I was wondering what the best online marketplace for selling used modern furniture is? Obviously there's eBay and Craigslist, but I'm not sure the market is there.
Let me explain.
For example, say I wanted to sell a used Eames DCW from Herman Miller. I searched the eBay completed items and could not really find any completed auctions for the same thing. This leads me to believe that either there is not much or a market for these used, or eBay is the wrong place to look. This is strange to me because I remember when eBay was hopping with this stuff and now is it dead? Have the buyers gone away with the poor economy or is a used Eames DCW just not that common?
Thanks for your input!
I think of it as the opposite
I'm always a little leery when there are a million similar items on eBay. It lessens the impact of my pieces, especially if someone else has a less rare variant. I was once trying to sell a first year Evans DCM in black aniline, with label, blah blah blah.... The problem was there were 6 other DCMs of varying vintages and conditions. (including one guy who stole, verbatim, my description) To the uneducated person most Eames chairs look similar.
You could always find a reputable brick and mortar store. Usually they garner higher prices because people can see the merchandise, and there aren't shipping fees. But you also might be contending with consignment fees etc.
Why not sell them on this...
Why not sell them on this site??? You have enough where it might be worth a little $$$$ to advertise in order to move them. You definitely have an interested audience here.
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strong>I know this has been debated
before, but Nick, eBay vs. Craig's List or some local antique store; Many more people will see a properly created auction of your item on eBay than anywhere else. The local antique shop will give you pennies on the dollar for your item, and as far as Craig's list, I have no interest in dealing with people this totally unsecured way.
eBay provided a generally safe secure method of getting a lot people to see and (hopefully) buy your item for a fair price.
If things go smoothly, as they usually do, you'll get a bid and final payment safely from a person who can 'check you out' in advance, and you can actually do the same.
98% of my dealings on eBay have 100% perfect and believe me, when it goes right, the small fees are well worth it.
My experience with CL is...
My experience with CL is that it's filled with tire-kickers or people who are looking to score a DCW for $25. It's hard to get anyone on CL to play "market" price for anything...everyone there treats it like one big garage sale...which is essentially the spirit of CL. Therefore I would not use CL as a pricing barometer.
EBay is a more reliable indicator of what someone is willing to pay for something, however, you're penalized if you sell furniture due to the size. Most people balk at the cost of shipping a desk, table, or even a chair. Many people worry about shipping something large, thinking it will get damaged (and it often is). So when you look at a DCW that sold for $250 on eBay, you have to factor in the cost of shipping, which would probably run about $80 or so. Some people won't ship furniture at all, which severely limits their audience. I remember trying to sell a Barzilay wall unit on EBay and I got exactly ONE bid due to the high cost of shipping. The person ended up bailing and I sold it on CL anyway.
If you want to get top $ for your stuff, a specialized auction house would be the way to go, but be prepared to pay commission. :/
This is an especially difficult time to sell "luxury" items. My wife and I want to get the cash together for a downpayment for a house. She suggested selling the 8-foot Florence Knoll T-angle bench we have. I told her that a year ago I could have probably sold it for an acceptable price, but now...I doubt I'd get half of what it would have gone for when I bought it.
fm
When people are searching...
When people are searching for collectibles and the like Ebay is often the first place they check, it can be an incredible marketing tool.
We have all seen misleading, misinformed and just plain lazy listings, some of them are quite funny, this evening I saw someone selling a Danish mid century dining set which he described as being made by Furniture Control of Denmark.
If you have a quality product and it is fairly priced, it will sell.....eventualy.
Sell in multiples
Shipping is indeed a major hassle to selling on Ebay. However, like many of the folks have noted, it's really the best place to get the largest number of interested buyers. Back when I was doing a lot of selling, I found that bundling chairs into sets often solved this problem. For the buyer, it was a way to reduce shipping cost. Shipping four chairs costs only slightly more than shipping one chair, assuming you do a bit of disassembling and creative nesting of components. For the seller, it's a whole lot less time spent packaging them. This is particularly appropriate with the more utilitarian chairs like the DCM, that will usually be used in sets around a table. I've also occasionally decided to save myself some hassle by selling a large lot (i.e. all your chairs) at a wholesale price to a mid-century dealer. You won't make as much as selling them individually, but the headaches will be fewer.
A lot of eBay sellers
will take the item to Greyhound and the cost to deliver to your nearest terminal is a heckalot less than contacting Plycon.
My experiences tells me that buying on eBay is 50% better than many of the vintage mid-century stores that have a website.
Craig's List doesn't appeal to me and makes me nervous, anyhow.
Besides, in the Twin Cities, few locals are selling good stuff, anyhow.
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