Second-Hand Furniture
Related Pages: Furniture ... Resale, Consignment & Thrift Shops
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Great consignment furniture?
April 2013
No new posts on this since before 2008! Where do YOU go for great consignment furniture? I will travel for the good stuff, but have found many to have lots of new items for sale mixed in with the consigned stuff, and this defeats the point for me. thanks
home consignment center in corte madera has great used furniture. I recently moved to a bigger house and needed to furnish a second family room which I did not have in my other house. I bought two amazing couches-great shape-and an ottoman/chaise lounge chair at GREat prices and the pieces are perfect. love to shop
To buy: Out of the Closet thrift store has the best furniture for cheap. Alameda has good antiques for cheap. Clars Auction Gallery is fabulous for furniture!
To sell: I love La Bella Vita in Healdsburg for consignments. Gorgeous! A pretty home is a happy home!
There are two great home consignment stores in Alameda: Second Home, on Santa Clara and Urban Island Home Furnishings on Broadway. I particularly love Second Home because the owner's philosphy is to price things so they will sell, so the merchandise really turns over frequently. I have also made some extra cash off of my own unwanted furniture and housewares. Urban Island is a newer shop so I haven't frequented as much, but it is very spacious and also has a great selection of nice, used furnishings. Thrifty Shopper
2005 - 2009 Recommendations
Affordable, quality furniture
April 2009
Can anyone recommend local places -- not chain stores -- to buy, good, furniture at reasonable prices... anon
After visiting there (to sell something), I vowed never to buy new furniture again. Consignment Plus in Walnut Creek, http://www.consignmentplus.com/ Happy Hunting... --Love Bargains; Happy w/''Gently Used''
Take a look at Papillon Home..Recently moved to San Pablo Ave. in Albany ..right across from Sizzler. It's quality is high and prices are extremely reasonable. anon
Where to buy inexpensive contemporary furniture
Dec 2008
Do you have great ideas on where to buy contemporary, not very expensive furniture? I am not so comfortable buying off Craig's List but would like to find used furniture shops in Oakland-Berkeley-Alameda-Albany or new but reasonable furniture shops in same areas (besides Ikea, I can find that one already). Ready to Shop
Tradeway Furniture on San Pablo Ave in El Cerrito (www.tradewaystores.com) is going out of business and has sale prices through the end of the year. They can be hit or miss, but we've gotten some nice stuff there; you might check them out. Depending on your definition of ''inexpensive,'' EQ3 at Bay Street has some interesting contemporary stuff, and West Elm is coming in there as well. Also Shopping
We came across this place (over the hump in Walnut Creek) as we were trying to unload a dining table, and have vowed never to buy new again. Don't be put off by the location (W.C.), the prices are GREAT... ;-) Good Luck http://www.consignmentplus.com/ --hate to buy retail
crate and barrel has cheap designer quality furniture. jennifer
As long as it doesn't have to be new...your best bets are Craigslist and Harvey Clar's Auctions. We have gotten (and seen other people get) GREAT deals at Harvey's. They are in Oakland. They have auctions one weekend a month. They sell everything from full bedrooms sets; dining room sets, individual chairs, etc. The Saturday auction usually has ''lower end'' things than Sunday and they generally go cheaper...but I have many times seen full dining sets (beautiful wooden vintage table, sideboard, 6-8 chairs) go for $500-$1000 and full bedroom sets (wood bedframe, couple of dressers, sidetables) go for similar amounts. They are on Telegraph, near 51st. They have a website and you can get on a mailing list to get their catalogs sent to you in the US Mail. Owner of lots of vintage
Thanks for recommendations. I like buying used also but didn't have a ton of time to shop around and try to match things. We ended up with a great bedroom set from National Furniture Liquidators - I recommend checking this out - mostly new but also they have used hotel furniture if you need a really huge armoire or something! Thanks for the other ideas.
