When we moved into our new rental house in March, we put down a small budget for new furniture. We wanted a new dining table, a new bed for the master bedroom, and a new couch for the great room. In the past, we set up a chocolate market in stores.
I had never sold anything before with a consignment store, and I had no idea how the process worked. I visited three Houston area stores specializing in furniture, and I was surprised by what I learned.
Pro: Immediate Move-Ex
The nicest aspect of selling our stuff for delivery was the ability to get things directly from our house. When you buy new furniture, you don’t want to depend on old furniture.
One store had a waiting list on beds, but other than each store, it wanted to take delivery immediately. This was a huge bonus, as our new furniture had already been ordered.
Con: No pick-up
None of the delivery stores we visited wanted to pick up our stuff at our house. They all required the customer to deliver the items from the store, which makes sense financially in this era of $4/gallon gas. But this definitely made it more difficult for us.
A couple of items were very heavy – too heavy for me to lift by myself. To get to the shop, we will either have to hire someone or talk to a friend for help. Plus, the bed pieces were too big for my bed cart.
For: Expert Evaluation
The clerks and owners of consignment shops see a lot of stuff, and are therefore far more apt than I to assign a value. to each party. I was worried about selling at sales or through internet sales because I didn’t know what any of my items were worth.
It is best to assign a fair and reasonable price to each item in the store. Their income is based on the sale of coins, however, so they are not trying to rip off their partners in the sale.
Con: Time of trouble
In each store I visited, the rules were clear: If the piece was not sold for a certain period of time (for example, two months), I would lose all rights to Bottom Line
I didn’t end up limiting any of my stuff this time. I was at a loss for words, and I realized that I could sell myself more for each one. Others have better luck with giving stores, of course, but I think it is important to evaluate the quality of each part, the importance of selling quickly, and the conditions for a special shop.
