkins

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Annihilated posted...

B-b-b-but I thought millennials were poor and couldn't afford new stuff!

Spoken like someone who hadn't read the article at all.
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Really, though, I have actually thought about this.

My brother died earlier this year, and my parents ain't getting any younger and I live in a postage stamp I got through a shelter.

What the fuck am I gonna do with all their stuff when it becomes mine?
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Baby boomers had it easier than any other generation in the history of the world, then they pulled the ladder up from behind them.

Let them all die in their expensive houses.

Alucard188 posted...

China that you bring out once in a blue moon because "it's a special occasion"? Fuck that noise.

Fuck, my parents don't even use the fine china for special occasions anymore(which was only Thanksgiving and Christmas, anyway) since it's usually just the three of us

Which also proves that Millennials also care less about pomp and circumstance and 'keeping up appearances'
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how can you disfavor cereal?
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lydiaquayle posted...

lightwarrior78 posted...

Maybe I see a difference between "useless crap" and "was useful once" or even "is useful but people would rather spend more money for new things."

The thing is, many of those things weren't that useful in the first place. How often did your family host a 12-person dinner?

Even for Thanksgiving, my parents didn't use the 'good china'.

It was a different time. My grandparents on both sides had 5 kids and had a thing for the Sunday dinner schtick.
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