Used furniture buying

[Bamaman]

Should I assume all the used-furniture-buyers have access to a truck?

You mean everyone doesn't have a pickup truck? We have two pickups and a sedan for the two of us.

One truck's old and kept for working hard and towing heavy (fifth wheel camper).

 

[jollystomper]

Should I assume all the used-furniture-buyers have access to a truck?

Mid-size SUV has worked for us.

 

[Music Lover]

Should I assume all the used-furniture-buyers have access to a truck?

Most people who look for larger used items for sale usually have a way to get them home, either a truck, utility trailer, or van/SUV. A lot of the ads I see for larger items say "must pick up".

 

[travelover]

Most people who look for larger used items for sale usually have a way to get them home, either a truck, utility trailer, or van/SUV. A lot of the ads I see for larger items say "must pick up".

When I moved to the West coast, I gave away most of our furniture. It was laughable what people showed up with to cart it away and often by themselves, as if I'm going to wrestle a huge azz piece of furniture down the stairs and into their Prius.

 

[W2R]

Should I assume all the used-furniture-buyers have access to a truck?

I don't have a truck, but bought much of my furniture used about 20 years ago. We have mid level "antique shops" which are really "nicer used furniture shops" and don't really specialize in what I would consider to be genuine antiques. I was able to get some beautiful, amazingly sturdy furniture from the 1920's-1950's at these shops for low prices. Plus, they deliver.

 

[tb001]

We use a delivery service app for anything big/heavy. It adds to the price of the item, but usually the deals are worth it. They pick up items, wrap them and bring them into the house. They are usually professional movers in their day jobs and do a great job.

I love that buying used means you don’t have the wait on delivery too. And with you g kids, you don’t feel so bad about that first stain or crayon mark!

I have no issue buying upholstered items, but I can understand why it might give people pause. For us, we’re more likely to pick up bedbugs or the like traveling though.

 

[Major Tom]

I'm not a big proponent of Facebook, but someone turned me on to their Marketplace section.

Another worthy resource would be the FB "Buy Nothing" group for your area, if one exists. They exist for many areas. It's an FB group for gifting items (no sales). In my area, a lot of quality items change hands. I scored a free rice cooker recently. Have seen quite a lot of furniture in good condition posted - all free to whoever wants to pick it up.

 

[JoeWras]

No truck, no problem. Here are some ideas:

 

[Boho]

I don't drive. Here's how nondrivers do it in NYC:

And here's my actual old sofa that I had to get in the elevator by myself and leave in the "big garbage" area:

 

[Koolau]

Mid-size SUV has worked for us.

I helped a college buddy move in his Vette. You do what you have to do though YMMV.

 

[aja8888]

I don't have a truck, but bought much of my furniture used about 20 years ago. We have mid level "antique shops" which are really "nicer used furniture shops" and don't really specialize in what I would consider to be genuine antiques. I was able to get some beautiful, amazingly sturdy furniture from the 1920's-1950's at these shops for low prices. Plus, they deliver.

All our furniture is turning into antiques before our eyes! Most big stuff bought in 1976 & 1980!

 

[Koolau]

All our furniture is turning into antiques before our eyes! Most big stuff bought in 1976 & 1980!

Heh, heh, speaking of antiques - when I mentioned the hotel furniture place, I failed to mention that we found THE lobby couch with two side chairs we had sat on many times in the Hilton Hawaiian Village check in center - back in 1975. It was huge wicker - fan shaped backs - 10 feet long and nearly 5 feet high. We bought the set and it filled the better part of our condo's living room in 2008. We had to abandon it when we moved as our new condo elevator was too small (no freight elevator.) I'm sure it was 40 years old and still in great shape. I loved that set. YMMV

 

[JP.mpls]

Music,
There is a beautiful king size bedroom set on Marketplace that we have been looking at.
The catch. It is on the second floor, and the seller h is s specifically said they wont help move it.
My woman isn't lugging a dresser down a flight of stairs. She is also the one who wants it.
We will keep looking.
JP

Most people who look for larger used items for sale usually have a way to get them home, either a truck, utility trailer, or van/SUV. A lot of the ads I see for larger items say "must pick up".

