Selling used furniture without the runaround

Furniture is bought by people within driving distance, so the listing is competing with everything else in the same city, not with the same item nationally. That changes what to put in it.

Photograph it properly

• Daylight, from the doorway, with the whole piece in frame.
• One close-up of the fabric or finish, one of the wear, one of the brand label or maker's mark.
• The underside of the table, or the label under the sofa cushions, if either has a name on it.
• A photo with a doorway or a person in it, so the scale is obvious.

Measure everything a buyer has to move

Width, depth, height, and the width of the narrowest doorway between the street and the room it currently sits in. Say whether the legs come off. Say what it weighs, roughly, or that it took two people to carry.

"Will it fit in my car" is the question that kills more furniture sales than price.

Describe the flaws before somebody drives over

Mention the pet hair, the faded arm, the wobble, the water ring. A buyer who arrives expecting a flaw buys the piece. A buyer who discovers the flaw on the doorstep leaves, and tells you the price was too high on the way out.

Price it against what has sold, not what is asked

Asking prices are wishes. Sold listings, if you can see them, are evidence. The gap is usually wide: a sofa listed at $400 may have sold at $200 two weeks later, or not at all.

Price it where you would take it, and leave a little room for a counteroffer, because most buyers will make one.

Pickup and payment

Cash on collection is simplest. If somebody needs a deposit to hold it, take a small one and say clearly how long you will hold it. Do not accept overpayment, do not ship, and do not take payment in a form you cannot verify.

Have somebody else there when a stranger comes to collect, and put whatever you are selling near the door before they arrive.

The ranges on the item pages are ballparks. Use them to decide whether it's worth listing, not as a price to quote.