A FEW MONTHS AGO furniture flipper Leslie Jarrett of Denver, Colo., found a 12-drawer dresser on Facebook Marketplace for $40. That was pretty much what secondhand, solid-wood case pieces fetched at the beginning of the supply-chain crisis. But before she could slap a coat of primer on it, a neighbor frustrated by an endless wait for a Pottery Barn delivery offered her $400. She sold the piece, of course, but today she says, “I wish I could get it back because I could sell it for $800 now.”
If you’ve ever fantasized about selling your hand-me-down or other “pre-owned” furniture, now’s the time.
“Demand is increasing for everything from high-end antiques to well-known new brands like CB2,” said Alpay Koralturk, founder of secondhand furniture site Kaiyo, where last year 68% of sellers were first-timers.
Mr. Koralturk said items with brand-verification marks or tags command a premium. “If we have two of the exact same product, the one where you can show authenticity will sell for an average of 10% more.” On Kaiyo, brands that increased most in value from 2020 to 2021 include Drexel Heritage (up 13.8 %) as well as anything sold at Design Within Reach (up 13.6 %).
Pieces in good condition from high-end brands and well-known designers such as Roche-Bobois and Ralph Lauren “in some cases even increase in value over time,” said
Anna Brockway,
co-founder of online furniture marketplace Chairish. For instance, a used leather Knole Sofa from George Smith is for sale on Chairish for $12,500; the price of a new Knole sofa starts at $9,298.
Desired categories include upholstered pieces and flexible small-scale furniture, said Denver, N.C., furniture flipper Flo Ward, of We Chic’d It. A makeup vanity can be a desk, console or serving table, for example. “We used to be able to get them for a few dollars or less at yard sales or just about anywhere, but now if you can find one, you might pay $200 or more.”
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