Best place to sell retro/vintage furniture/books etc?

Aubrey_Thicket

Hi all


A friend of ours has just bought a house from the family of an old lady who recently died. The house was sold as seen, meaning that the buyer must empty the house and get rid of all the old contents. Now these contents contain some really old stuff but they wouldn't exactly qualify as antiques. I have seen some of the pictures of the old Electrolux Vacuum cleaner, the old Record player, the old Betamax video player etc and I would say that the items are all from the period 1970 to 1985 (ish). I am of this opinion because my Gran had actually had similar goods. Some of the furniture (kitchen cupboards etc) are a lot older.


My friend knows he could put some of the items on Ebay but wouldn't be sure that this was the best route. I have intimated that some TV Prop companies might be interested but he doesn't know where to start.


Anybody got any ideas of the best place to sell these (not exactly antique but) very old items (Books, Record Player, Guitar, suitcases etc?


It would be such a shame to skip the lot when A. Other people could put the items to use and B. In true moneysaving style he could make some cash by selling them.


Thanks all.

Norman_Castle

ebay. Check previous listings to see if its worthwhile. Prop companies probably use ebay or house clearance companies.
Freecycle anything that isn't worth selling.

brightontraveller

Charity shops, free ads trying to sell it wouldn’t warrant the time and effort there is an abundance of “old” tat around that no one wants just look in charity shops and skips Anything of any monetary item would have been removed prior to sale. The local tip would be best place

ST1991

Give the larger or more desirable items a dust/polish and sell them! This is a moneysaving forum afterall
Gumtree is free to advertise. Ebay offer free listings too, and even reduces/free fees at some times too.
If they don't sell, donate them. The charity shop will surely appreciate you clean stuff and not dirty/dusty items.

Even if you make £5-£10 on ebay, if you sell 15 items that will help cover the cost of something else!

If i sell something, i think of what i can buy for the house instead of what i get. E.G If you sold a few items for £40, that will cover the cost of paint for one room perhaps.
£200 might buy you a new bath! and so on.

Clean it up, take nice photos, and list nicely. there are people out there who will want this stuff!

Aubrey_Thicket

Thanks all.

MrsBSaver

Going to give this a go myself

trailingspouse

Is there an auction house local to you? I use ours a lot, both for buying and selling. Charges vary between auctions, but ours charges sellers £1.00 per lot + 15% of the hammer price + VAT. So, if something sold for £100 you would get £81.

Or you could get a house clearance company to come and give you a free valuation, that way you would know whether it was worth pursuing other ways of getting rid.

A lot depends on whether he is able to spend time and effort on selling the things (taking photos for ebay, taking them to car boot sales), or just wants to get rid.

Everything goes through stages - to begin with, things are bright and new and everybody wants them. Then they get worn and old, and nobody wants them. Then, if they survive that stage, they become retro/vintage, and a few people start to want them again. And finally they become antique, and lots of people want them again. So if he can box them up and put them in his loft and forget about them for a while, his kids will thank him...

Aubrey_Thicket

Thanks all.