Sell High End Used Furniture
Buying and selling high end used furniture can be a successful business.Sellers want to make a profit off the furniture they have which carries a lot of value, and buyers appreciate getting a discount on expensive furniture just because it is gently used. Sell high end used furniture by setting a fair price for it, then advertising it in print and online, offering it through consignment or by using antique shops and specialty furniture dealers to help you close a deal.
Contents
Steps
- Establish what your piece of furniture is worth in order to set a fair price for it.
- Give it a standard price, but have an idea of what you will settle for. For example, you might decide your Heywood Wakefield armoire is worth $3,500, but you may need to be willing to sell it for around $2,000.
- Look for evidence that your piece of furniture was made by a high end manufacturer or is a collectible antique. Most manufacturers leave marks somewhere on the piece, and you can determine its worth as a collectible by looking it up online or in an antique furniture catalogue.
- Offer the furniture to consignment shops. Your city or town should have at least 1 consignment shop that accepts high end furniture in good shape.
- Find out how the furniture is sold and paid for. Some shops will pay you for it as soon as you bring it to them. Others will display it in their store, but will not pay you any money until it sells.
- Ask for offers from furniture dealers. Sometimes, a dealer who buys and sells high end furniture will come to your home and make an offer if he or she wants to buy it.
- Make sure the dealer will be willing to transport your furniture from your home to the shop, once the furniture is paid for. Otherwise, you will have to find a truck or something large enough to move the furniture.
- Place an advertisement in the newspaper. Most local papers have a classified section where you can advertise your furniture and the price you are asking.
- List your phone number or email address in addition to a description of your furniture so potential buyers will know how to contact you.
- Sell your furniture online. You will want to sell to local buyers only, because the cost of shipping or transporting your furniture can be expensive.
- Try placing an ad on Craigslist. You may not find too many high end buyers on this site, but it is free to list an ad, so it might be worth a try.
- Use Kijiji (www.kijiji.com). This is a local site owned by online retailing giant eBay. You can post your furniture for sale the same way you would on eBay, but with Kijiji (Swahili for "village"), you will be able to sell to local buyers only.
- Consult an antiques dealer if you have a special piece to sell. If you inherited an heirloom piece of furniture or you have something too precious to sell the traditional ways, let a professional handle it.
- Get information on how to sell your furniture from the National Antique and Art Dealers Association of America (www.naadaa.org) or the Antique Dealers' Association of America (www.adadealers.com).
Tips
- Ask about what marketing a consignment shop does and average sales per month.
- Prepare to wait. Selling high end furniture for a proper price often takes longer than selling that college futon for $25.
- Consider donating your high end furniture. While this means you will not make any money, you will get a tax deduction and the furniture will help out people who need it.
- Read the Terms & Conditions for any consignment shop. A good example of ideal terms for high-end and well-cared-for furniture consignment. Their terms are available on their website. . Make sure you have the opportunity to pick up the furniture if it doesn't sell if you want to keep trying to sell it elsewhere.
Warnings
- Remember to ask ahead of time what happens to furniture if it doesn't sell within the agreed timeframe. You may be responsible to pick it up or you may be signing your ownership over to the shop.
