Furniture Buying: Craigslist

Slagmire

I'm testing the waters with some of the remaining furniture I need for my condo - namely my bedroom set. I know it differs from seller to seller, but does anybody have any horror stories from doing business this way?

Trowizilla

No horror stories so far, and I quite like craigslist. Make sure that whatever you get can be wiped down with lysol, as bedbugs are on the rise. Used mattresses are totally not worth the risk, but anything wooden or plastic should be okay.

You might want to bring a friend when you go to people's houses to pick up the furniture, just in case, but that's just common sense. Besides, it's good to have help carrying things, since whoever you're buying furniture from might turn out to be old or fragile, or live on the umpteenth floor.

Daenris

I sold a bedroom set on Craigslist to a nice woman. She brought her niece with her, and her niece brought two friends to help carry. One of the friends stole my phone while they were carrying furniture out of my apartment (oddly didn't take the completely untraceable iPod sitting next to it). I didn't realize it until the next morning and I shut off my phone, and contacted the woman. She apparently asked her niece who the kid was, and went and threatened to call the cops on him. I got my phone back the next day, though I had to bitch to Cingular for awhile to get the $200 of downloaded ringtones taken off my bill.

Usually my suggestion for selling things on craigslist is to meet somewhere else. Obviously with furniture this isn't possible, but just be aware and watchful if people come to your house/apartment. Most people responding are totally up front and just want a good deal on used furniture, so you should be fine.

If you have a porch/deck, it might make sense to carry the furniture outside before their arrival. This will eliminate potential problems, as well as make it easier to load it up if they definitely take it. May not be feasible depending on the furniture or your place though.

Edit: Oops... somehow I read that as you were selling furniture on Craigslist. Ignore my previous horror story
With buying, yeah, just make sure to clean it off well.

Slagmire

Yeah, thankfully I have a bed - just looking for the rest for my bedroom. I wouldn't trust a mattress being sold on Craigs at all, and probably no sofas, chairs or the like either.

supabeast

Lots of people who are moving will use Craigslist to dump really nice furniture simply to avoid the hassle of putting it into storage or selling it through an antique/used furniture store. A few years ago I ditched a bedroom set worth thousands of dollars because it was made to go into a mansion and we just got sick of the space it took up.

Stuff to look for: anything made of solid wood
Stuff to avoid: anything with easily damaged mechanics (futons, sofa beds), medium or low-density particle board or fiberboard (falls apart when you move it), anything from Ikea, Bo Concept/Club 8, or West Elm, rugs.

EggyToast

I've bought & sold a lot of stuff that's IKEA on craigslist, with no problems. Cheap, crappy furniture is the same no matter where it came from -- old couches are usually busted in the middle, but you can't tell due to the fabric, for instance. IKEA sells solid wood products, and non-IKEA stores sell particle board.

Anyway, the only thing to watch out for are shady sellers, and you can usually tell this from their listing. There's numerous products on craigslist that are curiously marked up, such as IKEA products that are $20 more than IKEA sells them for, or cheap furniture that's oddly expensive. There's such a large amount of furniture on craigslist that it's much better to simply wait until someone is selling something that you actually want, rather than settling for something that's OK.

And only bother contacting sellers who have a picture of their furniture in the posting.

Daenris

EggyToast wrote: »

IKEA sells solid wood products, and non-IKEA stores sell particle board.

That really depends on what you're buying. I've seen my share of particle board furniture being sold at IKEA. I even own a decent looking particle board coffee table from IKEA.

But I agree with the general assertion that the brand doesn't necessarily matter as much as just inspecting the furniture when you go to take a look. If it's in good condition and solid, don't worry about where it was made.