Check out 10 of the best places to turn your passion into a business and sell your upcycled furniture
Whether it’s to be upcycled, refurbished, or restyled, saving landfill-bound furniture from the scrap heap and turning it into a bespoke item of re-useable furniture is great for the environment and be good for your pocket too.
So with an increase in people wanting unique pieces of furniture for their homes, why not turn your creative skills and new hobby into a side hustle? Selling off your pieces to put some extra cash in your pocket.
But where is the best place to sell your upcycled furniture?
Some of the best places to sell upcycled furniture include Etsy, Vinterior, Facebook Marketplace and Preloved. But there are quite a few more places you may have not considered.
So, whether you have just a single item or an excess of upcycled furniture to sell and are looking to make some money from your creative hobby here are the 10 best places to sell upcycled furniture.
Contents:
- Etsy
- Preloved
- Gumtree
- eBay
- Facebook Marketplace
- Vinterior
- A website
- Social media – Pinterest & Instagram
- Get a pitch – Boot fairs, vintage fairs & market stalls
- Open a shop
- Key takeaways
1. Etsy
Described as the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. It’s home to a universe of special, extraordinary items, from unique handcrafted pieces to vintage treasures. And is probably the number 1 place to sell upcycled furniture.
You will find everything from upcycled and restored side tables, sideboards, dining tables and chairs, bureaus and much much more. With low fees, powerful tools and support and education, they also help creative entrepreneurs start, manage and scale their businesses.
So If you have a stock of furniture to sell and are ready to turn your hobby into more of a business model, I highly recommend setting up an online Etsy store.
2. Preloved
Started in 1998, Preloved has grown to become one of the largest classified advertising sites in the UK with hundreds of categories.
Useful if you are starting out or if you have one-off items, Preloved is an easy internet-based site to get started with and one of the best places to sell refurbished furniture.
If you are only looking to sell the odd item, join as a free member. There are no membership or selling fees and you can join in on the preloved community discussions, getting helpful hints and tips with guides and inspirational posts.
As your business grows, Preloved offers different scales of membership from full to Premium for personal usage – As well as Full and Premium for Businesses. Be aware these levels of membership do incur a one-off yearly payment but unlock a load of added benefits.
3. Gumtree
Another free site ideal for your one-off sales where you can advertise your upcycled furniture for sale is Gumtree.
Register your details and activate your account. Upload photos of your item and add a catchy description and it works in a similar way to Preloved.
Buyers can search for items they would like and message the sellers to check availability, arrange collection or delivery and make the purchase.
Related articles
- 20 Upcycled Outdoor Furniture Ideas
- 10 Best Selling Upcycled Furniture Items 2022
- 10 Best Places To Buy Old Furniture To Upcycle
4. eBay
The online auction site eBay is a great site to sell your refurbished furniture. Whether it’s a one-off piece or several items, an eBay account can be a useful tool in your arsenal to sell your upcycled furniture.
Set up your listings with your minimum price and let them go to auction, with the opportunity of adding a best offer option, and a 7-day listing that can be automatically renewed if unsold.
Do be aware that this is not a free site. eBay takes a proportion of the sale proceeds for listing the item.
5. Facebook Marketplace
With an estimated 1 billion marketplace users worldwide, Facebook Marketplace is one of the best places to sell upcycled furniture online.
There are no fees for selling and you have the added benefit of being able to upload up to 10 photos to fully display your upcycled furniture. Add to it a catchy informative description of your item and sit back and wait for the messages to come in.
Top tips for Facebook, always include the measurements of your furniture and be prepared for the fickle buyers who message to check availability before vanishing into cyberspace without a trace – Don’t take it personally, there is always another buyer!
6. Vinterior
Similar to Etsy, but aimed more at refurbished vintage furniture is Vinterior.
With 1800 + sellers handpicked from 10 countries, this is a growing site, with no upfront fees. So, if you are more into refurbishing and restoring, Vinterior is where to sell your restored furniture.
7. A website
If you are successfully selling your upcycled furniture and have a regular turnover of furniture to sell, you may want to take it to the next level.
A good tool is to develop your own website to advertise and sell your products, this does away with paying a commission on some of the selling sites already mentioned.
Although not completely free, there are still some charges to be incurred. Your own website can be developed relatively easily and there are a number of online guides and help to assist.
8. Social media – Instagram, Pinterest,
A good proportion of the success of selling is about the advertising of your products and making them visible to buyers. Social media is a useful tool for this.
With sites such as Instagram, this is a great visual way to get your upcycled furniture and your business, coverage for free to assist with selling your upcycled furniture.
Although this may not guarantee large numbers of sales, social media sites are good free advertising to promote your website or Facebook selling pages.
9. Get a Pitch – Boot Fairs, Vintage fairs & Market Stalls
If you are ready to take the plunge and have several items of upcycled furniture for sale, a good place to begin is at Vintage Fairs or on a Market Stall.
Contact your local council to get details of local markets for the possibility of a pitch. Or check out local papers for up-and-coming events, where you think, your furniture would sell well. Speak to the organiser and look at how you can rent a pitch.
Ensure you factor in any fees and costs for not only the pitch but how you will get your items to the location, as this will affect any after-sale profits.
10. Open a shop – Rent a Space
The last and perhaps most expensive option to consider when deciding where to sell your upcycled furniture is a shop.
Definitely not just for the sale of a single item of furniture, but if you have several items to sell, with a regular turnover of upcycled furniture it’s worth considering renting a shop or at least a space in a shop.
With more furniture consortium’s popping, where several sellers split the rental and utility costs you can rent a space relatively cheaply. This reduces your initial outlay and reduces the risks involved with taking on a whole shop to yourself.
You are also able to utilise the customer footfall of the other sellers. A prospective buyer may not have entered wanting to buy a new upcycled bedside table, but if you have quality products you never know what may sell.
If you don’t have one of these cooperative units nearby, look to approach local independent business’s, pubs and cafes, and see if they will stock your pieces, for a small commission.
Related articles:
- 10 Best Selling Vintage Items on eBay in 2023
- 15 Best Places To Sell Vintage Furniture
- 20 Upcycled and Repurposed Bedroom Furniture Ideas
Key Takeaways
With the rise in popularity of e-commerce, there are some great sites out there to place your advertisements for your upcycled furniture for sale.
Ensure you get some good photos of your items, try photographing from different angles and in front of a plain background to really show your work to the full potential.
Grab your laptop and a cup of tea and start writing those catchy adverts to show off your hard work and entice the buyers on sites such as Facebook, Etsy or Vinterior.
If business is good and you find your hobby is becoming bigger than first imagined and spilling out of your garage, look to expand and take that next step up by renting pitches at markets or renting space in an antique / furniture consortium.
Work your charm and magic on your customers and get those items sold. The sky is the limit with the increase in popularity for more sustainable unique items of furniture – you just need to find the best place to sell your upcycled furniture.
