What we accept and do not accept at Urban Ore.

Urban Ore’s Receiving Department opens at 8:30AM Monday – Saturday and 10:00AM on Sunday. Please arrive before 4:30pm for large loads – we close promptly at 5pm.

We have separate receiving departments for the General Store and Building Materials. There are two separate entrances for each department.

• The General Store Receiving Department can be accessed at 927 Folger Avenue on the south-east side of main warehouse.
• The Building Materials receiving department can be reached via the Murray street entrance. Make a left into the parking lot and they will help you at the stop sign.
• See the Store Layout page for a more detailed map including location of our receiving departments.

DROP OFF FEES (At Receiving Department’s Discretion):

TOILETS – $10

STOVES – $35

WASHERS AND DRYERS – $35

WALL HEATERS – $10

WATER HEATERS – $25

DISHWASHERS – $35

MICROWAVES – $10

REFRIGERATORS – $35

General Rules for Receiving

Things we receive should be reusable as-is, and able to survive in our retail environment long enough for us to find a new home. Receiving staff have discretion on the acceptability of any given item.

We accept many things other places turn away, and so we are presented at times with more volume than we can handle. Therefore we may turn away some things that either we can’t sell quickly, or at least trade for enough value to pay our handling and space costs.

General Store receiving is most likely to pay cash or trade credit for good furniture in excellent condition, or antiques.

Special categories and specific requirements:

Appliances

• We may accept old gas stoves and some small kitchen appliances if they are complete, rust free, and working.
• We can also accept metal appliances for dismantling into scrap, but we may charge a drop off fee (see above).
• A more complete list of appliance types and scrapping fees can be found in the recycling section.
• For wooden stoves, see wooden stoves.

Arts & Media

We accept:

• Prints
• Paintings
• Musical instruments
• Art materials
• Sculptures
• Music (must be in original cases)
• Books, and more.

Bedding

We cannot accept mattresses, box springs, or bedding.  State law requires they be sanitized, and there are no adequate facilities in the Bay Area.

The City of Berkeley accepts mattresses and box springs for disassemble and recycling at its transfer facility at Second and Gilman. DR3 Mattress Recycling is another option.

Clothing

We cannot accept underwear, socks, sports wear, or children’s clothing. No rips, stains, or smells.

File Cabinets

Drawers must be empty.  If metal cabinets don’t sell or are damaged, we recycle them.

Furniture

We accept many kinds of furniture such as:

• Desks
• Chairs
• Tables
• Dressers
• Shelving
• Entertainment centers.

Solid wood furniture is preferred, and may be scuffed so long as it is structurally sound.  Dented and bent metal furniture will likely be recycled.

• Furniture must be fully assembled with no missing pieces.
• Drawers should be empty.
• Office chairs must be in excellent condition.
• Upholstery should be unstained without tears.

Particle board furniture must be in near perfect condition or it will be rejected.  This is because particle board is weak and crumbly, and often breaks when moved.   Once broken, it is almost impossible to repair.

We cannot accept sofa-beds and generally reject recliners with heavy metal machinery inside.

We will consider chairs or small sofas with antique carved or exposed frames that may be worth upholstering and restoration.

Housewares

• Flatware
• Dishes
• Glasses
• Pots and pans
• Vases
• Cutting tools
• Gadgets
• Small appliances
• Kitchen decor

Electronic Media

We accept some electronic media.  Less than half of the electronic media we receive is sold for reuse; most of the rest is collected for recycling processors.  NOTE:  please see the above list of items we do not accept.

Refrigerators

We do not accept freezers, refrigerators, or air conditioners that use chlorofluorocarbons (freon).

We do sometimes accept clean small refrigerators that sit on a table or fit under counters, the kind students use.  We will usually want to plug it in for a few minutes to see if it gets cold.

For people in our service area, we recommend two disposal options for used refrigerated appliances:

1. PG&E Has a buyback program for low-efficiency refrigerators. They even offer a $35 rebate and will provide free pickup. If you have an old air conditioner to get rid of at the same time they will throw in an additional $25!
2. The City of Berkeley takes refrigerated appliances for a fee at its regional transfer station at Second and Gilman Streets in Berkeley, just east of I-80.

Rugs

Rugs must be clean, unstained, and rolled tightly. Carpet is not accepted, unless clean, bound and edged.

Sports Equipment

Bicycles and bike parts, camping gear, fishing gear, balls, uniforms, skateboards, etc.

Wood Stoves

We accept metal wood stoves.  If they are not in reusable condition, we recycle them.

Building Materials Receiving – Doors, Windows, Kitchen Sinks…

Things we receive should be reusable as-is, and able to survive in our retail environment long enough to find a new home.  We accept many things other places turn away, but we are presented with more volume than we can handle.  So we also may turn away some things we can’t sell quickly.  Weather may also affect what we are able to take; we will probably not accept rolled insulation in a rainstorm, for example.

Building Materials receiving is most likely to pay cash or trade credit for good doors and windows in excellent condition.  Because of high volume and difficult handling, we may charge a fee for accepting certain materials, particularly used toilets.

If incoming materials are unusually dirty or a lot of sorting and cleaning is required, we will probably not pay for the materials but we may accept them for no fee.  Some wear and tear is expected, but everything we take in must be either reusable or recyclable.  If it is neither, we may reject all or part of the load, in which case the residue must be taken to any waste transfer station.  Our staff can give directions.

As a rule our receiving staff will help customers unload.  We have a variety of hand carts, a forklift, and two electric stock-chasers for moving materials efficiently from receiving to processing and sales areas, but for some kinds of loads, such as lumber, we may direct drivers to unload at the sales area.

We may pay by cash, check, or trade credit for part or all of any load, at our discretion.  In general, if we decide we can make an offer to pay, we can only pay from 10% to 20% of the expected sale price.  Because many building materials suppliers are also contract builders, trade credits are an attractive option for turning excess materials from one job into valuable additions to the next.

A note on sinks: A sink in a cabinet should go to the General Store receiving department. While an actual sink on its own should be dropped off at the Build Material Department.

Do you have something we didn’t cover, or a question we didn’t answer?  Check the FAQs or leave a comment below.