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College Marketplace is the student-only buy and sell app for Columbia University in New York, New York. Every account is verified with a @columbia.edu email address, so you're only ever trading with other Lions — not strangers from Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

First-years all land in one of five halls clustered around the South Lawn: Carman Hall, Furnald Hall, John Jay Hall, Wallach Hall, and Wien Hall. After that, Room Selection scatters students across the upperclass system — Broadway Hall, McBain Hall, Schapiro Hall, Hogan Hall, Ruggles Hall, Watt Hall, Woodbridge Hall, River Hall, Harmony Hall, Carlton Arms, and the flats, duplexes and townhouses of East Campus — plus a run of Morningside Heights apartment buildings and brownstones at 47 Claremont Avenue, 542 W. 112th St., 611 W. 112th Street, 548 W. 113th Street, 600 W. 113th Street, 619 W. 113th Street, 538 W. 114th Street, 548 W. 114th Street, and 627 W. 115th Street. Housing is guaranteed for undergraduates and nearly everyone stays all four years, so everything you need is already within a few blocks. Columbia students post mini fridges, desk lamps, rugs, storage bins, monitors, bikes, and gently used textbooks every semester — usually for a fraction of retail.

What you get on move-in day is deliberately spare: an extra-long twin mattress on a frame that adjusts anywhere from 9.5 to 33 inches off the floor, a desk, a chair, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe or closet, mini blinds, and a small trash can. Skip the loft kit — lofted beds are prohibited, and the adjustable frame is meant to do that job instead. Mini-fridges are capped at 2.5 cubic feet and must plug straight into a wall outlet, never a power strip; microwaves are only allowed in suite, apartment, or corridor kitchens, so a rented MicroFridge combo unit is the usual workaround. Window and portable air conditioners are banned outright, and AC varies by building (East Campus, for instance, runs it seasonally). New York fire code also rules out couches, futons, and other outside upholstered furniture.

When it's time to hand something off, meet where campus is already busy: the lobby of Alfred J. Lerner Hall, outside Butler Library, by John Jay Dining Hall, on the Low Memorial Library Steps, in Ferris Booth Commons, or at the Dodge Fitness Center entrance. No shipping labels, no delivery fees, no meeting someone off campus.

Popular categories at Columbia: textbooks and course materials · dorm and apartment furniture · mini fridges and MicroFridge units · bikes and scooters · Columbia apparel and game day gear · electronics and monitors · event tickets · desk lamps and study gear · storage bins and organizers