You've had that dresser for years. There's nothing wrong with it; you just want something different. You're deciding whether to give it away or put it on the curb. But instead of disposing of it for nothing, why not sell it? You can earn money with your used furniture.
To make money selling secondhand furniture, research trends and pricing. Take the time to find the right platform to sell furniture. Choose a niche. It’s important to specialize in specific styles. Understanding and promoting craftsmanship, functionality, and value will help sell pieces faster.
Part of the challenge of selling used furniture is knowing where to sell it. We’ve put together a list of online places where you can list your furniture. There are also some brick-and-mortar stores that will help you sell your secondhand furniture.
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That's right. You can sell used furniture on Amazon. They allow you to sell restored and used furniture. However, the items must not be ruined and must be in very good to excellent condition.
There are procedures for selling on Amazon.
Amazon requires a UPC code to be issued for each product sold. It differentiates the produce from the millions of others sold.
To obtain one, you must enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry program.
You’ll have to register as an Amazon seller. If you are already a seller, skip this step. If not, you'll need GST and PAN details. You'll also have to provide bank account information.
List your items with complete information about the designer furniture or any other type of furniture in your online store.
If you don't have a UPC code, apply for a GTIN exemption. You can then list your furniture without a product code.
But to receive an exemption, you'll have to provide further details about the furniture and apply every time you list a piece.
Since the furniture being sold is used or owns the antique stores, you must provide an accurate description. Some elements that should be in the description include:
Amazon doesn’t provide Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for used furniture. You’re responsible for delivering the furniture.
If the customer returns the furniture, you must arrange for its pick up.
You will be paid for your sold furniture approximately seven days after purchase. However, even if you deliver the furniture, Amazon charges various fees.
The fees are automatically deducted from the payment before it’s deposited into your account.
Some of the fees are:
Fees vary depending on the product. So be sure to go to Amazon’s website for more details.
eBay is one of the prominent places to sell used furniture. Founded in 1995, it was one of the first platforms online to sell used goods.
There are two options for selling on eBay. You can do an auction or fixed price.
The auction allows people to bid on your furniture. You can set a minimum price that the bidders can’t see, and then the sky’s the limit.
The fixed price lets you give a flat price on your item that the buyer can purchase. Sometimes, it provides the buyer with the option to make an offer that you can either accept or decline.
Because this is online, you will need to provide accurate measurements and photos.
There are two options that you can make available to buyers. One is shipping, but this can be expensive for the buyer. It can also be a burden on you, preparing it for shipping.
The other option is a pick-up service. Meet the person in a close vicinity to your home for them to pick up the item. If you have a shop, they can pick up the furniture there.
eBay requires fees to sell on its platform. The amount of the fee depends on the item being offered for sale. But generally, with some exceptions, these are the fees.
For casual sellers, it’s free to list. But you are charged if you list more than 250 items monthly.
Image Source: chairish.com
Chairish is an upscale resale website. They specialize in vintage furniture. You will find furniture on Chairish that is:
Chairish only approves items that will appeal to their shoppers. They touch up photos for maximum appeal. Using their app makes it easier to take photos.
This is usually the complicated part of the selling. But Cherish makes it easy. They will facilitate the shipping process. Or you can arrange to have local pick up.
Cherish doesn't charge for listing, and they don't charge for relisting. They have a tiered commission rate that is easy to follow. The commission rate is:
There are several selling plans to choose from.
AptDeco is an excellent website to use if your furniture is in great condition. They streamline the selling process.
A listing with clear pictures takes five minutes. Their website claims that items sell in ten days or less.
AptDeco enhances listings visually to make them pop. This advertises better to potential buyers.
AptDeco handles the logistics of furniture delivery once it sells.
AptDeco has designated service areas where they will pick up and deliver furniture to customers. If you or the customer aren't in a designated area, AptDeco’s “white glove” partner will pick up the furniture and deliver it.
There is a fee, but it is calculated before pick up.
