How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

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RooseveltG
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How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by RooseveltG »

We just sold our condo and the buyer is interested in purchasing selected furniture and art. Are there any guidelines for pricing?

We have thought of purchase price (in real dollars taking inflation into account) and discounting that number by 60%.

Any precedents, thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Roosevelt.
itstoomuch
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by itstoomuch »

Do you want the furniture/art?
If not then at what price point outweighs the effort in taking/storing the stuff with you on moving day? :confused

DS took his grandmother's furniture (midcentury modern). Resale value was small in the local market, Resale in the broader market was very high but time and effort was important to this paradox. :annoyed
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KC1983
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by KC1983 »

What itstoomuch said. If you need the furniture they want to buy, and will have to purchase something new to replace it, then price it accordingly. If you're going to spend thousands to move that furniture, and they're not heirloom pieces or pieces that would be difficult to replace, then definitely sell. As for the price, maybe start by asking the buyer for a number. I think you're probably in the ballpark with asking about 40%, but some furniture (e.g., midcentury modern) tends to hold value well, some (genuine antiques, not just old stuff) goes up in value. But most furniture is worth a lot less then when bought new.

The artwork is far more variable. You'd have to be a lot more specific about that.
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sdsailing
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by sdsailing »

I would price it high and plan to negotiate. Ask your real estate agent how keen they are. It is surprising how much people will pay for things they really want, and especially for the convenience. There is convenience to you, but there is even more convenience to them (they don't have to move it but they also don't have to find it (again) ).
LeeMKE
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by LeeMKE »

In my experience furniture goes for 10 - 20% of list price, and art the same or less.

I've sold two houses of furniture in the last decade. Now, I'm selling off art, getting ready for one more downsizing. You may be able to get a bit more because they don't have to pay to have it moved.

When DH and I married, we had two housefuls to combine. I priced my stuff to move and sold it in a few weeks. DH priced his precious extras so high that no one even came looking. At the bitter end he couldn't find a charity to come pick up furniture.

Sorry, but 60% of list is unlikely to work IMHO.

When I bought a new dining room set on Craigslist for the new place, I had my pick of Baker, Ethan Allen, and an Italian glass table (can't remember the brand name) and any of them were available at 10% of list. One couple I talked to wanted 40% of what they'd paid, and I explained that I wouldn't make the trip to see the set at that price because I had too many to choose from at much less than they wanted, and with moving expenses and two trips to their home, I wasn't willing to pay more. The movers charged me $200 to pickup and deliver the dining set I chose. Retail $3400.00 plus 4 chairs, paid $400.00.

Appliances go for closer to 40% if they are less than 2 years old.
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livesoft
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by livesoft »

Yep, used furniture and art is a real bargain for most folks. What you are really selling is convenience to the buyer of not having to go looking for this stuff and for you not having to move it.

I am reminded of when we bought our house. In one bathroom was a nice shower curtain that exactly matched the wallpaper in the bathroom. Clearly, the wallpaper and curtain had been bought at the same time. In our offer, we asked to have the shower curtain left in the bathroom. As far as I could tell there was no reason for the owners to keep the shower curtain. But they would not leave the shower curtain. In a stroke of luck, a month after moving into the house we found the exact same shower curtain with matching soap dispenser and toothbrush holder at Macy's for less than $50.

I still wonder if the people we bought the house from went and found the same wallpaper and remodelled a bathroom in their new location to match the shower curtain they took with them.
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KC1983
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by KC1983 »

LeeMKE wrote:In my experience furniture goes for 10 - 20% of list price, and art the same or less.

I've sold two houses of furniture in the last decade. Now, I'm selling off art, getting ready for one more downsizing. You may be able to get a bit more because they don't have to pay to have it moved.

When DH and I married, we had two housefuls to combine. I priced my stuff to move and sold it in a few weeks. DH priced his precious extras so high that no one even came looking. At the bitter end he couldn't find a charity to come pick up furniture.

Sorry, but 60% of list is unlikely to work IMHO.

When I bought a new dining room set on Craigslist for the new place, I had my pick of Baker, Ethan Allen, and an Italian glass table (can't remember the brand name) and any of them were available at 10% of list. One couple I talked to wanted 40% of what they'd paid, and I explained that I wouldn't make the trip to see the set at that price because I had too many to choose from at much less than they wanted, and with moving expenses and two trips to their home, I wasn't willing to pay more. The movers charged me $200 to pickup and deliver the dining set I chose. Retail $3400.00 plus 4 chairs, paid $400.00.

Appliances go for closer to 40% if they are less than 2 years old.
I think this isn't a Craigslist situation, nor is it a situation like you describe for your DH. These buyers sound like they have independently asked about these objects, while the OP doesn't sound like they were even thinking of selling them with the house. I've had that happen to me, where I had nice vintage furniture that perfectly matched the midcentury house I was selling, and people were willing to pay the market price that they'd have t opay at a vintage furniture store. If that's the case, then the OP is going to get something akin to fair value.

Likewise if you're talking about the typical decorative art most people put on their walls, then a random buyer isn't going to pay much. But if it's actual original art, like oil and watercolor paintings by working artists, and the house buyer recognizes it as such, then they might pay a fair price.
ralph124cf
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Re: How to Price Used Furniture & Art?

Post by ralph124cf »

Will you be replacing with similar pieces after your move? You will probably have to pay more than craigslist prices, and you will have to spend time shopping and perhaps bargaining. On the plus side, you will not have to move the pieces.

Are the pieces solid hardwood? Is the artwork signed originals? Could be worth quite a bit. If you have pressed wood or plywood, you just have to figure out if avoiding the hassle and expense of moving the things is worth the hassle and expense of rebuying at the new place. Perhaps you want new furniture. Perhaps you are tired of the art work or it will not go with the decor in your new place.

Ralph
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