Second Hand Furniture is Your Friend
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of brand new furniture. something about walking into a traditional, sterile furniture store just gives me a case of the willies. Maybe it’s the memories of being dragged to places like that by my parents or grandparents, when I was but a youngster. New furniture always comes with that new furniture smell, look and feel I find off-putting, which is why I’ve always preferred the idiosyncrasies and individual personality of second hand furniture.
The main thing you’ll want to consider when looking for quality, second hand pieces is… how much work are you willing to put into it to get it up to your standards? Are you looking for something that can be dropped in a corner and put on display immediately, or would you be comfortable with a piece that may reside in your garage or basement until you’re able to put the work into it that’s necessary to make it viewable by your guests? Regardless of the answer, there will always be a great piece of furniture out there for the taking, usually at a reasonable price, which brings me to the next consideration…
Unfinished Oak Armoire
Another thing you’ll need to consider is price. Price is always a factor, so why would it be any different with second hand furniture? Depending upon where you do your shopping, you could get a really good, quality piece for pennies on the dollar of what it is really worth. Places like the Salvation Army, Goodwill and other consignment stores usually have a few furniture pieces in their inventory for you to choose from. Used furniture shops are remarkably easy to find, if you know where to look.
The best second hand piece I’ve ever owned was actually acquired when I was still in the Army, The 3rd U.S. Infantry Old Guard to be exact. The base at Fort Myers, Virginia was doing some renovations on all the old buildings, and there were plenty of relics lying around for the taking. But I managed to find an amazing furniture piece which I wanted desperately to take home to my apartment. I think it was a desk/hutch combo. It only stood a few feet high, but it had a small, pull-out table, metal latches, and come other cool individual characteristics that made it one-of-a-kind unique.
As luck would have it, my squad leader(Sgt. Gwaltney) found the piece at the same time I did, and he wanted to take it home also. Luckily, I had won a bet earlier in the week when the Michigan Wolverines beat the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish, so he owed me, if ya know what I mean. I finagled the hutch out of his possession, and it remained in my possession until the fall of 2000, when I moved from Las Vegas to Delaware, and couldn’t fit the desk in my truck.
With a bit of work, we were able to take that antiquated hutch, or desk, or whatever it was, and re-finish it. When we were done, the thing looked amazing, and I actually miss it! I don’t even remember what kind of wood it was made of, but it was solid through and through.
What we’re looking for in the near future will probably be some unfinished oak bar stools to put in our rec-room, alongside the bar we’ll eventually build of course. It seems there’s always a project on the horizon, and finding some great second hand furniture pieces always makes the projects a bit more enjoyable.
Where are the best places to buy second hand furniture? Try looking in the classifieds section of the local newspaper in the ‘sale’ section. Also, check on eBay. In the advanced search options you can put in your postal code and find furniture within a certain distance of your house. You will also be able to see the photos and how many people are bidding on it. Usually with furniture on eBay, it’s available for pick up only, which means that not only are locals bidding on it, but also that you’ll have less competition and much cheaper prices.
Other great places would be the local thrift shop, or places like Goodwill, Salvation Army and other places like those. Second hand thrift shops are not unique to any specific towns. In other words, they are everywhere. 2nd hand furniture can be found in all sorts of places, and if you know where to look you can find some amazing deals.
Where can I sell my furniture to second hand furniture stores? If you’re looking for places to sell your furniture, then you can consider the same places you would go to purchase it, and the same exact places listed above.
eBay is a great place to sell your stuff, as long as you have the time and the wherewithal to take the pictures and manage the posting. eBay doesn’t require you to be too technically savvy, but you do have to have some purpose to your posting, in order to gain an audience to help drive up the bids. However, eBay is a much better place to purchase products than it is to sell them, as it comes with a built-in ‘garage sale mentality.’ Since it’s such a great place to buy merchandise ‘on the cheap,’ it stands to reason that it would be difficult to get full value for merchandise that you’d be looking to sell. Keep that in mind when considering this as an option.
Also, second hand kitchens are becoming quite the popular home improvement option, so if you’re looking to remodel that particular room of your house, there may be some great additions you can obtain ‘on the cheap.’ Your entire house is in play when it comes to looking for great used furniture pieces, so have a little fun with the process…
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