Image Source: Etsy.com
Over 45 million people make purchases from Etsy per year. Everything from cat collars to vintage clothing is sold. But you can also sell used furniture. All it takes is an account and a shop.
If you want to sell on Etsy, you must first have an account. Once you have the account, open up a shop. This entails answering a few questions. Some of these are:
You also must select the language, country, and currency. After which you choose your shop name.
It's essential to take very good pictures of your furniture. Show every angle of the piece. Be aware of the background when taking photographs. You don't want a white table against a white wall. It will not show off the piece.
Also, give exact measurements of all parts of the furniture. Be honest if there are any damaged or worn areas.
When selling on Etsy, there are several fees that you must pay. These fees include:
These fees are collected before the funds are released to you.
For new sellers, funds will be deposited in your account three days after the sale. This goes on for 90 days. After 90 days, payments will be available the next business day.
For small items on Etsy, you can purchase UPS shipping labels or USPS postage. You don't have to leave your home.
But for large items, like furniture, consider uShip. Etsy sellers can save on uShip. There’s a $30 credit on the first delivery and a $12 credit on all subsequent deliveries. uShip’s website has a pricing calculator.
As one of the most visited online classified sites, it’s a great place to sell your used furniture. Keep in mind that you must have quality photos and dimensions. Buyers are going to want to see the items clearly. Provide detailed descriptions.
Usually, selling on Craigslist is local. This means you can meet up with the buyer to deliver the furniture. And it saves on shipping costs.
Many listings are free, but Craigslist does charge for some. For example, a dealer must pay five dollars in the U.S., and in Canada, a dealer's listing for furniture is three dollars.
If there’s a fee, it will appear when you post. You must pay it at that time. Check their listings for details.
Bookoo is a mini social media platform that connects buyers to sellers. It’s similar to Craigslist, but Bookoo is more local. There’s a community spirit, similar to an estate sale or garage sales.
You must create an account to sell on Bookoo. Once you have your account, you can post pictures and descriptions for buyers to peruse.
Bookoo is throughout the United States and worldwide. You can enter your zip code to discover if one is operating in your city.
Because it is local, you can meet up to collect payment and deliver the furniture.
Listing on Bookoo is free, but you only receive basic posts. You won't have any pictures or long descriptions. Also, your titles won't be bold, so they won't attract as much attention.
There is a paid premier account. This cost for a listing is monthly.
Here is an order form for a premier membership on the site. But check that it is running in your area before you pay. The money charged is to help Bookoo keep the website up and running.
Facebook Marketplace is great for displaying your products and reaching potential buyers in your area. It’s easy to boost your listings on Facebook garage sale pages.
All listings are free, and you don't have to pay a commission on sold items. This is a great vehicle to sell furniture if you want to sell locally and don't want any fees.
This is an alternative to eBay. Like eBay, you can sell your furniture through an auction or with a fixed price.
You can quickly import items you’re selling on eBay or Amazon, which helps you reach more potential buyers and accelerates the sale of your furniture.
Once more, you'll need to provide pictures and measurements. Complete descriptions are also imperative.
There is a three-tier fee schedule. They include silver, gold, and platinum lifetime. The tiers fees break down this way.
Photos are capped after a certain number (based on the plan) and additional ones have fees. There is also a final value fee based on the plan.
The commission is three percent of the sale.
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You may not think of Pinterest first when it comes to selling furniture, but you can set up a business account. You will first need a personal account to do this.
You can put images of the furniture you want to sell on your website or shop. Make sure the photos are clear and neatly staged. The prettier they are the better this will work.
To promote your website or shop you can create:
If you’ve done a makeover of your used furniture, this is perfect for Pinterest. The goal is to make your furniture look unique and beautiful.
The better the furniture looks the more re-pins you’ll receive. On Pinterest, it’s all about the visuals.
Ruby Lane is a high-end site that has strict requirements. They don't allow deceptive fakes or reproductions. All furniture must be one of these types.
