Why the market for 2nd hand furniture and other "stuff" has disappeared (flooring, countertop)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think a big part of it is that people have to be a lot more mobile now, because we have to be. Jobs pay low, and we have no job security. So if we get laid off, or get a better job in another city, we have to be able to move. Not to mention, we don't make nearly enough to even think about buying houses. Your generation could buy houses with your entry level jobs even. You lived in a different America, a prosperous America where folks had job security and could actually settle down somewhere.
Then the Baby Boomers offshored the American Dream to China.
..."people don't want to pay what things are worth..."
That cabinet may be "worth" $$$ to you, but not to me. If you come from plenty, give the stuff away. If you don't, you're actively withholding the item from someone who needs it, right now.
Don't be piggy, people.
Or it might be "worth" money intrinsically, say, in a Kovels' guide or based upon recent auctions. I'm not being "piggy" if I'm "actively withholding" it from somebody who refuses to pay more than $40 for any piece of furniture no matter whether it's chipping particleboard or carved burled walnut.
Trust me, the people who are offering 40 bucks usually don't "need" it either, they're just hoping to flip it and make a profit, usually after destroying it with chalk paint to "refinish" it. Sometimes I set a high price just to weed out people like that, not that it works since I still get at least 10 "I'll give you 20 bucks" offers before finally finding someone who will use and appreciate it. And for that person I'll definitely let them pay what they can.
It's not about being "piggy", sometimes it's just a matter of not wanting to see nice things trashed.
LOL, My In-Laws thought they had great taste They loved French Provincial..... everywhere in their house. When we moved them into a retirement home, the folks in their neighbourhood loved their furniture too!
We happily gave it all to them and they loved it.
We have a handful of mid century furniture, Eames lounges, Corbusier tables, sofas, chairs, Noguchi.
Not sure if our daughter will ever want this "old stuff", she grew up with it just like her Dad grew up with French Provincial
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
This is so true! I find the Eames loungers etc. unattractive but that's because I'm old enough that those were the old outdated things when I was a kid! So much of this is just fashion. (I'm not a fan of French Provincial either...)
The 1980s and 1990s saw a big boom in antiques and the prices she quoted are on target for what people were paying at the time.
Yep, one of my grandfathers loved antiques, even restored grandfather clocks to working condition as a hobby.
Great hobby, but he was so convinced of the value of quality, beautiful furnishings that he made antiques and collectables a major component of their total retirement savings. In the 70s he bought literally a roomful of limited edition china and crystal and kept it all in perfect condition. When my grandma passed and he downsized about 5 years ago, the stuff was worthless. Wedgewood and Swarovski and the like, stuff that sold for $100 a plate in 1975 -- not inflation adjusted, that was the 1975 retail -- could fetch no more than five bucks a plate today. One problem is that "limited edition" wasn't nearly as limited as the sales brochures made you think; replacements.com has warehouses full of that stuff. And my grandfather's taste ran to stuff that is really out of fashion today, like fine china with prints of birds and animals on them, or reproductions from old master paintings.
High-end one of a kind items fared much better, but still did badly when looked at as an investment. His prized stamp collection, well, just look up how collectible stamp prices have fared.
The sad thing is if he'd put the same money into stocking a room full of new-in-box Star Wars action figures at the time, he'd have made out like a bandit.
To make things worse, as much as he trusted in quality "stuff" he totally distrusted finance. The rest of their savings was almost entirely in US savings bonds -- no stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs or T-bills, anything. So it really did poorly compared to inflation or to what someone in a balanced mutual fund would have earned.
True Depression-era guy. Not bad instincts for the 1930s to 1970s, actually, but he could not relate at all to how tastes and markets changed in the last 30 years.
I think a big part of it is that people have to be a lot more mobile now, because we have to be. Jobs pay low, and we have no job security. So if we get laid off, or get a better job in another city, we have to be able to move. Not to mention, we don't make nearly enough to even think about buying houses. Your generation could buy houses with your entry level jobs even. You lived in a different America, a prosperous America where folks had job security and could actually settle down somewhere.
Then the Baby Boomers offshored the American Dream to China.
Believe it or not, people moved MORE frequently in the past then they do today. Americans today are less than half as likely to move to a new state than they were from 1950 to 1975. The really big drop in relocating comes after 1990. Houses also got steadily bigger up until 2008, and are still much bigger than in the 1950s or even 1970s, so it's not a simple "had less room" explanation either. The drop in the value of 2nd hand furniture, china and crystal, other decorative antiques, is a longer term trend, not just something from the current recession.
When we were downsizing we donated all excess furniture to Habitat For Humanity. They came. moved it, took it away, and I expect it got another life. I felt good about that.