Where to sell retro furnishings
Oct 2006
Any recommendations for a store or individual who buys retro furnishings? I have several lamps, a coat tree, and numerous smaller items that are all beautiful and unusual and aren't garage sale material. I'm hoping to find a very trustworthy individual/store
The store where I rent space has a wide selection of items. They do consignment, too. It's called Park St. Antiques & Collectibles in Alameda. You can ask for Mary, Judy or Jessie. They are the owners. 510-523-0895 Good Luck, Jessica
kookykitsch.com ''Your online source for the Offbeat, the Obsolete, and the Odd!'' Jessica
I used to shop at a consignment store in Emeryville called Richochet before they moved to San Franciso. Here's their website - http://www.ricochetconsignment.homestead.com/ Lots of great stuff at very reasonable prices and they're totally trustworthy.
I miss Ricochet in Emeryville
2004 & Earlier
Looking for cheap furniture
Nov 2004
My husband and I just bought a house and we need to buy some furniture. There is a business called pier44imports that is posting their goods through Craigslist.org. The prices are incredibly cheap. For example, for $899 one can get a queen bed, dresser, two night stands, tax, and delivery. I was wondering if anyone has bought any furniture through them and if so, was it a positive or negative experience. Thanks. New Homeowners
I think the best kept secret in the bay area about furniture is the Macy's Furniture Outlet in Union City. You can get what would normally be 2k couch for like 600 bucks and about every 8 weeks, they have a 30%off of that sale. It's unbelievable and it's really great quality. erin
The store that I keep returning to is Consignments, Inc. in So. Berkeley, on Adeline at the corner of MLK and Stanford (open 10 to 6 Tuesday through Saturday. Lots of interesting things with good prices. They have clothing and books, but mostly furniture and household items. My recent purchases include: tin covered wooden trays from Mexico (in bad shape but I cleaned them up), a tin mirror (ditto bad shape but looks great now), brass lamps, a pounded aluminum lamp, a lamp base in the shape of a pineapple (brass, way cool), copper kitchenware, chests of drawers for my sons' rooms, bookshelves, a small gateleg table that just fits in my entry, old picnic baskets, wicker framed mirror, wicker loveseat for the garden with hassock, I could go on and on . Best of all, the person who runs it, Bill, plays wonderful CDs and many of the people who shop are regulars. Great atmosphere. Funky and fun. Kathy
Furniture consignment stores?
Oct 2003
We are trying to convert our formal dining room to a play area for my kids. So we would like to sell our formal dining table and six chairs, which are in excellent condition and were not cheap. Where is a good place to sell our dining room furniture? Thank you for your recommendation in advance. Annie
There are a few furniture consignment stores around that I know of. Here they are:
Ricochet Consignment, 4062 Watts St, Emeryville, 923-1422
Home Consignment Center, 1901 Camino Ramon, Danvile, 925-866- 6164
Second Home,2524 Santa Clara Ave, Alameda, (510) 523-6642
Karen
Try Ricochet Furniture Consignment in Emeryville - near the Insider's Outlet/Home Depot. good luck.
In walnut Creek and Pleasanton there are ''consignments Plus'' stores which deal in furniture. In San Rafael and Danville there are ''Home Consigments'' (?) which do the same. I've bought at all, but never sold. There's a place near Home Depot in Emeryville that says they are selling consignments, but the prices and styles have not interested me the two times I ventured. Let's see, it's on the same side street as ''Insiders Outlet'' taht should help. good luck! bargain shopper
Have you tried Ricochet Consignment? They are at 4062 Watts St. in Emeryville (510-923-1422), and have ''upscale resale'' furnishings. Look at their website at http''//www.ricochetconsignment.homestead.com furniture lover
Try Ricochet Consignment in Emeryville. They have great stuff and it turns over quickly. Karen Keith
I've used Riccochet Consignment in Emeryville and they are great. They have high quality stuff and attract the right buyers. You get 50% of the sale price. If nothing else, it will be a place to 'store' your furniture for a couple months until you decide what to do. Lisa
FYI - The Home Consignment Center in Danville mentioned in the other response also has stores in San Rafael (right off the freeway where Whole Earth Access used to be) and on the Penninsula, I think in San Mateo. I think there are one or two more. Sorry I don't have the addresses or phone numbers off hand and I have never consigned with them. Any of their stores can give you the locations for the others and I'm sure they have a website or at least have listed phone numbers with 411. S.W.
