Trash or treasure? Thrifty New Yorker scoops up $8,000 couch off the street for FREE – but viewers say it looks like ‘bedbug central’
- Amanda Joy shared her find in a TikTok video viewed more than 43 million times
- But followers said the Roche Bobois sofa must have been discarded ‘for a reason’
- The practice of picking up discarded goods from the street is known as ‘stooping’ and is increasingly popular in New York
A thrifty New Yorker has divided the internet after scooping up an $8,000 designer couch which had been discarded on the street.
Amanda Joy filmed a video of herself picking up and cleaning the luxury ‘Bubble’ couch from French brand Roche Bobois and posted it to TikTok.
But while some viewers bemoaned that they never get that ‘lucky,’ others speculated the designer item was likely filled with ‘bed bugs.’
Joy explained: ‘It was pouring rain and I was walking home and I saw this couch in the middle of the street.
‘I called my dad begging him to come pick it up because I couldn’t just leave that couch there.
Amanda Joy filmed a video of herself picking up and cleaning the luxury ‘Bubble’ couch from French brand Roche Bobois and posted it to TikTok
‘He told me no, it was not possible. But then he surprised me and showed me he did pick up the couch and he had it in his work office.’
Joy then records herself deep cleaning and vacuuming the sofa before moving it into her apartment with the help of her boyfriend and father.
The practice of picking up discarded goods from the street and renovating them is known as ‘stooping’ and is popular in New York, with many blogs and Instagram accounts devoted to it.
The video has since been watched more than 43 million times – but not all viewers were convinced by her find.
One wrote: ‘Do people not think things are too good to be true? Nobody throws a couch out worth 8 bags for no reason.’
Another wrote: ‘It looks so good but I’m so scared about it being bed bug central.’
The couch is fully handmade and part of a collection by designer Sacha Lakic for Roche Bobois.
The designer calls the ‘bubble’ set of furniture an ‘iconic piece in the Roche Bobois collection.’
It comes in a range of colors including ivory, taupe and ‘sapin green’ – all listed for $8,490 down from its original price of $10,110 on the Roche Bobois website.
In a follow-up video, Joy said ‘rich people throw out their furniture all the time’
A host of blogs and Instagram accounts are devoted to the practice of ‘stooping’ – which entails picking up discarded furniture and renovating it
The page ‘stooping NYC’ has amassed more than 400,00 0 followers and shares the best bits and pieces discarded on the street
The blue version of the 3-4 seat couch – picked up by Joy – is not currently available on the designer’s website.
Responding to some of the criticism, Joy insisted she had given the furniture a thorough clean and had found it in front of a ‘very rich building.’
She explained: ‘Rich people throw out all their furniture all the time because they get new furniture every other year.
‘So I saw the opportunity and I took it.’
And many of her followers were impressed with the find, as one asked ‘Why am I never this lucky?’
Another said: ‘Living in New York is like living in a treasure box.’
Many New Yorkers practice ‘stooping’ regularly and some do it specifically with the intention of ‘flipping’ it for a profit.
An Instagram account called ‘Stooping NYC’ has amassed more than 400,000 followers by regularly posting photos of furniture and goods left on the streets of the Big Apple.
Last year, a 68-year-old ‘stooper’ called Denise Gordon revealed she had made $2,000 by finding and flipping a leather Eames lounge.
‘People don’t know what they’re throwing away,’ Gordon, who lives in Gramercy Park, told The New York Times at the time.
‘In my neighborhood, they don’t know and they don’t care.’
