I am selling antique furniture, a Roma living room set. My grandparents kept these couches covered in plastic which was just taken off recently for pics for selling. I have no idea what to sell them for. We are selling the entire set, lamps, end tables, and coffee table. Does anyone know or have any suggestions on best place to sell and for how much?
Thanks!
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Large pieces are best sold either through an estate sale or dealer, who will take a percentage, but they have the means to take it from your place and deliver to the new place. Some purchase outright and then sell in their stores. This is your best option if you can get someone to call you back and schedule.
A formal estate sale in the home is usually the next best option, but realize many things will go unsold and you will need to either work with them or on you own have plans B, C, and D and maybe E for what to do with what didn't sell....like give pieces to family, donate (and it will probably need to be a place that can pick it up and some donation sites only take certain items and not others, so you may need several donation site) or give it away by the curb, etc.
The hardest option is if you try to sell them yourself, Facebook Marketplace, Next Door or your local classifieds are good sources. Apps like Letgo are OK also. You may need to break up the set as large pieces are super hard to sell and sometimes people just want to replace a chair, or a couch or a lamp. Sometimes you will get lucky and find someone who needs it all, but that is like a four leave clover, they exist, but are really hard to find.
Selling on your own means people have to come into the house to see it (safety first as you will always need a second person to be with you, and you need to be sure they can take the furniture and haul it once they buy it. I have known of people that have bought furniture and then damaged it while trying to haul it and then demanded a refund for damaged merchandise.
Please know that unfortunately no matter which way you sell it, 9 times out of 10 selling furniture also takes a very long time. I just did an uncle's estate with large pieces of furniture and it took from April until about 2 weeks ago to sell all the big pieces and I still have a bunch of the smalls (lamps and such) we need to sell. No one is interested and we may just end up donating. It is very stressful as vendors don't call back, have long wait lists for appointments, potential buyers are late, cancel an hour after appointment etc.
I looked up the sets on eBay and there are two similar unsold furniture sets like yours, one in the 899 range and one at 1,400. This tells me the market demand for the pieces is low.
I don't usually use similar items for comparison sake, but with pieces like yours you may never find an exact set because people did custom upholstery, pieces got damaged and some of the gingerbread decorations came off and were repaired, etc.
I would start the entire set at 400-600 and take best offer if it was mine to sell, knowing you may only get 200 or less for it all (furniture). It is gorgeous, but sadly that has nothing to do with the market. The market is people don't have money or space these days and they want small, simple furniture in neutral colors like black and tan. BORING, but true!
You may get more for the lamps and the mirrors than the individual furniture pieces as people like to change out accessories. Maybe you can find a brand on them and look them up on eBay using the sold section to see what people actually got for them.
Without knowing brands, I am guesstimating 100 for each to start, but rare brands may fetch more. I am having trouble selling my lamps because they are small and very common styles. Yours are much more ornate.
If you need more info, please ask me. I have lots of experience being in your shoes and it is tough!
Used furniture, especially ornate furniture like this is not in much demand anymore. I dont think you will get that much for it
What some beautiful antique pieces of furniture you have. They look in absolute pristine condition. I feel your best bet is to try and sell them as a whole. Check your local newspaper for any advertisements on antique furniture dealers, also your local phone book.
You'll need to know how much the antique furniture is worth. Look for markings of the brand and research online.
With furniture its best to sell locally, you can post online like Facebook Market, Craigslist, eBay for locally but it may be hard to sell, or take some time.
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