It is important to provide the year the item was made if possible. It is also imperative that clear pictures be taken. If there is a signature, it must be clearly photographed.
There are various ways to ship with Ruby Lane, but if you are shipping furniture or other large items, you will want to go by freight.
For prospective buyers viewing the item, "freight determined after checkout" is an option for you. You'll receive a purchase order once a buyer has purchased the furniture.
You will then determine shipping and send the buyer their total. This is done through the Manage Transactions page.
Ruby Lane doesn't charge a setup fee or listing fee, but it does charge a maintenance fee. At the beginning of the month, you will be charged $25.
However, if you list more than 15 items, you'll receive the money back.
New sellers' listings aren't charged the $25 the first month.
There is a 9.9 percent service fee per order. But that is capped at $250. The service fee is applicable to each line item in an order. This includes shipping and insurance.
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OfferUp is a mobile app that allows you to sell locally. Because it’s an app, it must be installed in on your smartphone or tablet. It will not work on a personal computer. The app is available on iOS or Android.
However, if buyers don't want to use the app, they can shop in their online marketplace on OfferUp.com.
Because it's an app and people will be viewing it on their smartphones, you really want the pictures to be crisp and have no clutter. You'll also need to be detailed with your descriptions and dimensions.
Because OfferUp allows you to sell locally, you shouldn’t have to worry about shipping. Simply meet up with the buyer and exchange money for merchandise.
Many categories on OfferUp have free listings. But they only apply to the mobile app experience. You cannot post items for free on the website OfferUp.com.
OfferUp allows you to list up to 25 furniture pieces for free monthly. Above that, there is a charge. For general categories, you can list up to 200 free monthly.
The app alerts you when you have one listing left in the month. An additional listing is $0.99.
OfferUp charges a 12.9 percent fee on the item’s final price with a minimum fee of $1.99. This excludes shipping costs.
It shows up to you when you accept the buyer’s offer. This fee is deducted from the final sale amount before you receive the money in your account.
If you want a digital storefront but aren’t interested in Etsy, Bonanza might just be the ticket. It’s integrated with Google. This gives you great visibility. It’s also a great alternative to eBay or Amazon.
Bonanza gives you two options. The first is a booth. Think of it as a mall, and you have furniture stores in it. There are other booths next to you. It's a limited option but easy to use.
The second option is the web store. Think of this like a department store. It's your brand and store. You can list your furniture and manipulate and promote your web store in any way you want.
Bonanza requires that all items sold through their platform be shipped with their shipping label or with their shipping partner.
Exemptions are made for those sellers who ship through Shipstation or Doba. This must be arranged with Bonanza before the sale.
New sellers are charged a ten-dollar onboarding fee to cover administrative costs to set up the booth.
There are no upfront listing fees. Once you’ve sold an item, you’ll pay a $0.25 transaction fee plus the advertising fee percentage you’ve selected. You will choose from the following advertising tiers.
Once you’ve made a sale, you pay the transaction fee and the Final Value Fee (FVF), which is the advertising percentage you chose.
Shipping is not charged up to ten dollars, but any shipping over ten dollars will have the FVF applied.
Now that we’ve discussed the online platforms, let’s examine some local brick-and-mortar stores that will buy or help you sell your used furniture.
Remoov provides a turnkey way to sell used furniture. They will pick it up, so there's no shipping.
All you must do is take pictures of your furniture. The more pictures and better the descriptions, the more likely they are to sell it. Once you have sent them everything, schedule a pickup. They have various options for ridding yourself of unwanted furniture. These options are:
Remoov doesn’t automatically put your furniture up for sale. They determine re-salability by using three factors.
These include:
A dedicated internal team evaluates the furniture or other items and determines salability. Here is their Resale Guide to walk you through valuation.
Items are not purchased from you outright. They are placed in local consignment shops/ local consignment stores or auctioned.
