One of the big headaches I found after leaving college was finding the best places to buy used furniture. Unfortunately, in the area I was living in, the places where I could get used furniture were limited.
I remember that I only bought a bare minimum as I could not afford to pay for the ones that were on the market. Things have now changed nowadays as we now have various places where one can buy used furniture.
Why would one buy used furniture instead of new furniture? This is the question that most people would ask as it is nowadays easy to get finance even for people on low salaries.
While this could be true for most people it is a different story for most young people fresh from college. This is because they are still not considered creditworthy.
They have not yet built their credit and most lenders will not be willing to extend any credit facility to them.
If you are in this situation, I would like to invite you to read my post, How To Build Credit Fast.
Another reason why even the creditworthy people might once in a while opt for used furniture is the fact that you can find some quality items. Items that you would not afford if you were to buy them brand new.
If you are patient you can easily end up with some high-value furniture that some rich people are discarding. They could be discarding it not because it is worn out but because they just want to get some new furniture.
Sometimes people opt for second-hand furniture because the brand they are looking for is no longer on the market. Therefore the only way to get those items is to go to places that sell such kinds of vintage items.
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What are The Best Places To Buy Used Furniture?
In the following paragraphs, I will share with you some amazing places where you can get used furniture.
1. Thrift Stores or Charity Shops
One of the coolest places where you can easily get some quality used furniture is in thrift stores or charity shops as they are called in the United Kingdom.
I know of friends who have some gems of furniture that they managed to get in a thrift store. Quality furniture that they would never dream of buying brand new as it would be beyond their means.
For those intending to visit thrift stores, I would advise them to be very careful in their expenditure as it is easy to overspend in a charity shop.
It is very easy to be taken up with other things and spend a dollar here and there and before you know it you find yourself overspending.
To avoid this I would advise any person to have in mind a figure that you want to spend and stick to it.
I would also advise in certain circumstances to visit the thrift stores with no intention of spending anything but to just have a feel of the quality and prices on offer.
You can then come back home and analyze what you have seen and with a clear head decide on the next course of action.
2. Garage and Yard Sales
Another cool place you can find used furniture is a garage or yard sale. If garage sales were easy to find than thrift sales I would choose garage sales over thrift stores.
Unfortunately, it is not easy to find a garage sale. Otherwise, garage or yard sales are the best places to find quality stuff at give-away prices.
This is because during garage sales the owner is almost desperate to sell and get rid of their items. In a few cases, it could be a properly planned sale and the seller may not be desperate to sell.
And because the seller is desperate it is a good place to haggle over the prices and get bargains.
For me, the coolest garage and yard sales are in the affluent areas. This is because in most cases the people selling just want to get rid of their stuff as soon as possible.
They are not doing it to make a lot of money. And because of their affluent status, you are more likely to get gems of furniture.
3. Facebook Marketplace
The advent of the internet has made it possible for people to connect easily. And companies such as Facebook have provided tools for people to be able to sell and in some cases barter items.
One of the platforms that Facebook has provided is the Facebook marketplace. Facebook marketplace is a platform where people can sell and buy new and used items.
In fact, I believe that garage sales are no longer popular because that space has now been taken over by sites such as Facebook marketplace.
On the Facebook marketplace, one can filter results based on location and the type of goods he or she is interested in.
I have seen there some quality furniture that one can take advantage of at reasonable prices.
4. eBay
Another place where you can buy used furniture is on eBay. Unfortunately, there are not many offers of furniture on this platform.
However, if you search properly you should be able to find someone selling used furniture.
As in all online places you have to be careful as you may be sold some damaged goods.
To avoid this, one, therefore, needs to buy goods with enough pictures and where the description describes the furniture fully.
Be wary of sellers who only provide little information about what they are selling. They could be hiding something.
Fortunately, it is easy to return goods and ask for a refund on eBay.
Another thing to be mindful of is the fact that eBay is a kind of online auction so be prepared for the bidding battle for some goods.
To increase your chances one needs to bid as close as possible to the end of the bidding process.
5. Etsy
Most people would be surprised that I am mentioning Etsy as a place to buy used furniture. But it is possible to get used furniture on Etsy.
I know that some of you might even be wondering what Etsy is. Etsy is a global online marketplace, where people come together to make, sell, buy, and collect unique items.
Some furniture meeting this designation of unique items and these are made available on Etsy.
So if you are looking for used furniture, pay Etsy a visit and you could find yourself some quality furniture.
