Follow this step by step guide on how to buy and sell used furniture at a profit online
Buying and selling used furniture is an easy way to earn a little bit of extra cash in your spare time or even start a full-time business.
It’s also good for the environment and supports the circular economy as it doesn’t take the additional energy resources to manufacture and ship it long distances.
So how do you buy and sell used furniture?
There are a number of steps to buying and selling used furniture, which include buying items from places like Facebook Marketplace and house clearance companies; pricing the item correctly for resale; finding the best place to sell particular items and finally shipping the furniture safely and securely.
There is a bit more to it than that, however, so I’ve put together a detailed step by step guide that walks you through the process of sourcing used furniture to shipping it to your customer in one piece.
Contents:
- Step1: How to buy used furniture
- Step 2: How to price used furniture
- Step 3: How to sell second hand furniture
- Step 4: How to ship used furniture
Step 1: Where to buy used furniture
First off you need to find sources to buy second-hand furniture for a price you can sell to make a profit. Luckily there are now quite a few places both on and offline where you can find some free stuff or gems at a steal.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook is not only for staying in contact with friends and family but now has a huge e-commerce platform for buying and selling second-hand goods, which is known as Facebook Marketplace.
It has a large amount of used furniture on offer from livingroom furniture such as sideboards and coffee tables to items for the bedroom such as chest of drawers and wardrobes.
Craigslist
Craiglist is another online platform, which has been going since 1995, that can be a good place to source used furniture for free or low-cost for resale.
House clearance and removal companies
Contact your local house clearance and removals companies to see what furniture they may have. They sometimes have a warehouse where they store stuff that is too nice for landfills that the public can go and buy.
You can often find vintage furniture in good condition cheaper than some online marketplaces as they need the space so want a quick turnaround of items.
Flea markets
Another good source to buy used furniture is from flea markets. You can find some unique pieces here and traders are used to haggling so do be afraid to offer a lower price.
Tips for buying used furniture:
Look out for certain items – Some items sell better than others and people tend to want furniture that is functional ( can be used as storage) and made by a brand name. Sideboards and chest drawers by well-known furniture manufacturers such as Nathan and G-Plan are good pieces to buy.
How to search using keywords – If you are looking for vintage furniture to buy online on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, don’t just use search terms like vintage. A lot of people selling items won’t know it’s vintage and will just list the items as a particular piece.
Be ready to act – You won’t be the only person who buys and sells furniture so be ready to act. A nice personal message where you let the person know you are ready to collect can go a long way to snapping up that item.
Simply restoration can go a long way – If you have the time to restore used furniture items that may have a little wear and tear you can potentially get some nice pieces for free or cheap and once restored can resell for a nice profit.
More often than not all the item may need is a simple removal of varnish or paint, sanding and waxing. Jobs a good un!
Don’t be afraid to haggle – Remember if are looking to buy and sell used furniture you probably want to make a profit, which means the less money you pay for an item the more you earn. So don’t be afraid to offer a lower price.
However, wait until you are with the seller as they will probably be getting messages from numerous buyers who are willing to pay the full price.
Step 2: How to price used furniture
To price used furniture as accurately as possible it’s good practice to consider the condition, age, if it’s made by a brand name and the material it’s made from. You can then do a price comparison with similar items online or in used furniture and vintage shops to get an average price for resale.
Price comparison
Check online to see what similar items are going for and calculate the average. You can also go to used furniture shops and vintage furniture dealers to see what they are pricing their items at.
You can also do a Google image search where you upload the picture to Google and it will serve up similar images of furniture and the price they are going for.
Condition
The condition of an item is always a factor in how much it is worth. If it has some wear and tear such as cracks, scratches and dents this will affect what you can get for it. If you can restore the item then you are likely to sell it for more.
Age
Vintage and antique furniture is big business and if what you are selling has age, then it is likely to push up the price and have more value than if you are selling modern flat-packed furniture.
Vintage furniture made between the 1950s and 60′, based on Scandinavian design, known as “Mid-Century Modern” is currently very popular.
Brand name
People are willing to pay more for furniture that is made by brand name furniture manufacturers because it suggests quality, durability, style and craftsmanship.
Materials
What material the piece of used furniture is made from also goes a long way to how much you can sell it for. Items that are made from solid wood such as teak or oak will be worth more than items made from wood veneer and woodchip.
