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It's really hard to sell your furniture for a good price. We've always had very high end furniture in our homes. Every time we've attempted to sell anything - which always looks like it's brand new because we take care of everything we own - we can't get anywhere even remotely close to what we paid. Not to mention you have people coming to your home and possibly casing the joint. We just donate our furniture now, rather than go through the hassle of having people lowball us.
I have bought and sold furniture for many years aside from my regular business, and I have bought sofas that were original bought for $6,000.00 and I have aquired them for $900.00. Alot depends on the style, and condition of the furniture a person is selling...to the owner it might seem in mint condition, but in reality it might just be in good condition.
And also it depends on how desperate a seller is to sell their furniture.
Unfortunately you haven't told us where you are. This makes a difference.
Put the furniture up for sale on craigslist and be sure to post pictures. Post a price you think is reasonable. This way the potential buyers can see what you're selling and what you want for it and they can decide right then and there whether or not they want to go the next step to contact you.
If you get few/no offers at your asking price--it's too high. Lower the price and repost the ad. Avoid OBO (or best offer) because people will just pummel you with offers of 50 or 100 dollars, lowballing in hopes you're desperate for a few bucks.
The most important point is to include pics. I look at rentals on craigslist all the time and if there is no pic I don't even bother to read the ad. Total waste of my time.
I've shopped for used furniture before (for myself and others) and honestly, I don't care what you paid for it.
That has zero bearing on what I'm willing to pay.
I completely agree with this statement. We have bought quite a lot of furniture on Craigslist, and it always drives me nuts when people try to justify their selling price what what they paid for it "not too long ago".
The thing is, most new furniture has an absolutely massive mark-up. A smart buyer knows this, and most second-hand buyers care more about getting a good deal than they would buying new. People aren't low-balling you, furniture just simply isn't physically worth anywhere near what you pay for it in a retail setting. (Unless you have some unique collectible or similar. Though I would guess with what you paid new for it, you don't.) It all depends on the quality you have to offer (yes, pictures would help). For instance, a few years back I was looking to buy a leather couch. It seemed almost everyone selling leather couches that were not completely trashed made a big deal of how much they had paid for this all-leather couch originally. They would say "I paid $2000 for this couch a year ago, what a steal at $1500!" Guess what? If I have $1500, I can buy myself a brand new leather couch that hasn't had someone else's cheeks planted on it for the last year. (And that is actually what I ended up doing.) If you don't undercut yourself enough, people have no incentive to buy second hand. Whatever local retailers are selling similar items for (and it might be low in this economy) you need to be lower, so check out your retail competition as well.
I completely agree with this statement. We have bought quite a lot of furniture on Craigslist, and it always drives me nuts when people try to justify their selling price what what they paid for it "not too long ago".
The thing is, most new furniture has an absolutely massive mark-up. A smart buyer knows this, and most second-hand buyers care more about getting a good deal than they would buying new. People aren't low-balling you, furniture just simply isn't physically worth anywhere near what you pay for it in a retail setting. (Unless you have some unique collectible or similar. Though I would guess with what you paid new for it, you don't.) It all depends on the quality you have to offer (yes, pictures would help). For instance, a few years back I was looking to buy a leather couch. It seemed almost everyone selling leather couches that were not completely trashed made a big deal of how much they had paid for this all-leather couch originally. They would say "I paid $2000 for this couch a year ago, what a steal at $1500!" Guess what? If I have $1500, I can buy myself a brand new leather couch that hasn't had someone else's cheeks planted on it for the last year. (And that is actually what I ended up doing.) If you don't undercut yourself enough, people have no incentive to buy second hand. Whatever local retailers are selling similar items for (and it might be low in this economy) you need to be lower, so check out your retail competition as well.
There was an ad on craigslist in my area not too long ago that said ' Custom couches! Hand Made! Brand new quality, only a few cat scratches, few burn marks and one of the cushions is torn, but easily fixed! Paid $12,000 less than 10 years ago, $9000 or best offer!!'
and I had a good, long laugh about it, because the couches looked like crap in the pictures, one of the armrests was all torn up by a cat, and they were this HORRID teal/bright pink southwestern pattern. Some people just think their stuff is worth WAY more than it really is.
What matters to me is if I like it, is this what I really wanted and price, I've sold excellent used furniture and I never did get what I thought I would. I'd look at Ebay prices for furniture in the state you live also, people will travel to get what they want.
I'm looking to sell a living room set (couch, loveseat, coffee table) but I've never bought or sold used furniture so I don't know what a fair price is. The set was purchased for ~1000 dollars about 18 months ago. It's in great shape. I was thinking 400-500 but a friend of mine said more like 600-700, but that was just her guess as well. Anyone care to offer their input?
depends on where you live, my inlaws ran a used furniture store in MI forever, and ive been around used shops alot.
best thing to do is check classifieds, be it in newspaper, online like craigslist, etc, then also check out used furniture stores in your area, see what similar sets are selling for, and price accordingly.
smoke free/pet free pieces fetch more.
rememeber, if someone from a used store tries to buy your set, they will offer about half your asking price, because they have to mark back up to make a profit, for example, if you find the average going price for your set is $400, in order for a used store to sell it, they would buy it from you for half, mark it up to going rate(400 lets say) so they can make a profit plus their money back.
sooooo...unless your desperate to sell...avoid them.
now...you also need to take in effect market....economy sucks, people are still buying, but going with used..which would be good...most times, but some areas ive seen are just not seeing anything sold online as well as it used to, people are holding tight to their money, and being carefull, so you may have to accept a lower price if you need to get it sold fast, to much out there to pick from, so buyers are picky and bartering prices.
hope all this helps...you get your set sold for a good fair price
Used furniture is worth about 30% of the original price in excellent condition... unless it's a high-end manufacturer such as Hancock & Moore for example, or an antique, or made with rare\expensive woods and fabrics, then the percentage can go higher... No matter how you feel about your furniture, it's still "used furniture", ultimately it's value is determined by how much a buyer is willing to pay, the comfort level of that depends entirely on you. Based on that guideline, you should accept no less than $300.00, that's probably not what you want to hear, but anyone that knows anything about used furniture will not pay more than that for your used $1,000.00 couch.
I hate to say this, but buyers don't care how much the furniture cost. We have bought and sold so much furniture, and some pretty new. Only on one very rare occasion we got close to what we wanted for a dining room set, but it was a beautiful set, and in extremely good condition. Bottom line, buyers let me kinow, what they want to pay for it, so have a price in mind, and be ready to gamble.I had a newer couch out a couple months ago, trying to sell it original cost was $999.00 I almost had a fit, when someone offered me $250.00 it was a homelegance sofa, With beautiful wood and carving, more formal, with tapestry, perfect condition. Buyers just want a good deal, oh boy they all let me know, that it would look beautiful in the house, and oh boy i did not accept any of their offers, i now have it in a den, and glad i did not sell it.
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depends on where you live also
