One of the things you should keep in mind when you’re getting ready to move out is that you will need to make tons of important decisions during your preparation. Not surprisingly, the more correct decisions you make, the more successful your house move will be in the end.
One such major decision you’re about to face early on is what to do with your furniture. The thing to remember here is that moving large and heavy furniture pieces across the country is very rarely worth it due to the high transportation cost, the extra effort of protecting those bulky items (a packing task that often includes partial disassembly), and loading and unloading them into and from the moving truck.
You’re very likely to come to the conclusion that selling your furniture pieces before moving out is the best option for you. After all, why should you pay a fortune to lug your furniture to another part of the country when the transportation cost itself would be more than the price of buying new furniture after the move?
So, here’s where to sell used furniture if you’ve already made up your mind to get rid of your big and heavy furniture pieces before you move away.
The benefits of selling used furniture
The good news is that selling your used furniture before you move away has a number of great benefits for you. If you’re still uncertain about what you should you with your bulky pieces, here’s why selling them makes a lot of sense.
1. Reducing moving costs
When you’re moving long distance, the moving cost will be calculated based on the overall weight of the household items to be transported between the two homes. Basically, this means that the more items you choose to take with you, the more money you will be charged for their transportation.
Be mindful that one of the best ways to reduce your moving costs is to pack up and move only the things you do intend to use in the future. If possible, don’t take with you any furniture items at all – that way, you’ll be able to keep the moving expenses to a minimum.
2. Making extra cash
This is key – the process of moving to another home can be an expensive affair so if you can find a good way to earn some extra money that will go toward your moving budget, then that’s already a mini-success for you.
Your decision to sell your furniture when moving is a winning strategy on two levels – not only will you SAVE MONEY by keeping the total weight of the shipment low but you’ll also EARN MONEY by selling the pieces that are not really worth moving to the new place.
From a practical standpoint, the sale of your used furniture pieces will return some of the initial investment and will help your moving budget at the same time.
3. Environmentally friendly
You may not realize this, but selling used furniture is good for the environment for several reasons:
- it helps reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills;
- it conserves resources – lowers the demand for raw materials such as wood, metal, and plastic;
- reduces energy consumption;
- it encourages circular economy; and
- it supports local communities.
4. Helping others find affordable furniture
Another clear benefit of your informed decision to sell your used furniture before moving is that by doing so, you’ll help other people – oftentimes within the local community – find still usable furniture at an affordable price.
Yes, you’ll want to get good money for your pieces of furniture but ultimately, your goal should be to get rid of your furniture pieces prior to Moving day. Therefore, pricing those items competitively is a critical aspect of the entire sale process
Good to know: Is it better to move furniture or buy new?
Online platforms for selling used furniture
You’ve made up your mind to sell your furniture before moving out, now the big question is WHERE to sell your used furniture pieces.
Luckily, you’ve got good options, starting with the online platforms for selling second-hand furniture items.
Craigslist
Craigslist should be your first thought when you wish to sell your used furniture and there’s a good reason for it – it gives you a much greater chance to conclude a deal locally through localized listings.
The furniture pieces you’re trying to get rid of – tables, chairs, desks, a dresser, a chest of drawers, a bookcase, a China cabinet, or even a bed – will be bulky, sometimes TOO bulky, so your best bet is to sell those locally. This way, buyers can simply come to your home in person and pick the piece or pieces of furniture by themselves.
Craigslist is a website that’s really easy to use so even if you’ve never used it to create a local listing, you’ll find the whole process as easy as saying your own name.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is another great online platform where you can sell your used furniture prior to moving away.
In reality, you’ll be taking advantage of your favorite social network to create location-based listings for your second-hand furniture units. Your Facebook circle of friends can help you tremendously by sharing your listings with their Facebook friends, thus helping you expand massively the reach of your items for sale.
Another bonus for posting your furniture on Facebook Marketplace is the effortless communication with potential buyers through your FB account – free instant messages and free calls over the Internet as well.
eBay
Posting your furniture pieces on eBay will give you not only a national reach but a global one as well. Unfortunately, when you’re selling super big and heavy items, very few people will be willing to cover the shipping costs to buy any of your furniture pieces, so the actual reach will be, one more, limited to predominantly local.
When using eBay to sell your furniture before moving away, decide whether you will auction your pieces or whether you will set fixed prices for them. There are pros and cons in each case, so weigh your options carefully beforehand.
OfferUp
OfferUp is an online C2C (customer-to-customer) marketplace where you can try to sell the furniture pieces you don’t wish to move with you to the new place.
OfferUp uses a mobile-friendly app that offers added convenience for you as a seller. The in-app messaging system makes it a great tool for you to communicate with potential buyers who have taken interest in your pieces of furniture.
In 2020, OfferUp acquired Letgo, thus expanding its business network even more.
To sell your furniture fast and get a fair price for them, you should use all available online resources to maximize the reach of your listings and increase the chance of finding good buyers for your items on sale. Therefore, you shouldn’t easily dismiss the great potential of OfferUp.
Offline options for selling used furniture
In addition to the abovementioned online options for selling your used furniture when moving house, you also have a number of offline chances to get rid of those pieces with a profit.
Consignment stores
Do a search on the Internet about reputable consignment stores in your area. With a little bit of luck, you might be able to find ones that will accept to sell your second-hand furniture pieces on your behalf.
If you do find a consignment store near you, make sure you understand fully the consignment conditions under which you’re leaving your possessions with them. Also, in most cases, you will be the one responsible for taking the furniture items to the store itself, which can complicate things more than you would want.
Consignment is not always an option but when it is, it may work out great under your specific set of relocation circumstances.
Garage sale
Without a doubt, selling your used furniture at a garage sale prior to moving away is one of the best options you have. As a bonus, you’ll get the chance to sell tons of other unwanted items at the moving sale and not just the pieces of furniture you’re leaving behind.
Planning a successful yard sale is not easy and you’ll have to invest a considerable amount of time and thought into the project. Still, the most important stage of hosting a garage sale is to let the word out – that is, to advertise properly your upcoming sale so that more potential buyers learn about it and decided to show up.
And of course, the second critical moment when organizing a moving sale is to price your used pieces of furniture correctly. You wouldn’t want to go too high or too low with pricing your furniture, so a good tactic is to check online prices of similar items and then price them accordingly.
See also: How to organize a garage sale before moving
Now that you know where to sell used furniture online or near you, you’ll be less willing to haul any large and heavy pieces to the new home. To help you become a successful furniture seller, here are the top 5 tips for successful furniture sales:
- Clean and repair (if necessary) your furniture
- Take high-quality photos of your pieces
- Write detailed and accurate descriptions
- Price your furniture items competitively
- Be responsive and communicative with potential buyers.