I think a big part of it is that people have to be a lot more mobile now, because we have to be. Jobs pay low, and we have no job security. So if we get laid off, or get a better job in another city, we have to be able to move. Not to mention, we don't make nearly enough to even think about buying houses. Your generation could buy houses with your entry level jobs even. You lived in a different America, a prosperous America where folks had job security and could actually settle down somewhere.
Then the Baby Boomers offshored the American Dream to China.
I didn't send any jobs to China.
As someone else mentioned, people do not move more often now - they move less often. In fact, moving reached an ALL TIME LOW in 2011, and though it's been on a slow increase, it has a long way to go before it reaches the highs of the the 1940s through the 1980s. America: A Nation on the Move | Random Samplings
One reason why "my generation" could buy homes "sooner" was because we had much lower expectations for a starter home. The average home SIZE has increased by 1000 square feet since the 1970s. Adjust for inflation (simple math - I've provided sources) and the average home in 2013 costs $114 a square foot. The average home in 1973 cost (adjusted for inflation) equals (and this is the amazing part!) $114 a square foot!
So - to get back back around to the topic - "Why the market for second hand stuff has disappeared?" I'm not saying that it has or hasn't, but I'm saying that it hasn't for the reasons that YOU listed.
Over 100,000 visitors come every single month to this flea market, which offers a huge array of second hand goods on over 100 acres.
I myself am a big fan of second hand stores and always have been. I've bought and sold antiques and other used furniture over the years and I personally haven't seen any sort of significant change in what's out there, or what the prices are for used furniture (nearly always pennies on the dollar). The current "shabby chic" trend has helped keep the used furniture market up and running for years as well.
What I HAVE seen is less demand, as others have mentioned, for "sets" of furniture and very large, heavy pieces, as well as the old school "entertainment centers" that took up a whole wall - now that so many TVs are lightweight and often mounted, there's just not a need for those big armoires or entertainment centers. Used upholstered furniture has never been a hot commodity because it's always been expensive to reupholster something and people are often squeamish about old upholstery anyway.
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 07-07-2014 at 08:01 AM..
Hey, don't blame the Baby Boomers for "offshore the American Dream to China" It was the money grubbing corporations looking for more and more profit to pay their CEOs 500X what their average employees makes who did that.
Regarding the grandfather who made such poor decisions for his future. What we learn in our youth tends to stick with us for life. If a man lived through the depression either as a child who heard his family complaining and whose life was directly negatively affected or as one who somehow managed to escape that period, that impacts us more than most people realize. I studied a theory once called "You are what you are now because of what you were when you were 10 years old". Which basically means childhood holds the reason for many adult behaviors.
My father was born in 1916. He was a young adult during the depression and it must have been awful. He never bought a thing "on time" except houses. He tracked every single dime he earned and was frugal to the point of being stingy.When he dropped dead at age 57 he left my mother with almost $2M in investments and assets and savings. She had absolutely no idea his estate would be that much.
In the early 90's I got caught up in the doll collecting craze. I had inherited an antique doll collection from my spinster aunt and when I finally got around to learning the history and worth of each doll I was amazed at their value. Soon I ended up buying and selling and I started my own retail business. This was when QVC and other TV shopping channels had multiple doll shows almost every night. I soon grew very sad to realize most of my customers could not afford these expensive dolls but if they came in with a friend they sometimes competed to see who could buy the most expensive doll.
Time after time I heard they were investments. Even I knew this bubble couldn't last.
the ridiculous hype of "LIMITED EDITION" suckered in so many people. What is limited about 25,000+ units mass produced in China? And when Beanie Babies came around I got out. I had a grown man with 3 kids come in my shop (where I DID NOT sell Beanie Babies) who told me about how he was taking his kids' college accounts and moving it to BBs. It was all I could do to not shake his shoulders and scream in his face........ "YOU FOOL".
Most today wouldn't want Grandma's 1000 square foot home with 2 bedrooms and a single bath if she left it to them other than to sell it.
I see this a lot... kids saying they are forever priced out of a home and yet one couple was left her Grandmother's home and they sold it... I know the home and Grandma kept it in great repair... it was just too small.... thing is they have one child and Grandma and Grandpa raised three daughters in that two bedroom home.
A lot has to do with expectations.
A neighbor that always worked at low paying jobs... a very hard worker who is now on Social Security "Invested" every penny in Dolls and Beanie Babies for her retirement... her husband would ask why and she would hear nothing of it.
I guess having a Grandmother and Father that lived through the Depression made it very real for me... pointing out all the folks they knew that lost their homes by putting everything into the stock market...
The only debt I carry is first mortgages...
I do have lots of old stuff... people move or I buy a home and the estate leaves all the furnishings...
I imagine one day someone will shake their head and toss it into a dumpster.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They loved French Provincial..... everywhere in their house. When we moved them into a retirement home, the folks in their neighbourhood loved their furniture too!
