Top Places To Sell Mid-Century Modern Furniture & Decor...
Below is a list of places that we've found great success selling Mid Century Modern Furniture and Decor. This isn't an all inclusive list. we've obviously left out sites like Ebay, 1stDibs and other places that may in fact be a great place to sell MCM furniture, but can be a bit daunting for the average MCM reseller.
1. Instagram:
This one might come as a surprise to some but if you're familiar with our Instagram account or our site you'll know that we sell most of our furniture through Instagram now. It's hand down the fastest and easiest way to sell Mid Century Modern furniture. We've grown our Instagram Store to the point now that we post once and within minutes we have people fighting over who can come first to pick it up. To find out more about the why and how of starting and developing an Instagram Store, click here.
2. Craigslist:
No surprise here. Craigslist is free to use, everyone knows about it, and its easy enough to post and repost ads. We sell about 15% of our stock through here. Everything we buy will go onto our Instagram Store first, but we also cross post it onto Craigslist.
3. Letgo, Close5, Etc:
There are many apps like these, and some are more important then others depending on what city/state you live in. We'd advise going into your phones app store, finding one, and then usually at the bottom of the app, the app store will recommend similar apps. They're usually free so download all of them. Try cross posting your items to each platform until you get a feel for which ones are actively being used in your community and which ones you can delete from your phone. Cross posting though to a multitude of platforms though is a great way to make sure you have as many eyes as possible on your items for sale.
4. Selling to Regulars:
This is one of our favourite ways to sell items. Every time someone comes on Instagram or Craigslist to buy something from us, we ask them if they are moving or if they are just getting new stuff. Every so often, someone will tell us that they are either a dealer, or they refinish furniture as a hobby, or are a part time reseller. Take down their number in your phone and let them know you'll keep them posted when you get new pieces in. You'll typically sell it to people like this for a little less, however you can sell items much quicker and sometimes before you ever take the furniture home!
The second you buy a new piece of furniture, before it goes into your vehicle, you should take a few photos of it. Send these photos to the list of buyers you have accumulated and see if there is any interest. We'll typically offer pieces to our list of buyers for around 10%-20% less then what we were going to list it for. To make this a career you'll need to focus on quick inventory turnover. Selling for a little less, but selling faster is a good business model.
5. Selling to Consignment Stores:
Same concept as above but usually its a 50 50 split. Get a few places on an email list and when you pick up items you can send it to them first and ask if they are interested and what they would sell it for. If you live in a city and don't have much space this is a really good option as you don't have to store it yourself.
6. Maxsold and Other Online or Live Auctions:
Selling through Maxsold which is an online auction, and any auction for that matter, is a massive risk. Sometimes though this risk becomes necessary. Lets say you were renting storage and now need to dump a ton of items quick to let the storage go. Or maybe you have just bought too many things and need more space and cash flow. Then using an auction house or an online auction can be great. Most of your items are guaranteed to sell but you don't have control over the final price. Sometimes pieces will sell at auction for 90% under retail, other times they'll sell for 90% over retail. It comes down to the auction house itself, and who's there that day. For this reason we've stayed away from auctions for the most part.
7. Flea Markets/Antique Fairs:
Not a bad option. You can typically sell quite a bit in a day. We don't prefer it because of all the work needed to load the truck full of furniture, unload, sit there all day, then load back up the remainder of the furniture and unload again at storage. We'd rather let items sit on craigslist and play the long game. But if you have the energy or want to free up some cash quickly, this is a great option.
Cheers and happy picking!
