Used furniture buying

[JP.mpls]

I have a townhome to furnish in Bonita Springs, FL.

Buying all new furniture would be quite expensive, and you guessed it, I'm frugal/cheap.

We did try to purchase a new couch. We put money down, and were told it will be available in February.

I'm not a big proponent of Facebook, but someone turned me on to their Marketplace section. I really like it. You only have to look at items near you, and you can see how long the seller has been registered, their seller reviews, and their front profile page.
You can text the seller, and most reply in a short timeframe. It seems like a safer more friendly option than Craigslist. Fewer scam artists, and better communication, at least so far.

Anyway, we have been finding great deals on some high quality used furniture.
It is almost fun to find something you really like at a great price. Kind of silly.

PS: Picked up a beautiful new used couch this morning, and cancelled our order for the new one. I've also been using the hell out of my truck. Never owned a pickup truck before, but there is no going back.

Take care, JP

 

[zinger1457]

Can often find good deals at local estate sales/auctions.

 

[ivinsfan]

I have a townhome to furnish in Bonita Springs, FL.

Buying all new furniture would be quite expensive, and you guessed it, I'm frugal/cheap.

We did try to purchase a new couch. We put money down, and were told it will be available in February.

I'm not a big proponent of Facebook, but someone turned me on to their Marketplace section. I really like it. You only have to look at items near you, and you can see how long the seller has been registered, their seller reviews, and their front profile page.
You can text the seller, and most reply in a short timeframe. It seems like a safer more friendly option than Craigslist. Fewer scam artists, and better communication, at least so far.

Anyway, we have been finding great deals on some high quality used furniture.
It is almost fun to find something you really like at a great price. Kind of silly.

PS: Picked up a beautiful new used couch this morning, and cancelled our order for the new one. I've also been using the hell out of my truck. Never owned a pickup truck before, but there is no going back.

Take care, JP

I'm all for used furniture but would not buy a used bed or and upholstered product.. wooden stuff that you can give a good cleaning fine...glad its working for you...

 

[TrvlBug]

I'm all for used furniture but would not buy a used bed or and upholstered product.. wooden stuff that you can give a good cleaning fine...glad its working for you...

This. We have some great consignment shops in our area and when in the market for non-upholstered furniture, I look there first. Upholstered is all new. Check out the Big Bang Theory episode where they find a beautiful chair on the curb!

 

[ivinsfan]

This. We have some great consignment shops in our area and when in the market for non-upholstered furniture, I look there first. Upholstered is all new.

Thanks for that, glad to know it's not just me..

 

[Sunset]

OP - sign up for nextdoor.com , its like a local FB , has a selling and giving away section.

If I was just starting out, I could get TONs of free furniture, some looks so good I want it, but at the same time I'm downsizing

 

[EastWest Gal]

This. We have some great consignment shops in our area and when in the market for non-upholstered furniture, I look there first. Upholstered is all new. Check out the Big Bang Theory episode where they find a beautiful chair on the curb!

I remember commuting in the SF Bay Area in the 1990s and the KCBS and KGO traffic folks would occasionally report stuff on the highway-mattresses, chairs, etc. One day they joked that one could furnish a house with what fell off of cars and trucks that day.

 

[TrvlBug]

I remember commuting in the SF Bay Area in the 1990s and the KCBS and KGO traffic folks would occasionally report stuff on the highway-mattresses, chairs, etc. One day they joked that one could furnish a house with what fell off of cars and trucks that day.

 

[Boho]

Foam of the past contained unhealthy fire retardants, so I'd try to confirm the furniture is from the last few years.

 

[Bamaman]

My wife has been collecting one brand of high line bedroom furniture on F/B Marketplace. It's the best place to buy furniture--except upholstered items which are best bought new.

We now have four bedrooms that look like they're out of a magazine. And my garage is full of our previous furniture that my wife's going to sell on Marketplace. And she's spent less than what one bedroom suite would cost on all four bedrooms

We replaced aging lake house appliances with stainless steel stove, dishwasher, side by side refrigerator and microhood for $800 on Marketplace. That's the cost of the stove new. And it's spotless--in new condition.

She also scored a Hancock & Moore leather hide-a-bed with goose down and feather cushions--$250. The bed's never even been slept on. H&M is absolutely the top of the line brand, and that couch cost over $7,000 new.

A church based thrift store is advertising on Marketplace. We bought two new matching chairs for $10 each--found online @ $400 each. The thrift store's furniture, lamps and artwork are really nice. Lots of area estates are being liquidated, and millennials don't want their family's traditional furnishings.

Marketplace items are treasures if you watch the listings closely and study prices.

 

[frank]

also on facebook you can find local area garage sales where people list items for sale. not the same as marketplace, but local to certain areas. I have found lots of good deals locally.

 

[Music Lover]

Can often find good deals at local estate sales/auctions.

One of my friends, after leaving a bad relationship, went to an estate sale and for around $900 bought enough furniture to furnish an entire 2 bedroom apartment. Then over the next couple years he gradually replaced everything with quality new and used stuff as sales and deals came along.

