Where should I sell my vintage wardrobes?

xPolkadots

I have two double wardrobes, both are vintage and very shabby chic. They're solid wood and about 7 foot tall and two people can easily stand inside one of them so they're really big. I want to sell them, ideally for at least £100 each but not sure where to advertise them, any ideas?

Contains_Mild_Peril

Gumtree is probably worth a try. It's free to list a basic ad (paid upgrades to increase visibility are available), you can add multiple pictures and there's no commission to pay.

soolin

If they are plain brown wood then they will not sell and you'lll end up paying someone to make them into firewood. None of the auction houses I use that sell furniture will touch brown wood wardrobes at all.

If however they are slightly more modern and a make like G Plan then do try a bricks and mortar auction house as the pale wood furniture from the 1970s has suddenly developed a little interest. Not a lot, I doubt you'll get £100 for the pair even before fees, but worth a try

Crowqueen

Not on eBay. It's not the ideal site for collection items; putting the Paypal on collection issue to one side, there are also issues if you get a winning bidder no-show or, worst case scenario, you get paid electronically but they never collect. In the first situation you can do an NPB, but in the second situation you are reliant on the buyer. It's more efficient to have people view the items, make an offer and leave the decision up to you rather than some anonymous software. You will also not need to pay eBay's premium as you might not get more than local interest anyway.

eBay is much better for things that can be posted and although they seem to have recently cobbled together a fudge to try and fix the PP on C scam it's still not ideal.

Try Facebook or Gumtree. From the look of it Facebook does have a growing face-to-face clientele. I wouldn't buy anything by post from there but I would consider it for a collection item.

I see Gumtree have begun advertising on TV - probably quite a good move as hopefully people will become aware that 'eBay is not the only fruit' and start thinking more about where is best to list some items.

Contains_Mild_Peril

soolin wrote: »

If they are plain brown wood then they will not sell and you'lll end up paying someone to make them into firewood. None of the auction houses I use that sell furniture will touch brown wood wardrobes at all.

It's not quite that bad in my area. My local auctioneer would sell them, but after paying all the fees, transport to the auction room etc, the seller would be left with peanuts. Unless they're really fancy, they'd be extremely unlikely to make £100 each. There would certainly be no need to pay anyone to take them in my area: if someone were generous enough to offer those on my local Freegle they'd be snapped up quickly, and there are also two or three charities who'd be happy to uplift them. This is all assuming there are no signs of woodworm.

McKneff

We have a shop opened up near us with a 'cool' vintage Retro name.

What they mean is Second hand shop, :rotfl::rotfl:

Same as them that say 'faux leather' it is plastic !!!!!!. :rotfl::rotfl:

Contains_Mild_Peril

The right terminology makes junk sound less junkish. A brief glossary:
Vintage: Old
Shabby chic: Tatty
Distressed: Very tatty
Rustic: Might give you splinters
Faux leather: Plastic which sticks to you if you sit on it in warm weather
Faux ivory: Ivory coloured plastic
Pearloid: Shiny plastic
Rare (1): Produced in small numbers because people didn't like it
Rare (2): Actually fairly common but the first example seen by that particular seller
Upcycled: Vandalised (e.g. with bad paintwork)

pulliptears

Local auction house they fetch somewhere in the region of a fiver or under.
Makes me laugh when I see these big old things on eBay for £100 plus with a 'shabby chic' description as they rarely sell.

annie-c

soolin wrote: »

If they are plain brown wood then they will not sell and you'lll end up paying someone to make them into firewood. None of the auction houses I use that sell furniture will touch brown wood wardrobes at all.

There is actually a (surprising, imo) growing market again for brown wood, depending on the type and the condition. The 'shabby chic' vendors will often buy stuff like this for re-purposing/upcycling, though they would have to be pretty special for you to realise £100 per wardrobe.

I agree that local auction houses are not a good venue. OP, you could try looking on facebook for local selling groups, and also try Gumtree and ebay on free listing weeks. You will get more for your items if you do your research, describe the items well, provide lots of clear photos and if you are able to help organise collection/delivery.

MadelinesMum

Hi, in my local area furniture seems to do well on ebay. Do a local search, watch a few items and see how much they go for. If no good, you could always try preloved or gumtree. If you do sell on ebay then I'd suggest cash on collection.
Good luck

Crowqueen

ebay on free listing weeks

eBay is wrong for selling collection-only items - not necessarily thinking about the scam, not on furniture anyway, but ... the structure of the bidding process makes it more difficult to sell than just putting a small ad in a couple of places and selling to the first comer.