Salvation Army Dunedin North Family Store manager April Elliott knows all about how furniture does the rounds on campus as students get rid of desks and couches at the end of each year.
She thrives on the end-of-year student clear-out as piles of goods are heaved out of flats and on to the streets collection.
"If you are willing to go the extra mile, you can provide for the community the following year," she said.
With everything in store from pots and pans to milkshake makers and sheets, she believed she was able to provide Dunedin's student population with quality goods for cheap prices.
Over the years, the store had built a "good rapport" with the community and specifically catered for their needs.
Ms Elliott spent time turning loose cutlery and kitchen utensils into packs, complete with a cutlery tray, for $8.
Dinner sets, sorted into matching sets, were $10.
Milk jugs and sugar bowls could be added.
Once the flat basics were covered, students returned in mid-March for "that wee personal touch" such as bedside tables and art.
She believed some of the cheaper furniture sold in some chain stores was not as sturdy as recycled items.
"It's not wearing like the old solid stuff."
As a strong believer in recycling and reusing goods, she hated landfill.
"If I can reuse it, I will," she said.
Also in the second-hand furniture market is Neville Arkwright, from Arkwrights Traders.
The business stored student furniture throughout the year and sold a lot of it at the beginning of the tertiary year.
John's Furniture Warehouse marketing manager Matt Williamson said students were great customers: not fussy, they were "purely dollars and cents".
They wanted the "cheapest furniture they can get their hands on" and the company marketed "aggressively" to sell to them.
The main products students wanted were beds, which were sold at $399 for a mattress and base.
He believed the second-hand market had largely disappeared because people could buy new for about the same price.
Students wanted a bare-bones product to get them through their few years of study and manufacturers and retailers were responding to the demand, he said.