Selling furniture- help needed

[tchrrx]

I need to sell our formal dining table, chairs, and china cabinet before we move. I've tried facebook, but no luck. DH listed on Craigslist, but he hasn't had any luck there either. What else can we do? There aren't any furniture consignment shops near us, and it would cost a lot to have it moved to one in the city. Help please!

 

[clh2]

Can you list it on a close by craigslist too? I.e. If I am looking for something, I would look in the Milwaukee, fond du lac and Madison craigslist websites.

Do you have good descriptions on c/l including sizes? I hate when sellers do not take the time to list dimensions. I.e. When I was looking for bedroom furniture-sellers sometimes do not list whether the frame is for a double, queen or king bed.

And-do you have nice pictures?

Finally-are you willing to sell the pieces separately? Yes it is a pain, but maybe it would help get some of it sold.

And-things will usually sell if it is the right price. So-just like selling a home, perhaps you need to adjust the price.

 

[LindaBabe]

We finally donated our big furniture to a local home furnishings charity. Freecycle.org is another possibility.

 

[Hannathy]

look at your price?

Do you have it to high? Biggest mistake I see on Craigslist is people want to much for furniture.

List it again at a lower price.

 

[tvguy]

We finally donated our big furniture to a local home furnishings charity. Freecycle.org is another possibility.

I ended up donating a lot of my mom's furniture to the American Cancer Society thrift store. Craigs list, classified ads, garage sales. No luck. Ended up splitting off the dining room table and chairs from the china cabinet, sold the table and chairs, donated the china cabinet.
The biggest lesson I learned is that quality used furniture really isn't worth much.

 

[brymolmom]

If it's really going to cost you $$$ to get rid of it - Then first try listing it on Craigslist for about HALF of what you had it listed before. Make sure you post pictures too - most people ignore the ones without pics. You might want to ask to borrow a friend's truck and offer to deliver it for free too.

If all that fails and you just want to ditch it - Try facebook again "FREE to whoever can come pick it up first" - Then post pics. I'm betting you will get a response.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Give it until April 3rd before lowering your price but remember to go back into craigslist and renew your item (I think it's 48 hrs now when it lets you renew) so it goes back to the top of the page. It is the end of the month, and a lot of people get gov't checks, paychecks, etc. on the 1st of the month. At the end of the month a lot of people are scraping by.
If you still don't have buyers lined up by the 3rd, you may want to lower your price.

 

[LJSquishy]

Furniture is very popular on Craigslist so my assumption is that you have it priced too high. High end or not, people want cheap furniture. Make sure you have lots of pictures of it and it should be priced at least 50% less than you paid for it, if not more. Also note OBO (or best offer) in the ad.

If it comes down to it, give it away or price it ridiculously low.

 

[Luvchefmic]

That's a tough one As TV guy mentioned quality furniture isn't worth much anymore Do you have an eBay account ? As a last resort, due to fees, I would try there There is a way to list by zip code for local pick up only Over the years this is how I purchased my treadmill and a heavy piece of furniture

 

[Patience]

If you really need to get rid of it and want cash for it (instead of a tax deduction) then reduce the price substantially and list it on craigslist. If it's cheap enough, it will sell. Otherwise, I agree with the others about donating it to a reputable charity of your choice and get a tax receipt.

 

[eliza61]

I'm in the same predicament. I've decided to hunt around for some furniture consignment shops and if not then I'll donate it.

It's nice furniture but it's old stuff and I don't want to lug it to my new house and don't want the hassle of listing it.

good luck.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I need to sell our formal dining table, chairs, and china cabinet before we move. I've tried facebook, but no luck. DH listed on Craigslist, but he hasn't had any luck there either. What else can we do? There aren't any furniture consignment shops near us, and it would cost a lot to have it moved to one in the city. Help please!

I feel your pain. We have a formal dinning room table and chairs that is way too big for our home. It was originally DH's when he lived out of state in a home with a significantly larger dining room than what we have now. It has 8 chairs and a leaf but we can only fit 4 and no leaf. The rest sits in our garage collecting dust. I wish I could sell it but DH remembers what he paid for it less than 10 years ago and we couldn't get even half that if we tried to sell it through craigslist, etc. My guess is you have it priced too high and without other resources to sell (like a consignment) you will have to take a big price drop or be stuck with it. Only other recommendation I have is reaching out to friends who may not have seen your Facebook posts.

 

[mhfrau]

I agree with other people, you probably have it overpriced on Craigslist. When we moved a few years ago, I had to sell off tons of furniture because we went from a big house to a small condo, and I found great success using Craigslist. However, pictures are an absolute must and pricing at about 10-15% of what YOU paid for the furniture new is pretty reasonable. For example, if you paid 5 grand for a formal dining room 5 years ago, no one is going to care one bit. But if you offer it for 500 bucks, and it looks gorgeous in the pics, you will probably get a lot of bites. And the number one no-no is to use the words, "will sacrifice for XXX"! Used furniture is only worth what people will pay for it, not what you feel is appropriate based on what you paid for it.

 

[havaneselover]

I've sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist. Name brand stuff sells fast if priced right. I sold some Ethan Allen bar stools and had several people interested immediately. They were five years old in good condition and I sold them for 30% what I paid. I also have sold a lot of pottery barn kids stuff. That stuff flies. I bought a pb teen bed for my dd. Fantastic find. Again I paid about 35% retail and it was in great shape. I also sold my son's bedding and rug--didn't get much but went to a nice lady. My daughter's bedding will probably get donated.

 

[lucyem]

Drop the price or see about donating and take a tax deduction.

I find craigslist can vary by location so much. We have not had much luck with it here but the same items can be listed with a friend an hour away and it sells fast.

 

[tchrrx]

Where can I donate the furniture to? I take all of our smaller items to Goodwill/Salvation Army, but I've never donated anything large. Thanks!

 

[havaneselover]

Where can I donate the furniture to? I take all of our smaller items to Goodwill/Salvation Army, but I've never donated anything large. Thanks!

Either of those. Usually they will pick up big stuff. I donated my old sectional.

 

[kkwis2]

Do you have a Salvation Army in your area? I know in my area you can call S.A. and arrange for them to pick up large items from your house so you don't even have to try to get it to them.

 

[2manypets]

Yes, I agree with SA. They picked up "whole house", which is every bit of furniture and knick knacks around. After an estate sale there was still a lot of items left over. Rather than going through the hassle of trying to sale the items, we decided to donate instead.

 

[havaneselover]

They are picky about the condition of upholstered furniture (at least that was my experience) but that shouldn't be an issue here.