 

[travelover]

Music,
There is a beautiful king size bedroom set on Marketplace that we have been looking at.
The catch. It is on the second floor, and the seller h is s specifically said they wont help move it.
My woman isn't lugging a dresser down a flight of stairs. She is also the one who wants it.
We will keep looking.
JP

You can hire local moving people by the hour, if the savings are significant. I've even hired them off Craigslist.

 

[RAE]

I had a new couch on order at Macys. Backordered for 2-3 months.
We were sitting on a used patio set in our livingroom. That got old quick.
We picked up a very nice coffee table for $50, and the woman had what looked like a new condition designer couch for sale for $100. WTH.
I get the " no used upholstery" idea, but I guess I'm not that fussy if it looks basically new.
There seems to be a lot of seldom used furniture for sale cheap around here, and new stuff isn't available.
I suspect for $125 an upholstery cleaner would give it a once over.
We furnished our whole lower level in higher end furniture for less than the new couch was going to cost, and we both think it looks great.
JP

We have a house in Florida also. We needed to furnish it two years ago, and DW started looking around on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, as we have used those sites to get good deals on other things in the past. We also checked out some used furniture stores around the county where our house is (Citrus County). We founds LOTS of good deals on furniture. We actually got a whole living room set (a couch, two oversized chairs, and a very large ottoman) for $100 (on FB), believe it or not. And they are nice! The wife of the guy selling this stuff just wanted to upgrade to a different style and color, they said. And we were able to find similar great deals on various other pieces of furniture (tables, lamps, etc), some through Craigslist and some through FB. I would never buy new furniture in Florida............there are so many people selling nice used furniture, it's crazy. A friend of mine who moved down here about 5 years or so ago (he sold a house in Illinois and bought a house down here) told me recently that the biggest mistake he made was hauling furniture from his house in Illinois down here. He said that, given what he knows now, he could have bought even nicer stuff here for much less than the cost of moving his Illinois furniture down here. I can believe that, based on what we found when we started looking.

 

[Bamaman]

As I read this, my wife tells me she's bought a Whirlpool smooth top stainless range for our lake house on F/B Marketplace for $225. Probably cost $700 new.

Now I've got to go pick it up Tuesday a.m.--up on Monteagle Mountain 75 minutes away.

At least the seller is strong enough to help me lift it into the back of my truck.

 

[bolt]

I often wondered if there is an app that alerts you when a certain product comes up for sale on marketplace. I look at it almost every morning and if something interesting come up it is almost always spoken for within minutes. its hard to imagine someone monitoring facebook continuously in person.

CL has that option of notifying you whenever X is newly listed. fwiw.

Good luck & best wishes...

 

[saydiver]

Check out The Find Furniture Consignment Shops in Bonita Springs and Naples.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I discovered the wonders of thrifts shops and garage sales when I helped furnish a college apartment for one of the kids. We did buy mattresses and furniture with stuffing from Ikea, but most of the rest was either hand me downs or thrift shop type stuff. I think I spent $200 and that furnished quite a bit of a 2 bedroom apartment, even including small kitchen appliances, like a microwave. It looked really cute when we had it all furnished.



After that I started shopping for us at thrift shops and Freecycle type sites. My best bargains have been a free big screen TV that works great, a $200 patio table for free, and a $200 glass desk for $30. There's some wealthy households in our neighborhood online groups, so they just give away things like working appliances and nice furniture for free when they move or buy new items. It really would be possible, if you didn't need everything right away to furnish a 4 bedroom house with just free items, including working appliances.

 

[marion10]

At least in the Chicago area there is an app called Dolly where you can rent guys and a truck. Very reasonable and has worked well for us.

 

[street]

I have never bought used furniture but would consider doing it.

I do find it interesting how a truck would be a concern for hauling for some. Living in rural area there are so many trailers that can be barrowed if you would need to haul furniture. Everyone has a truck and most a trailer so that isn't a concern for me.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Or from the storage unit where you bought it. Ask me how I know

You can rent a truck at Home Depot for an hour or so really cheap.