Tips when shopping for pre-loved furniture online
Not sure what key words to use? Live in a small town and never see anything good in your radius? No idea how to transport big items? Keeping reading for my top online secondhand shopping tips.
Shopping secondhand for furniture and decor online can be a great resource for so many people; whether you’re trying to save a little money, want to be more environmentally conscious, are going for a more unique feel in your home, or a combination of all of these, finding pre-loved furniture (and more) online is a great way to shop for second hand all from the comforts of your own couch (unless you’re looking for a couch, then from the comforts of your floor haha).
If you live in a city your chances of finding goodies are probably going to be easier than if you live in a small town, however it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try if you live in a more remote area. When I lived in LA whenever I was in the market for something I would open Facebook Marketplace, type in what I was looking for, and boom! Someone would have posted it within the last hour. It was truly incredible. Since moving back to a small town, that is no longer the case (shopping in local thrift shops is much better here), however I’ll still browse from time to time and sometimes there are some great wins (especially if you’re willing to open your radius and drive a bit of a distance). Whether you’re in a city or a small town, here are some of my top tips for successfully shopping secondhand online:
1. Using and finding keywords: When you’re looking for a specific style on online marketplaces, but aren’t sure how to find what you’re looking for because you aren’t sure what the style is called or what key words to use, try finding a piece similar to what you want on another website. Once you found the item you like, click on the product and scroll down to the “description” section of the product. There will usually be a few sentences that describe the piece and you can choose a few words from that to add into your marketplace search. For example these chairs on Serena and Lily have the description “Design chameleon. A Parsons shape. Rattan woven over mahogany. Resplendent texture. Brass caps. A showpiece of tonal nuance.” So what I would pull from that might be “Parsons shape” and “Rattan woven,” I think pulling any more might get too specific for searching second hand. My final marketplace search might look like “Parsons shape rattan woven dining chairs” and if nothing shows up, I could even simplify to “rattan dining chairs” to see if that opens up more options. Lastly, you can always take note of any descriptive words in other marketplace posts that match the style of item you’re looking for. For example if you see a dresser you really like and the title says “antique pine dresser” then you’re now clued into the fact that you know you like pine wood and can use that in your future searches.
2. Make a mood board: If you have specific items or a specific vibe in mind, making a mood board or vision board for the whole space can be really helpful to guide you while you search online. If you go into the depths of online marketplaces with an overall idea of what you’re looking for you might end up finding a few other goodies for the space along the way. For example, maybe you were going to spend time searching for an armchair that day, but you ended up seeing a lamp you also liked while you were scrolling through posts. Then you can easily check your mood board to see if it matches the vibe you’re going for. This could also come in handy if a seller says they have more items they’re selling that you can check out when you get there. It can be really tempting to buy more when you’re there, especially if it is cute, but just because it’s cute doesn’t mean it’s going to match the mood board, so its great to have on hand for those moments as well.
3. Negotiate a good deal for yourself: If you love thrifting, you probably love a good deal. If you’re talking to someone about picking something up see if they can lower the price a bit. No need to lowball them, but they might knock off a percentage of the price especially if they need it gone asap.
4. Make a day adventure out of it: If the thought of driving 30 miles (or even 3 miles lol) just to pick up a chair sounds like a doozy, try turning it into a whole adventure to make it more fun. After you pick up the item try a fun place for lunch or go on a new hike. Maybe the pick up is local, but there’s a coffee shop down the street that you always drive past and have never gone into so you tack that on to your days adventure. Find 1-3 other things besides the pick up to make it a full fun adventure day.
5. Safety: If someone is picking something up from me, I don’t give my personal address out. I will give them cross streets near me or a nearby store and meet them there. The exception being if it’s an extremely large piece of furniture, then I will have a friend on the phone with me when they arrive or I’ll let a friend/family member know someone is coming to pick something up and when I’ll check back in. Similarly, if you’re picking something up just shoot a friend or family member a text saying you’re picking something up (and maybe give them the address you’re picking up from) and you’ll text them when you’re done in 5 min. I always ask the person I’m picking up from to meet outside, do not go into their house, especially if you’re alone. Along the same lines, I would recommend not giving your phone number out and just sticking to the online chat, as well as keeping pick ups to daylight hours. Last tip here is to check in on the day of the pick up, sometimes people bail and it sucks (this has happened to me a couple of times and it is such a bummer so please learn from my mistake). To avoid making a drive out to pick something up and then finding out they’ve bailed, double check the day of the pick up that they’re still on for the meet up.
6. Big items, small person: If you live alone and you found a big piece of furniture that you want to buy but don’t know how to get it home or don’t have a car that will fit it, ask the person you’re buying from if they’ll deliver. Sometimes they say they’ll be in the area so it’s no issue, sometimes they’ll charge a fee, other times they just can’t. If they can’t, and you don’t have a friend that can help, you can always hire someone on Task Rabbit or Thumbtack/etc to help you out.
7. Cleaning: This should be obvious, but make sure to give your finds a good clean. If it’s machine washable that’s a major win, but if it’s not, give it a good wipe down (there are some great fabric furniture cleaners out there too) and if you can/if needed let it sit outside in the sun for a bit to get rid of any musk (or leftover energy from the previous owners). If it’s small enough, you can put it in a plastic bag and let it sit in the freezer for a few days. I do this with books to kill off any possibility of book lice. Generally if it’s a clean home, the items will be cleaner too.
8. It’s ok if it doesn’t end up working out: A great thing about shopping secondhand is that if it doesn’t end up working out how you expected it to you can easily re-list it (either for the same price you bought it for or sometimes you can even make a profit if there’s enough interest in the piece or if you restored it/cleaned it up). Don’t beat yourself up, consider it practice and try again.
I hope this helps anyone who is just getting started with shopping second hand, and remember to have fun with it!
Happy thrifting,
Rose
Love this, such great tips! You are such an expert on thrifting🙂
Currently live in a small town and on the hunt for a coffee table - definitely going to use your keyword and mood board tips! Thank you!