Why don't you try to sell them on Craig's List first?

You could try selling them on Ebay with "local pick-up only" or there is a place with location in Conn., NJ, and Penn. called Green Demolitions, that takes donations of kitchens and then sells them.
http://www.greendemolitions.com/index.html

We sold our cabinets on Ebay with local pick up. It worked out well. The buyers got some nice cabinets and we had a few extra dollars for our new kitchen.

I think donating your cabinets is a great idea but not sure how you would value them. Could you call the maker of the cabinets to get an estimate of what they cost when installed and then depreciate that cost down for the years of use?

We did a demo of our old attic and garage in order to do an addition. Habitat Deconstruction Services actually did the demo and salvaged any usable materials. They tallied all materials and gave me a receipt. They told me that the rule is that you can claim up to $5000 donation without an appraisal, and if you plan to claim more than that, you need an appraisal. I'd check with my accountant if I were you, and also ask Habitat about who would be able to do such an appraisal. My guess is that a KD would be able to give you a good value.

Anita

The IRS has limits on values of items donated. It varies depending on the items. We received some 60% on appliances and I think furniture was 40% of new (on a graduated scale based on age). Frankly I let my accountant figure it out. If I were you, I'd call your accountant and ask for guidance. I'm assuming that you are upper income (or really generous) because you're making such a generous donation. For us, there were benefits to making a couple of contributions last year and this year due to our varying income levels. Your accountant might have some guidance to offer on this as well...but at least can give you a ballpark on a percentage of the new price of the items that will qualify for deduction.

I am also hoping you know where they came from so you can arrive at the "new" price (what they cost when they were purchased in 2004). This is what the basis will be on.

Or start by going on the IRS website and looking at the new rules on donations of material objects.

Yes, I'd been to the IRS website and even contacted several "qualified" (by IRS definition) appraisers. Per my original post, none of the appraisers that fit the "qualified" definition (essentially, have to be members of or licensed by an organization of appraisers for real estate or home furnishings) were interested in our project--too busy with antique furniture, heirloom rugs and the like I guess!

Habitat for Humanity came and picked-up the cabinets about a week after we contacted them, and left a detailed receipt of what we donated. The rep said the cabinets would probably fetch some nice $ at the Habitat Store, so I feel like the charity got a benefit from our donation. We decided that we would just heavily low-ball the estimated value and it would be a win for everyone (less of a deduction for us but also much less of a headache).

The Habitat people should be able to tell you what they sold for, once they actually (or substantially) sell. That's the best evidence of their fair market value. Any other valuation risks hassles with your friendly tax man.

We sold our nice maple cabinets and all of the appliances on Craig's List. It was easy and we got a good price. We considered donating them, but decided the deduction and the potential for putting an audit flag in our returns just wouldn't be worth it.

I put my kitchen on Craig's List - cabinets and appliances and within a day I had several responses. The first woman that called was beside herself. She had just purchased a lemon of a farmhouse and they discovered all kinds of expensive issues they had to take care of and so their kitchen remodel was on hold. We had quartersawn oak cabs, thermador cooktop, bosch DW and oven and sold the whole thing for $3500. They came in and took the kitchen out in less than 3 hours (dad was a contractor) and it was a win/win situation for us all.

Our second plan was to donate to a local charity so that's always a good option but I feel better about what we did because the woman that bought the kitchen was really needed it. Worked well for us too.

I put an ad in my city's paper... the big one (Cincinnati), not the local neighborhood one. Got about 8 calls the first day or two, and after describing them (sizes, color), had 3 people out to look at them, and one guy took all of them (even the one with the hole in the door where my DH messed up child locks!) and the countertop and sink for $1100. Helped me pay for a few things in the new kitchen.

These were builder-grade oak cabinets, formica counter and white sink. I think we gave him the DW, too... it leaked, but he wanted it for parts. Take it away, we told him!

I had tried to donate them to a few local places, and we would have kept trying had this ad not worked out.