Furniture valuation guides & appraisals
If you think you have an old antique piece of furniture (over 100 years old) and you think it may be worth a pretty penny then it may be worth paying to get an appraisal from an antique dealer or specialist.
You may also be able to sell it straight to the dealer.
Tips for pricing used furniture:
Profit margin – Have a minimum amount of profit in mind what you would like to make from each item (30% is a good benchmark to work with). That way even if you get less than the market value you still make a profit and cover costs.
Test the market – Sometimes you just have to put it up for sale see what the response is. If you don’t get any interest within the first 5-7 days then it’s probably priced too much.
Related articles:
- 5 Reasons Why Vintage Is So Popular
- 9 Best Vintage Furniture Brands
- 10 Best Selling Upcycled Furniture Items 2022
Step 3: Where to sell used furniture
There are a number of places you can sell used furniture online which include e-commerce platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Etsy and Vinterior and offline at pop-up vintage and flea markets and even from a shop.
Facebook Marketplace
Like I previously touched on, Facebook Marketplace is a massive ecosystem of used items where you can source used furniture for free or very cheap and resale it on the same platform at a profit. This is known as “flipping”.
eBay
You are probably familiar with eBay as an online marketplace for buying and selling item used goods. Well, it’s also a good place to sell used furniture online where you can give people the option to bid amongst each other or buy now for a set price.
Etsy
Etsy is a well established online marketplace for buying and selling a wide range of hand-crafted and vintage items. It’s, therefore, a good place if you want to sell unique and eyecatching restored or upcycled vintage furniture.
1stDibs
1stDibs is an online marketplace for more high-end items such as pieces of expensive furniture, art and jewellery. It has been credited for bringing antiques into the 21st century and the feel of the Paris flea markets online.
Vinterior
Vinterior is probably one of the biggest online marketplaces for merchants selling restored and upcycled vintage and antique furniture. You can find a wide arrange of unique items here for the living and bedroom, kitchen and outdoors.
Car boot sales/Pop-up flea markets
If you would like a more personal experience and go straight to the consumer, then setting up a stall at the numerous car boots and pop-up flea markets may be a good option.
It’s also a good place to sell multiple items in one hit, rather than listing singular items for sale online.
Shop
Once you gain experience and expertise in the field of buying and selling used furniture it may be worth looking at getting a fixed location, namely a shop.
This is good to showcase all your pieces in one place without the need of transporting them to markets each week.
However, be very selective if you are thinking about going down this route and consider things like the demographics of the area and how much footfall there potentially will be.
Tips for selling used furniture:
Good description – Have a detailed description of the condition of the item, including any marks or scratches. It is also good practice to include the dimensions of the item as this is an important consideration for most people when buying used furniture.
Multiple High definition pics – Include as many high definition images as possible and with multiple angles, preferably against a white backdrop or with minimal background clutter
Consider location – Do you intend to sell in your local area with collection only? Or will you deliver within a certain radius? or will you offer national and even international delivery?
Consider the age – If the item is an antique (over 100 years old) or vintage (over 40 years old) it may be worth selling on specialized websites such as Vinteror, Etsy or 1stDibs instead of Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
Step 4: How to ship used furniture
To ship furniture you must first measure and weigh the item, allowing for extra weight for packaging; get a price comparison and choose a courier, ensuring you have adequate insurance cover and tracking and finally package the item for safe and secure shipping.
Furniture dimensions – To get an accurate shipping cost you first need to measure the dimensions (length, width, depth) and weigh the item of used furniture. Add an extra couple of kilos on top to account for packaging.
Choose a courier – Once you have the dimensions and weight of the piece you want to ship, you can now do a price comparison of couriers and choose which company you want to ship your item to.
Here is a handy shipping rate calculator that gives you a price comparison of couriers that ship large items.
Insurance & Tracking- Make sure insurance, up to the value of the cost of the item, is included in the price of shipping (or as an additional add-on) and is tracked so you know where it is in its journey and when the customer receives it.
Packaging – This is an important step as you want to get it to your customer in one piece. A good way to ship furniture items is to remove any breakable parts such as legs and arms and wrap everything in bubble wrap. Then create a box around it from corrugated cardboard and place styrofoam sheets inside the box for extra protection. Finally used polypropylene straps to keep the box secure and keep everything in place.
