5 Ways to Score Used Furniture from Home Stagers for Cheap, According to Experts

If you’re trying to stage your home in anticipation of putting it on the market, you might be wondering where you can find staging furniture for sale. The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that hard — home stagers are constantly changing their inventory, because no real estate agent or home buyer wants to see a slate of homes all furnished with the same four pieces. 

So what happens to all the furniture items that get cut from a stager’s arsenal? The good news for you is that they’re sold off — and oftentimes at a discount. If you want to get your hands on a gently used piece of furniture at a below-market price, here’s how to find staging furniture for sale at a discounted price — no matter what you want to use it for.

Staging furniture is easy to find if you’re willing to get a little creative. Social media can be a huge help in terms of utilizing services like Facebook Marketplace. This will also help you save time, as you won’t have to put the furniture together. 

Checking out warehouse sales or other model/vacant homes can also be a great option. You can also save cash in this aspect if you’re willing to pick up the furniture yourself, as stagers are ready to move on to their next project after a home has sold. 

Of course, if you’re really strapped for time, you can obviously just hire a staging company who will do it all for you. But if you’ve got the DIY spirit, or are on a budget, there are plenty of other places to look. 

According to Danny Johnson, owner at Danny Buys Houses, Facebook Marketplace is the perfect place to find staging furniture because it’s affordable and already put together.

“Our number-one place to get staging furniture is Facebook Marketplace,” he says. “It’s important to define a design aesthetic you are going for and then find pieces and decor that match that aesthetic. We’ve found FB Marketplace to be a great resource to locate specific types of furniture. It does require you to move quickly for the great deals, but super bargains can be had. We love that we can buy quality furniture, even period pieces, at huge discounts.” 

Shannon Feick from ASAP Properties agrees. “I’ve found that websites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and OfferUp can be goldmines for finding stylish and lightly used furniture at a lower cost,” she says. “We always negotiate the price and inspect the furniture in person whenever possible.”

“Look for furniture warehouses or wholesalers that offer sales or discounts on bulk furniture purchases,” says Feick. “These places often have high-quality pieces at a fraction of the retail price, perfect for staging homes beautifully without breaking the bank.” Feick also recommends Overstock.com.

The majority of furniture that home stagers sell is sold right out of the property it’s being used in, say Karen Otto with Dallas-based Home Star Staging, and Anthea Click with FP Staging and Design in Nashville. People come in to look at the property, decide they like the furniture, and ask about purchasing it.

“If you’re going into vacant homes and you like the style of the furniture in there, you’d have to find out the staging company that staged the property,” Otto says, “Contact the real estate agent or the community builder. They’ll give you the name and contact of the staging company.” Then, call ’em up and put your negotiating hat on.

With model homes, it’s a little different — you can still buy the furniture, but you’ll have to wait until the community’s homes are all sold and the developer does a model home sale.

Whatever furniture doesn’t get sold right out of the model home or vacant home for sale often heads to a warehouse sale held by stagers. 

Both Otto and Click do these sales, and they advertise them on social media. So keep an eye out for announcements on neighborhood Facebook groups, Instagram posts by home staging businesses, or even tweets from home stagers themselves. They’re also sometimes advertised on Craigslist, Next Door, and Facebook Marketplace. Watch for the keywords “staging furniture.”

If all else fails, pick up the phone and call a staging company of your choice. 

“We like to rent furniture from home staging companies or furniture rental businesses,” says Feick. “This is cost-effective, especially when we’re staging multiple properties at a time. I recommend checking out cort.com for options to rent staging furniture.”

When Click does warehouse sales, she’s selling everything from accessories to sofas and beds — and it’s generally cheaper than you’ll find anywhere else. Accessories can get as low as $1, and for a queen bed that’s brand-new, you can expect to spend about $950.

“In the past I’ve had sectionals that might retail for about $3,000 that we’re selling for $2,000, and we just might have used it once or twice,” she says.

But remember that a piece of furniture at a great price that looks cool isn’t always what you might expect.

“You have to go see it and sit on it,” Otto says. “Some pieces look fabulous but they’re not the most comfortable. We don’t really care about the comfort factor because no one’s using it. Staging a home is not about the furniture, it’s about selling the house. Some pieces might be cheaper than you think as far as quality goes, but it’s getting the job done.”

For one-of-a-kind pieces that you can’t find anywhere else, or furniture that’s truly like new, expect to pay a bit more.