3 New Ways to Sell Furniture (for People Who are Skeeved Out by Craigslist)
Craigslist is great. When it comes to selling your old gear, it’s never been so easy to connect with strangers. But that’s kind of the trouble, too, yeah? It’s really easy to connect with unsavory stranger-danger types on Craigslist, especially if you’re unsavvy about how to use it safely.
Thankfully, these three web-based services get right in the middle of you and any interested buyers, removing some of the skeeviest parts of selling your used gear in online classifieds. Think of them like a Craiglist concierge.
(While we’re focused on the seller experience here, each of these services are a great resource if you’re looking to buy used furniture, too. Just click through to their sites and see what treasures await!)
Take a photo of your furniture and send it to Move Loot with an asking price. Move Loot does an appraisal within 24 hours and, if they decide to sell the item for you, wraps it and picks it up for you. Once it’s back at the warehouse, Move Loot takes pro-level photos of your stuff and posts them to its online marketplace within 7 days. When it sells, you split the profit with Move Loot; you usually get 50%, but it varies (Move Loot tells you the breakdown before they pick it up). After 30 days, the price can be marked down, and after 60 days unsold, you have the option to donate your furniture or have it returned to you for a small fee.
Locations: New York City, Atlanta, various cities in California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, Marin County and Peninsula) and North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte)
It starts out similar to Craiglist: With AptDeco, you create an online listing for the each piece of furniture you’re looking to sell. A buyer submits an offer to buy through AptDeco, and you have 24 hours to accept it (AptDeco keeps 14%-19%, depending on the sell price). When it’s time to exchange goods, though, AptDeco can step in and pick up the item from you and deliver it to the buyer–eliminating no-shows and cancellations. Payments are handled by AptDeco, processing when they pick up the item and posted to your account within 24-48 hours.
Locations: New York City, Washington D.C. and surrounding areas
Trove is like a mix of Craiglist and Tinder (this is good thing, somehow). Post a listing of your used furniture through the Trove app, and buyers in your community can swipe through what’s available around them (which means more eyes on your stuff). You’ll be notified of any offers, and you get to choose the best one based on their price and the buyer’s historical reviews and performance (everyone keeps a Trove profile). You never have to exchange personal contact information, and payments can be made via credit or debit in the Trove app. You still exchange goods in person, but the buyer has an opportunity to review the item before clicking in the app to release the payment.
Location: Everywhere, as far as I can tell.
Another bonus option? Facebook groups. Dealing with people on Facebook removes some of the anonymity that plagues Craigslist (but not all, and that’s why I didn’t include it in the big list of three). There are probably a bunch of local buy/sell groups for your city and neighborhood (even geared towards lifestyles like “toddler parents”), all you have to do is search.