6. Revival Rugs
Another cool online place to buy rugs is Revival rugs. Here you can buy handmade vintage rugs. You however need to be prepared to pay more as it sells sought after rugs.
These are rugs created by hand. Here one can get some exotic rugs from countries such as Turkey, etc.
Free shipping & $25 off first purchase.
7. AptDeco
AptDeco is yet another online marketplace for second-hand furniture for people in New York and New Jersey. Here you can buy and sell used and vintage furniture.
It is a peer to peer marketplace for second-hand furniture. They just facilitate the payment and delivery and do not have a warehouse as that is the duty of the sellers.
Once the sale is done they will pick up the furniture from the seller and deliver it to the buyer.
8. OfferUp
OfferUp is yet another mobile app that connects buyers and sellers. Here you can buy and sell furniture, cars, electronics, etc.
To protect its users this app has ratings and profiles of the sellers. In this way, you can know who you are dealing with.
Another cool feature is the ability to communicate with the seller securely inside the app.
Using this app you can browse by image and sort by category or location.
9. Craigslist
Another place where you can buy second-hand furniture is Craigslist. It is another online marketplace that offers classified ads for almost anything you can think of.
So if you are looking for second-hand furniture, you can find sellers in your area who are selling theirs.
I should however add that recently there have been reports of fraudsters infiltrating this site. You, therefore, need to beware of that.
I would advise that if you want to buy furniture ask the seller if you can go to his place to view the furniture first. This will protect you from losing your hard-earned cash.
Craigslists need to do a good job of getting rid of fraudsters from their site. Otherwise, people are now losing trust in this site and could leave.
But with proper safeguards in place, you can easily get some quality stuff from this site.
10. Letgo
Another popular mobile classified app in the United States is Letgo.
It is an app that allows buyers and sellers of used items such as second-hand furniture, cars to connect. Therefore if you are looking for second-hand items in your area, this is the app for you.
It is an app that has been downloaded at least 100 million times. There are literally tens of millions of people buying and selling used items on this app.
The app allows you to chat with sellers about their products. One can also check out the users’ profiles, ratings, and reviews.
11. 1stdibs
This is another site for those looking for some unique second-hand furniture. It is not for someone who is looking to buy furniture for the first time.
1stdibs is for sophisticated buyers, collectors, etc. Another cool online marketplace for the well to do. Here they can buy unique and vintage tables chairs, dressers, etc.
12. Chairish
This is yet another online marketplace for high-end vintage furniture. Chairish is a place for people with taste and the money to pay.
Here you can buy all the vintage stuff you have dreamed of owning. I should also add that they have a two full days returns policy.
That means if you are not satisfied you can return it within those two days with no questions asked.
13. Sotheby’s Home
If you are looking for some luxury second-hand furniture, then another place for you is Sotheby’s Home.
This is another marketplace for those who want to get rid of their luxury furniture. You can get almost all kinds of furniture from desks, beds, chairs, dressers, etc.
14. Apartment Therapy Bazaar
If the names of places where you can buy vintage furniture were not enough, I present to you yet another online market place, Apartment Therapy Bazaar.
The owners say theirs is the best place for vintage designer furnishings and accessors.
Therefore if you are into luxury rugs, chairs, plates, chandeliers, sofas, glasses, etc, this could the place for you.
Besides their website they have an app where you can securely purchase these vintage items.
15. Flea Markets
If you are short of cash then a flea market or swap meet is another cool place that you might need to consider.
Even if you are alright cash wise you can still find some vintage items for very reasonable prices. I remember finding a book that was out of print at one flea market.
A flea market is a type of street market wher owners of previously owned items such as furniture can sell their items.
You can simply google to find flea markets in your area and their opening hours.
In some areas, these markets only open during weekends and during summer.
The sellers there could be people who just want to get rid of their items but there are also many professional sellers there.
If you meet the one-off sellers then you can easily haggle over prices and manage to get good items for reasonable prices. Just like in garage sales, meeting a one-off seller is what you should be looking for.
One can easily note these non-professional sellers by the number of goods they are selling. These one-off sellers will usually only be selling only a few items compared to the professional sellers.
Related Post: How To Find Free Furniture Near Me
Conclusion
I hope you now have all you need if you are looking for the best places to buy used furniture. I have covered places that cater to the ordinary you and me and also for the affluent among us.
Therefore if you are just coming out of college and looking for basic furniture I got you covered. I also covered those that are you looking for the finer things of life such as vintage furniture and accessories.
Its is now up to you to decide what is the best place for you. All the best.
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