If you’re wondering how to consign furniture and sell it on consignment this article is for you. Selling furniture on consignment is not new. If fact, consignment stores have been around for decades. This is a great way to earn some extra money as a side hassle. Some people even do it full-time. In order to understand how selling on consignment works, let’s look below on a few key points.
Furniture Consignment
Understanding consignment selling: selling on consignment as a concept is easy: you’ll be brining in items into a consignment store and the store sells those items or item on your behalf. One the item is sold, the store keeps a certain percentage. The standard percentage is about 40%-60%. So if the store sold your item for $100, you’ll be getting $60. Simple.
There may be other “contractual” obligations though, so keep this in mind. Certain stores may want you to: agree to the store’s markdown, take your time back if it didn’t sell in a fixed period of time and hold the store at no fault if anything happens to the furniture (in case it breaks for example).
Understand what furniture sells and what doesn’t. Under the furniture umbrella, there are quite a number of items to be sold. Lets groups those in:
- Furniture pieces (desks, chairs, tables, etc.)
- Furniture accessories
- Artwork
- Lighting (lamps, etc.)
There are about three points to consider when looking at buying a piece of furniture and then selling it on consignment.
- Quality
- Condition
- Demand
Quality is a given and this can be tied down to a particular furniture brand for example. Stick with known, solid brands that have been around on the market for a long time. I would stay way from “cheap”, Ikea style furniture. Price is also a large factor to consider. If the price is too high, it may take longer to sell, if at all. The condition is also important. Most people looking at buying second hand furniture are also looking for deals, hence the second hand option. Make sure that your furniture items is in great shape. If you purchased it at an auction or at a garage sale, make sure you touch it up whether is polishing or giving it a fresh coat of paint. Click here for an example on how to Clean Wood Furniture Naturally: https://woodenfurniturehub.com/how-to-clean-wood-furniture-naturally Demand is key. If there’s no demand, you’ll not be able to sell. So make sure that you sell furniture pieces that are unique, high-quality and in demand.
Furniture Brands to Consider:
- Century
- Maitland Smith
- Stickley
- Baker
Mid tier brands:
- Stanley
- Hickory White
- Ethan Allen
- Sam Moore
- Restoration Hardware
- Create and Barrel
- Pottery Barn
Lower Tier furniture brands:
- Ashley Furniture
- La-z-boy
- Art-van
What furniture pieces sells on consignment: the majority of pieces that sell well on consignment are the following:
- Sofas
- Dining chairs
- Dining tables
- Ottomans
- Side and club chairs
Last points to consider before staring to sell furniture on consignment. As a rule of thumb, if the furniture piece is within a year of purchase, this is considered still new, in style. Expect to get about half of the price of what a retail stores charges.
Where to find furniture to sell on consignment: there are a few common places that you can get good deals on. For example:
- Garage sales
- Auctions
- Thrift shops
- Online classifieds
Lastly, there are advantages and disadvantages of selling furniture on consignment. As with anything, do your due diligence before you start. Start small. Have a look around your house. Can you sell anything? This will give you a sense of how consignment selling works. Be smart about buying at a good price, select only quality brands and have an eye of what’s in style, what home decor is hot in the season. If you keep these things in mind, you should have no problems with earning some extra money on the side by consigning furniture to your local stores.
Let us know what worked well for you or what lessons you have learned in the process that can benefit others considering selling on consignment.