Buy Used Furniture

People generally consider buying used furniture in order to save money, and save money they can when buying something that others have already used.  Generally, these items will have wear and tear which can range from minimal to heavy.  If you can deal with this, the benefits of buying used are that the variety of used furniture you can find is as great as for new furniture.  While the latest and hottest designs may be missing from the used furniture store, you will also likely find items from times past which are impossible to find in a department store.  What’s more, these will cost less and are actually often better made than a lot of the newer items which tend to feature fiberboard or other similar cheap materials.  Unfortunately, cheap definitely equates to inferior quality in such cases.  If you are looking for something that lasts, you have a good chance of finding it used.  In wood construction, for example, features once taken for granted such as solid wood and durable joints are what you would look for.  Since used furniture usually comes assembled, it is easy to get a feel for how solid an object is because you can get your hands on it.  Keep in mind that upholstered goods such as sofas almost always have a shorter life span than wooden objects, which were once built to last a lifetime or more.  If you want your sofa to last a long time, it may be wiser to buy new or buy a newer used model.  When buying used furniture, it can be useful to divide items into three classes.  See where you fit so you understand which choices are best for you.

This is the person that just needs something to sit on or put his/her stuff on.  This person is willing to pay a few bucks at most for a bookshelf or a little table.  Perhaps they would make do with wood boards placed on top of cinder blocks, but lack either the motivation or patience to assemble such a shabby shelf.  This person would do best to look at flea markets and thrift shops for bargain basement items.  They will probably end up with something constructed with particle board, and this will work if they don’t mind the cheap feel of items constructed from this material.  Of course, particle board is a lot less durable than real wood, so the item will not stand up to a great deal of wear and tear.  It will also disintegrate if soaked, so caution must be exercised in this regard, too.  Don’t pay more than five bucks for a used particle board bookshelf.  One can probably be had for far less than that, as well.  The same goes for any items these places might have, from lamps on to mattresses.  If you don’t mind using a pillow or mattress that someone else has slept and probably drooled on (and god knows what else), you stand to save a great deal.  That’s what sheets are for, anyway, right?  And there’s always the chance you will luck out and find something in near-mint condition that someone had to get rid of for some reason.  When my housemates and I were looking to furnish our apartment, we found a nice, solid round oak table with four solid chairs for a very reasonable price in the Salvation Army.  It was older, but in very good condition.  The table has since been passed on to other incoming students who have cherished its quality and durability.   

Look to the same places, and also check the phone book for shops specializing in used furniture.  These stores will not take junk, usually, and instead focus on items of slightly better quality.  They will also usually have a better selection than thrift stores like Savers or Goodwill, where it’s often hit or miss.  Used furniture outlets will generally have a selection of everything you need to fully furnish your home, so these are the places to go for.  You will most likely end up paying a bit more at these stores, but since they make their money from used furniture, they know to look for items that will stand up well and can repair any problem areas.  As with the shopper purely searching for cheap goods, a person looking for cheap-but-good items can also hit up the thrift shops in the likely event they have something good in.  The outlets can be sort of looked at as a guarantee that you can get something which is of decent quality, albeit usually at a higher price than what it would go for in a thrift shop. 

There was a time where furniture was built to last.  It was handmade by a craftsman who not only took pride in his work, but earned his living by creating furniture which would stand up to use.  Wood is a material which is strong and has a natural beauty and it lends itself to durability and functionality.  Even earlier industrial furniture was made to last, often with real mortise-and-tenon joints and other such integral structural elements.  Today, industry generally makes furniture which is more or less disposable.  This is no exaggeration, as any woodworker who has looked at mass-produced furniture can tell you.  Because of this, some people will search for used furniture which, though used and in many cases old, will outlast the new products made today.  These are heirloom pieces which in many cases have survived generations and have the potential to survive many more.  Of course, they are hard to find, but people do get rid of them for various reasons.  If you find them on the market, you may wish to buy such a piece.  Understand that they may very well have a higher price because of the quality construction.  Conversely, have your furniture custom built by a skilled woodworker if you want something that will outlast you, becoming used furniture for someone else.