 

[frank]

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.

 

[finnski1]

My wife has been collecting one brand of high line bedroom furniture on F/B Marketplace. It's the best place to buy furniture--except upholstered items which are best bought new.

We now have four bedrooms that look like they're out of a magazine. And my garage is full of our previous furniture that my wife's going to sell on Marketplace. And she's spent less than what one bedroom suite would cost on all four bedrooms

We replaced aging lake house appliances with stainless steel stove, dishwasher, side by side refrigerator and microhood for $800 on Marketplace. That's the cost of the stove new. And it's spotless--in new condition.

She also scored a Hancock & Moore leather hide-a-bed with goose down and feather cushions--$250. The bed's never even been slept on. H&M is absolutely the top of the line brand, and that couch cost over $7,000 new.

A church based thrift store is advertising on Marketplace. We bought two new matching chairs for $10 each--found online @ $400 each. The thrift store's furniture, lamps and artwork are really nice. Lots of area estates are being liquidated, and millennials don't want their family's traditional furnishings.

Marketplace items are treasures if you watch the listings closely and study prices.

Yes Hancock and Moore are topnotch.
My brother used to mange a local furniture store that sold very good quality.
I ordered (when I was working full time) an H&M leather wing chair from him and even with a healthy discount it was pricey.
I used to harass him constantly because it took over 6 months to get it.
Now that we are retired I just can't see myself ordering things like that again.
We definitely scour the used options.

 

[calmloki]

My wife has been collecting one brand of high line bedroom furniture on F/B Marketplace. It's the best place to buy furniture--except upholstered items which are best bought new.

We now have four bedrooms that look like they're out of a magazine. And my garage is full of our previous furniture that my wife's going to sell on Marketplace. And she's spent less than what one bedroom suite would cost on all four bedrooms

We replaced aging lake house appliances with stainless steel stove, dishwasher, side by side refrigerator and microhood for $800 on Marketplace. That's the cost of the stove new. And it's spotless--in new condition.

She also scored a Hancock & Moore leather hide-a-bed with goose down and feather cushions--$250. The bed's never even been slept on. H&M is absolutely the top of the line brand, and that couch cost over $7,000 new.

A church based thrift store is advertising on Marketplace. We bought two new matching chairs for $10 each--found online @ $400 each. The thrift store's furniture, lamps and artwork are really nice. Lots of area estates are being liquidated, and millennials don't want their family's traditional furnishings.

Marketplace items are treasures if you watch the listings closely and study prices.

Your wife does well. We, after 20 years, finally replaced a leather sofa/loveseat up north. Gal looked and looked and settled on a red fabric set from Macy's. Took about 2.5 months for them to arrive and within a month we returned them. Then a used leather Hancock and Moore set showed up on Craigslist. We spent over double what the new Macy's set cost. The H&M set included a recliner and ottoman, is over ten years old, and looks and feels great. Can't imagine spending the new prices on them though!

 

[Boho]

I looked through about 100 photos of Hancock and Moore furniture and I'm not a fan of the look. Shiny leather with tufting is my least favorite style, and a lot of their stuff looks unbalanced. I'd buy it for the quality only, except this sofa looks nice:

Not sure if the color makes it feminine.

 

[JP.mpls]

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

 

[calmloki]

Different tastes. Ours are called Kodiac style and look like this;

 

[Boho]

Different tastes. Ours are called Kodiac style and look like this;

That's balanced and comfy looking too, but the shininess highlights the wrinkles and makes it look stiffer than fabric or distressed leather. And colder against the skin, except when you're sweating in which case it's hotter and stickier.

 

[Amethyst]

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

 

[travelover]

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

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

 

[Ronstar]

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

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

Or you can strap down some furniture to the roof of a car.

 

[calmloki]

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

Mazda CX5 for the chair and some cushions on trip one, same + 4x8 trailer on trip two.

 

[Koolau]

We are blessed with huge amounts of resale furniture. Military families often sell their furniture rather than move it to the mainland (or other military locations.) Additionally, we have have multi thousands of hotel rooms on the Island. When hotels change out their furnishings, they often sell to resellers who then offer 500 of the same desk or chair or chest or...

When we arrived, we outfitted out 3br condo with everything except mattresses/bedding for less than $2K. That even included "tasteful" (eye of the beholder) prints for the walls. It was nice to be able to pick the nicest of each article from among dozens to hundreds of units. We even got to go to the "back room" when we were in doubt about the cleanliness of a lamp shade, etc. Oh, and they had a standard delivery charge (I think it was $50). So everything was brought across the mountains and set in its place. Still use most of the furniture a dozen years later. YMMV

 

[cbo111]

We have a lot of wealthy snowbirds that come own condos and homes in my neighborhood. They use their properties a month or two each year. After a few years they inevitably decide to refresh with all new stuff and sell quality stuff for cheap on Nextdoor. I like to browse the great deals even though my home is fully furnished and I don't need anything.
+1 for using Home Depot for their truck rental, something like $25 for an hour use, which is a pretty good deal.