The consignment period ranges from 60 to 120 days. The days depend on the value.
Remoov uses various sales channels based on the furniture’s:
They also use their showroom and marketplace.
Auction items are sold online over two weeks through a local partner.
There is a charge for pickup, so be sure to take good photos of the furniture and send the dimensions. Based on a 24-foot box truck, Remoov calculates the cost of pickup in 1/8 increments. To check the costs, go to the Remoov pickup cost webpage.
Remoov pays you 50 percent of your furniture’s sold value
New York-based Kaiyo is determined to keep quality furniture out of landfills. Starting in a storage unit in New Jersey, Kaiyo now has locations in:
They are selective about what they accept. Submit your best photos and descriptions to Kaiyo, and they will let you know if they're interested within one business day.
If they are interested, they will arrive at your home and take your furniture. You won’t have to hang onto that table until it sells; Kaiyo will store it for you.
They'll also clean it and advertise it for you. There is no charge for this service.
You also don’t have to worry about shipping. Kaiyo delivers the furniture to the buyer at no cost to you.
Kaiyo uses an algorithm to analyze several factors. These include:
The final data determines the revenue share with the seller. It’s on a sliding scale.
The sliding scale is a ten percent commission for anything under $100. And up to 55 percent for items $3,000 or more. You will cash out when the buyer receives the furniture.
There are times if the item is very valuable or unique, that Kaiyo will make an instant offer and not wait to consign. This allows the seller to receive cash without waiting on a buyer.
Chic and Cozy Consignment Furniture has been serving the Las Vegas area since 2018. They require you to email (chiccozyconsign@gmail.com) pictures of the furniture you want to consign. Ensure your pictures are clean and show details.
They will not accept furniture brought to the store without first seeing pictures.
Although you will be consulted, the management of the consignment store will set the consigned price for the furniture. Items will be kept for 90 days. There will be automatic price markdowns. Twenty percent will be reduced after 30 days, and 50 percent will be taken off the price after 60 days.
You will receive 40 percent of the sale price. Payments are made by the fifth of each month.
Fisher and Franklin are for you if you don't want to fool around with consigning furniture and waiting for it to sell. They are not consigners; they purchase your furniture outright. They take the stress and hassle out of selling furniture.
Fisher and Franklin accept a wide range of furniture. It starts with an email or phone call. You send them a list of the furniture you want to sell.
You then book an appointment with them to visit your home and view the furniture you want to sell. At that point, they'll make you an offer.
Once the sale is finalized, payment and pickup will be arranged on the spot. You will be paid when they pick up the furniture.
The Home Consignment Center has 15 locations throughout California and Texas. You can email descriptions and pictures to one of their locations or bring them into the store.
You don’t need an appointment to bring items into the store. But if you have large items, they will make an appointment to come to your house to preview the furniture at no charge.
Transporting the furniture to the store is your responsibility. But Home Consignment Center can recommend a mover. Once at the store, they stage your furniture to look its best.
These are different platforms and stores you can use to sell used furniture. But you may have additional questions. Here are the most asked questions.
Although online platforms like Etsy and eBay don't require a business license, your state might. Some states require a business license if you collect sales and use taxes, regardless of whether it's online. Not all states require this, so check with your state.
Whether you're using an online platform or a brick-and-mortar store, ask what the fees and commissions are. Ensure there aren't hidden charges. Paying big commissions could eat away at your sales.
The difference is that with consignment, you are paid a percentage once the item has been sold by the store. But with resale, the store buys the furniture outright from you.
If you have furniture you're tired of but is in excellent condition, you could sell it for big bucks. Take the time to research the different platforms.
Some online platforms take a little work, but if you're looking to sell used furniture as a side gig, they might be for you.
Others may be happier with someone else doing the work. That’s where finding a local brick-and-mortar store might be the better option. Keep in mind there may be stores in your area that will take furniture on consignment or buy your furniture outright.
Regardless of what you do, be ready to take great pictures.
