How to sell furniture when moving
Once you’ve made up your mind to sell your furniture when moving – or at least some of the pieces – it’s time to follow these steps to prepare your furniture for sale.
Step 1. Clean the furniture
First of all, the furniture pieces you wish to sell should look presentable so that you can sell them for more money and more quickly.
Be sure to use furniture polish on wooden pieces, vacuum upholsteries, and spot-clean any stains from their surface.
Also, take a closer look at the pieces you intend to sell and fix any minor problems, if any, such as tightening any loose screws or replacing any damaged hardware parts.
If some of the furniture items have more serious issues, then you should consider either selling them very cheaply (be sure to describe the issues in detail) or throwing them away for proper recycling.
As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t waste precious time trying to make a profit from any items – in this case, furniture items – that are very unlikely to be of any use to anybody.
Step 2. Price your furniture reasonably
To assign the right sale price on each piece of furniture you own is not an easy task.
You definitely don’t want to undersell your used furniture and thus lose money. On the other hand, if your price is too high, you will run the risk of not getting any money at all.
There are two major factors that will undoubtedly influence the correct number you put on the price tag.
1. Value
The first thing you need to do is try and get a rough idea of how much your furniture is worth.
Check if it was made by a famous manufacturer – inspect all its sides for a logo, a stamp, a label, or just about anything that may hint at the name of the company that produced it.
If the specific furniture piece is old enough and you think it could already be considered antique, you can consult with a used furniture dealer.
Another way to understand what your furniture may be worth is to take advantage of the comparative method – browsing through the Internet and newspaper ads for similar items to see their pricing will help you get a good idea about the value of your old furniture.
2. Current condition
The current condition of your furniture pieces will be the ultimate deal maker, or deal breaker for interested customers.
When trying to come up with the right price for your item, you should look for possible scratches, dents, stains, or any other signs of wear and tear. If you find any, lower the price accordingly – it’s not fair to pretend such flaws don’t exist and hope that people will somehow not notice them.
Be certain of one thing – any potential buyer will inspect each furniture piece thoroughly before making up their mind to purchase it.
On the other hand, if your furniture items are in a very well-maintained or even mint condition, then it’s only normal that you increase the sale price a few notches.
Furthermore, there are a couple of fundamental things you should be aware of when pricing your furniture for sale:
3. Sentimental value
Buyers will not really care about any special memories you may have linked to a certain furniture piece.
Not very surprisingly, they will be greatly interested in the price and quality of the item, as well as whether it will be practical, comfortable, usable, and stylish.
If a piece holds considerable sentimental value for you, then you shouldn’t be thinking about parting with it in the first place.
4. Original price
How much you originally paid for your furniture provides no additional value to potential buyers.
They will be interested in getting a good bargain – the best possible value for their money.
And who could blame them: won’t you be doing the same thing once you’ve sold your used furniture and moved to your new house?
What to Do With Furniture When Moving: 7 Great Options
Where to sell furniture when moving
Now that you have a much better idea of how to price it appropriately, you may ask yourself, Where can I sell my used furniture?
The good news is that you have several good options here and it’s time to decide what approach to take to sell it fast and profitably.
What’s the best way to sell furniture when moving?
Option 1. Sell your furniture at a moving sale
Commonly known as a garage sale or a yard sale, a moving sale may be the best option for you if you have enough time to properly organize it and enough stuff to display in addition to the furniture.
First, and most importantly, you’re going to have to spread the word about your garage sale.
An ad in the local newspaper is a good place to start, but take advantage of the all-powerful Internet as well.
Use social networks to reach your networked friends, and hopefully your friends’ friends too. Don’t forget to mention the dates, the time, and the address of the moving sale, including some great bargains to whet buyers’ appetite.
Also, you’re advised to create catchy durable signs and place them at strategic and appropriate spots around your neighborhood.
This is a highly efficient advertising method, especially if you live by a road with heavy traffic. Make sure the signs can be easily spotted and read by passing drivers as well.
How to Organize a Garage Sale Before Moving Out
Option 2. Sell your furniture online
Posting your used furniture on websites such as Craigslist and eBay will guarantee you a huge audience of potential buyers.
However, in order to play your cards right, you’ll need to pay attention to a few tried-and-true marketing tips.
Your online ad must be attractive.
Remember that you’re competing with a score of other people who are trying to sell their used furniture just like you. You need to ensure that your advertisem*nt will be among the few that will catch people’s attention and, hopefully, make them contact you.
The first step is to include a reasonable amount of clear photographs of each furniture piece for sale. A good photograph alone is a reason to make most Internet users click on your ad, which is exactly what you want.
And once you have their attention, the next step is to impress them with the item’s description.
Be brief (people won’t take the trouble to read a whole page), be objective and avoid false advertising (describing your sagging sofa as “in ideal condition” will only hurt you in the long run), and offer a bit of incentive (offer a certain discount for serious buyers).
Option 3. Offer your furniture to friends and family
This approach may work wonders in your case. Just ask your friends and family members if anyone is interested in any of your used furniture.
You can do this in person or by using the widespread reach of your preferred social network.
And while you will probably not get the best deal this way, at least you won’t have strangers coming to your home to closely inspect your furniture and you will feel much better knowing that your best friend will be using your faithful couch from now on.
However, offering your used furniture pieces to friends and relatives could get somewhat tricky because they might assume that they’re getting them for free.
Be careful to avoid any misunderstanding and state clearly that you expect money for your furniture.
Naturally, you’ll be expected to sell it to them for less money than you’d normally do – when all is said and done, they remain good friends of yours, remember?
Option 4. Contact a used furniture dealer
Contacting a used furniture dealer or a consignment store is another option you can consider under the circ*mstances, especially if you’re in a hurry to get rid of your old furniture pieces.
However, you’re probably going to have to settle with a less-than-great price because they will need to add their profits to the equation as well.
Option 5. Donate your furniture to charity
If the above-mentioned approaches still leave you with a bunch of no-longer-desired used furniture pieces, do consider donating them to various charitable organizations.
Not only will you get the satisfactory feeling that you’re helping a stranger in need, but you could get a tax break as well.
With some happy cash in your pockets and much fewer (or maybe none at all!) heavy and bulky old furniture pieces to worry about, Moving day is finally here and you’re ready to welcome the pros.
You’re probably a little excited too, for you can now use the money from your used furniture sales to buy modern and fashionable pieces that will meet your high standards and fit much better in your new place of residence.
Or you can use that same money to cover some of the inevitable relocation expenses which, coincidentally enough, will be much less thanks to having much less furniture to move.
It’s a win-win situation for you, don’t you think?
Must-read: How to Sell Everything You Own and Move
