Author Topic: How to tell value of furniture?  (Read 2703 times)

umterp1999

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How to tell value of furniture?
« on: July 26, 2014, 07:53:27 PM »
I have an old coffee table that I would like to get rid of.  It's a butler style coffee table made by Bombay Co and looks like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mahogany-Butlers-Tray-Top-Coffee-Table-Antique-Vintage-Bombay-co-/231290802549?pt=Antiques_Furniture&hash=item35da019175

The problem is I have seen similar coffee tables all of the same style and made by the same company ranging in price from 50.00 to 300+ for sale in various places online.  How do I know if mine is worth 50 or 300?  Mine has some dings on it, but is in overall pretty good shape.

greaper007

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Re: How to tell value of furniture?
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2014, 09:01:57 PM »
Set what you think a reasonable price is in the 50-300 range you mentioned and post it on craigslist or wherever you're selling it.    Say $225 (people will dicker you down anyways).    If it doesn't sell in a week or so, drop the price and make a new listing.

You'll find the sweet spot eventually.

jesstach

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Re: How to tell value of furniture?
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2014, 06:36:30 AM »
Search your local craigslist for similar items and see how they are priced. For furniture, I would do craigslist over eBay so you don't have to worry about shipping. Take nice pictures and describe it well (include measurements).

If you're not in a time crunch then you could price it slightly high and see if you get any responses. If nothing after 3-5 days, lower the price slightly and wait again. Kind of a reverse bidding process where you start with a high price then lower it until you can sell it. Of course, if you want to get rid of it ASAP I would price it more competitively.

Also- if it does have some dings, take pictures of the marks and clearly describe it in the post. That way people won't waste time coming to look at it then changing their mind.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2014, 06:38:07 AM by jesstach »

dragoncar

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Re: How to tell value of furniture?
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2014, 01:49:32 PM »
As said above, prices in a secondary market like craigslist can fluctuate a lot.  I think within the above range, the price depends mostly on how long you want to wait to sell.  There may be one buyer per year who will be willing to pay $300 for it, because they always wanted one of those and you are the only seller at the moment.  There may two buyers per month looking for any old table, not specifically that one, who would be willing to pay $50 for it, because it's an OK looking table but there are plenty of other OK looking tables on craigslist at the moment.

Either way, I think you'll increase the sale value if you have great pictures and make it really easy to obtain.

Cassie

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Re: How to tell value of furniture?
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2014, 04:33:52 PM »
Typically used furniture is worth about 10% of what you originally paid.