See all the places you can source inexpensive mid-century furniture without breaking the bank
Mid-century modern furniture has been increasing in popularity over recent decades which means it has also become more expensive. Where once you could buy a vintage sideboard for under £100, they now sell regularly on specialized platforms such as Vinterior, VNTG and Etsy for well over £500.
However, you can still pick up relatively inexpensive mid-century modern furniture if you know what you are looking for and where to look.
So where can you find cheap mid-century furniture?
The best place to find cheap and relatively affordable mid-century furniture is on Facebook Marketplace, at car boot sales, house clearance companies, recycling centres and charity or thrift stores.
Below I go into more detail on the 6 places to find cheap mid-century furniture and give you some real-world examples of some of the absolute bargains I’ve brought and how much the same items are being sold on other online platforms.
Contents:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Boot fairs
- House clearance
- Recycling centres/Landfill
- Charity shops/thrift stores
- Vintage fairs
1. Facebook Marketplace
One of the best places to find affordable mid-century modern furniture is Facebook Marketplace. This platform has been growing year on year, overtaking traditional platforms such as Craigslist and eBay for second-hand goods. Here you can find a wide array of inexpensive (and sometimes free) mid-century furniture such as chairs, dressers, chests of drawers, sofas, sideboards and more.
To access Facebook Marketplace simply tap the market stall icon at the top of your profile on desktop or mobile. You can then search for items based on keywords such as “vintage”, “mid-century”, “mid-century modern”, “MCM” or specific types of furniture you are looking for.
Here is an example of a mid-century modern Meredew tallboy chest of drawers being advertised on Facebook Marketplace for £70.
And here is another example of the same Merdew tallboy chest of drawers being sold on Etsy for £215.
As you can see from this example mid-century furniture is significantly cheaper on Facebook Marketplace as people selling these items are not specialized furniture dealers.
2. Boot fairs
Car boot sales are another good place to find inexpensive mid-century modern furniture. People sell everything from clothes and collectables to furniture and household ascospores. And in the mix, you can often find a range of cheap mid-century furniture such as coffee tables, desks, chest of drawers and sometimes even sofas.
The benefit of car boot sales is, again, the traders are often not specialized dealers which means they are selling items from their own homes and are often being sold for far less than the market value.
You can also haggle the price down for most items so it can be easier to get items relatively cheaper than if you were going straight to a specialised furniture platform such as Vinterior or Etsy.
3. House clearance companies
Not all of the stuff house clearance companies clear from homes go to landfills. Some of it is just too good to throw away which means they often keep hold of items of mid-century furniure and sell it from a facility to the public. And because they need constantly need storage for new stock they usually sell items relatively cheap for a quick turnaround.
If you do a google search of “house clearance companies near me” a long list of companies should appear on the search results. You can then contact them directly and see if they have a storage facility where they keep furniture for sale to the public.
For example, there is a rubbish clearance company near me called Toms Rubbish Clearance and they have a large warehouse where they keep items, in particle mid-century furniture for the public to buy.
I brought a mid-century nest of tables by Parker knolls from Toms Rubbish Clearance for £30.
There same Parker Knoll nest tables are being sold on eBay for £95 and on other sites for an average of £120.
4. Recycling centres/Landfill
People don’t always know the value of items of furniture they may have which means some perfectly good mid-century furniture can turn up at a recycling centre destined for landfill.
Luckily as companies and government agencies are becoming more sustainable these items are being saved from landfills and sold to the general public through onsite shops within the recycling centres.
And you can regularly find cheap items as just like house clearance companies they need the space so need a quick turnaround. So for you, this means potentially a great source of cheap and affordable mid-century furniture such as coffee tables, tables, chairs a range of other items.
Related articles:
- Why Is Mid-Century Furniture So Expensive?
- How To Identify Mid Century Modern Furniture
- How To Value Mid Century Modern Furniture
5. Charity shops/thrift stores
I love charity shops and thrift stores as you never know what you will find and whist a lot only sell clothes, accessories and ornaments there are some that also specialize in a wide range o furniture.
In the UK the main charity shops that sell furniture include the British Heart Foundation, the sofa project, Emmanas and St Peters Hospice. Here you can find a wide range of relatively expensive MCM furniture.
For example, here is an authentic Charles Eames retro Eiffel chair based on his widely popular 1960s fibreglass chair I brought, would you believe, for just £2! from the British Heart Foundation.
The same chair which is still in production is going on the official Vitra Eames site for £460 per chair.
And here is a 1960s Jentique stingray coffee table I also brought from the British heart foundation for £10.
The same Jentique coffee table is being sold on Vinteriors for £220.
However, it’s worth noting that prices, especially for mid-century modern furniture are starting to increase in price in some charity shops/thrift shops are the trend becomes more popular.
Related articles:
6. Vintage fairs
Of all the cheap places to find mid-century furniture vintage fairs can be the most expensive as the traders often specialise in this market and know the current market value. This means they have already sourced the furniture at a relatively low price and added an additional price to get a profit.
However, if you are looking for mid-century modern decor on a budget to furnish your home and not necessarily looking to buy and sell items for a profit you can still get some reasonably priced items by some well-known manufacturers.
Here is a collectable 1960 West German vase I recently purchased from Shepton Flea Market for £10.
And the same model of vase is being sold on VNTG. for 110 Euros.
Traders are also always open to negotiations so make sure you haggle to get the best price.
Key Takeaways
Mid-century and vintage furniture has become widely popular over the last 10 years which has pushed up the price across the board. It’s not uncommon to see items that you could once pick up for under £100 or even free now going for hundreds of dollars on specialized websites such as Vinteroior and Etsy
However, if you are smart and know where to look you can still find affordable mid-century furniture. Facebook marketplace is the best place to source cheap mid-century furniture as it has a large pool to draw upon and you can filter according to specific keywords.
Other places you can find affordable mid-century furniture which takes a bit more digging include car boot fairs, house clearance companies, recycling centres, charity shops/thrift stores and vintage fairs which can often be a little more expensive.
