Selling second hand furniture

[salla]

Happy New Year to everyone.
Has anyone needed to sell second hand furniture in Sydney? I can’t have a garage sale, (living in a unit) and am thinking that university notice boards might be the way to go. Is there an online classified ads service for students setting up home? I could furnish a one bedroom flat with the stuff my kids no longer need as they have gone overseas to work. It seems illogical to store things as space here is expensive.

 

[wylie]

What about ebay? If you have never bought or sold on ebay, it is easy, almost no-hassle and you don't have to sift through tyre kickers.

 

[Perp]

I find myself agreeing with wylie once again - she's a smart gal

And don't forget to include photos on your eBay listing; they really are essential.

 

[Francesca C]

How about calling a second hand shop and seeing if they are interested.

 

[Xenia]

We've always found that we get the best returns on investment by giving it away

 

[sunshine]

We've always found that we get the best returns on investment by giving it away

Yep same with us. Not too hard to find someone that needs it more than you do.

Sunshine

 

[salla]

Thanks for the replies. I decided against eBay because of the time it would take to itemise each piece in the various different categories - I need a job-lot approach. I would be happy to give the furniture away to the Salvos or Vinnies but I understand that they no longer pick up and won't take certain things. I do patronise charities with the many household items that I can take to their centres myself. We have had something like 10 different moves within the family over the past couple of years and each time it has been to a smaller place or overseas. Kids!

 

[stumunro]

garage sales are great if you are keen to just get rid of stuff, and are happy to get rid of it for cheap! Certainly better then paying for a skip bin, just don't make things too expensive because it won't sell and you will have wasted a day

P.S at an advertised garage sale, the pro's will knock on your door at 6am and buy all the furniture.

If it's just furniture you want to get rid of you could easily approach second hand stores they will pick it up if you are offering them a great price

 

[Perp]

I'm not trying to persuade you - do whatever you like - but are you aware that you could still put it on eBay as one lot? You simply describe it as "16 pieces of children's furniture" (or whatever is appropriate - as vague as you can be whilst still being accurate). If you can't be bothered with detailed descriptions and individual photos - and I get that, I really do - then just take a picture of the whole lot sitting together somewhere and advertise it as simply as that. Then make it clear in the ad that the person is bidding to buy all the pictured furniture in "as is" condition, and the winning bidder must take all items.

Just a thought. I'm not thinking of the money, I'm thinking of how convenient it is. As has been pointed out, you'd give it to a charity if you knew they'd take everything, but it's frustrating when they come and "pick and choose" and then you're still left with stuff to get rid of

 

[dwv]

If you want to give it out for free, you could easily join freecycle groups in Sydney. Some examples are:

[email protected]
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etc.

 

[skater]

I would be happy to give the furniture away to the Salvos or Vinnies but I understand that they no longer pick up and won't take certain things.

Good luck with the Charities. My experience has been mixed.

We lived in Wollongong years ago & they were keen to pick up almost everything. Then 5 yrs ago moved to Sydney. Well, unless everything was near new, they would not touch it.

Similar the neighbours (single Mum with 2 teenage sons who needed bedroom furniture) wouldn't touch our stuff as, although in really good nick, we had 2 girls bedroom suites, but they had a pink stripe on them. Our neighbour wanted them if we would paint them for her. Hubby decided we didn't need to get rid of them after all & converted them to a built in for our spare room.

 

[Perp]

Our neighbour wanted them if we would paint them for her.

More hide than an elephant!

On the charities front, in the past two years, we've been unable to give away to charities a perfectly good lounge suite (2 x 3 seaters and 2 x recliners) and a working upside-down frost-free fridge-freezer (because it was more than 6 years old).

I know that this choosiness is a consequence of how many people there are in this blessed country who can afford to upgrade and give away perfectly good stuff, but doesn't it send the wrong message to prospective donors? ie "this may be adequate for your family, but we couldn't possibly insult poor people by offering such tat to them"!

Doesn't it create at least the appearance that there must be very few truly poor people, if they can afford to be so picky?

Nearly everybody has a story about stuff that they couldn't give away. Do the charities really want these negative experiences, and the impression that there really aren't many poor people, to be at the back of people's minds the next time that they're asking for cash?

 

[stumunro]

More hide than an elephant!

On the charities front, in the past two years, we've been unable to give away to charities a perfectly good lounge suite (2 x 3 seaters and 2 x recliners) and a working upside-down frost-free fridge-freezer (because it was more than 6 years old).

I know that this choosiness is a consequence of how many people there are in this blessed country who can afford to upgrade and give away perfectly good stuff, but doesn't it send the wrong message to prospective donors? ie "this may be adequate for your family, but we couldn't possibly insult poor people by offering such tat to them"!

Doesn't it create at least the appearance that there must be very few truly poor people, if they can afford to be so picky?

Nearly everybody has a story about stuff that they couldn't give away. Do the charities really want these negative experiences, and the impression that there really aren't many poor people, to be at the back of people's minds the next time that they're asking for cash?

I think there's more to it than meets the eye . .

 

[wish-ga]

I also suggest ebay. I have had luck with a bed and armchairs on ebay.

Make sure you post the link to your ebay listings.... a forumite might be a taker.

*wanders off to check out freecycle*

 

[warrioress]

If you have a ute handy, I've sold old 'stuff' at our local market. Quite a fun day and you can practise your bargaining skills. Just a bit of a pain lugging stuff around but if you're game, it's fun.