Earlier Recommendations
Nov 1999
Try Reliance Antiques in Berkeley -- 6th and Gilman (I believe). Their stuff is beautiful and reasonably priced. Doug and Theresa Harbo own the store and are nice to work with.
From: Rose (10/98)
If you are looking for a new couch I recommend that you stop by Tradeway on San Pablo Ave in El Cerrito. They are a block or two north of the Safeway on Moser. They have GREAT deals on furniture. When were looking for a couch we found a complete set (full size couch, and two armchairs with ottomans) for around $900. They also have bedroom and dinning room furniture. Some of their stuff is dicontinued, damaged or flawed stuff, but if you look carefully you can find some great stuff. Their number is 529-2360. You may want to call for their hours. I think they are closed Sundays. Also on San Pablo is Kiefers . (Across from Nations at the intersection of Central and San Pablo). They don't have as much merchandise, and we didn't find their prices as good as Tradeway, but they were still cheaper than many furniture stores.
From: Toby (10/98)
The book, Bargain Hunting in the Bay Area is a great resource for buying almost anything. I bought our refrigerator at Wards in Richmond. They have a section of damaged goods, which might mean a scratch or small dent. We also go to the Tradeway Furniture store for couches/beds, etc.
I don’t know if this will be helpful but we’ve seen nice furniture sold on
These sites
Kashew
aptdeco
You can try using mercari. It’s an app and seems to have a greater market for slightly higher end items (like Rejuvenation).
I don't think there's any hidden way to sell items, but maybe I'm wrong. Nextdoor is also an option, but I don't think it's any better than the others you've tried.
Anytime I've sold stuff on any platform, it has to be priced pretty low. I think of it as "something is better than nothing." I especially used this reasoning when selling furniture or chandelier type items for my mother. She had an idea of what they were worth, but items are really only worth what someone is actually willing to pay. It also took some time--I posted some items for a while and lowered prices as time went on. I'm also selective with who I replied to --the more stable/serious they sounded, the better--never replied to cell phone only or half sentences.
Not a lot of people are in the market for chandeliers --they have to fit a space, etc. I'd price something like that pretty low.
I like OfferUp.
I sold several furniture items this spring, and like you, I was shocked (and a little sad!) at the ghost town Craigslist has become. I tried posting my items simultaneously on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Apt Deco, and Facebook was far and away the fastest and most effective. I sold all the pieces for asking in under a week. The key for me was joining several groups (you can find different groups, ie Bay Area Garage Sale, by searching, and once you join one, Facebook will suggest others) and posting each piece to each group. I was also able to give away a few items that were particularly well-used the same way. Apt Deco seems designed for higher-end and/or more contemporary pieces in great condition; I did get one offer through there, but it was much slower than Facebook and a bit more of a hassle.
MAJOR CAVEAT: While I did easily find buyers, Facebook is RIFE with scammers. The scam pattern that was running at the time involved Zelle. Basically someone would message saying they wanted the item but couldn’t come get it themselves for some reason (out of town, working late, etc) but someone else (brother, husband, etc) would be by tomorrow but they really really wanted it so they wanted to pay for it now and did I accept Zelle? The first time this happened, I just said I didn’t have Zelle but would accept Venmo or CashApp. They suggested I ask my bank about Zelle, and when I declined they quit responding. This proved to be the pattern: as soon as the buyer suggested Zelle and I suggested something else, they ghosted me. A quick google showed me how the scam worked (it involves falsifying transfers), and Elizabeth Warren is taking banks to task right now for allowing Zelle to commit so much fraud without reimbursing customers. So that was REALLY annoying, but once I knew what was up, it was easy to ignore the scammers and focus on the legitimate buyers.
Whatever you end up choosing, good luck and don’t get scammed!
Hi there!
Generally, I strongly dislike NextDoor…but I have found it to be a great resource for buying, selling, and giving away used furniture. Many people use it for this purpose with a wide variety of items (furniture, baby items, clothing, etc.). When we moved two years ago, we were able to quickly sell or give away furniture and home items that we no longer wanted and bought some quality pieces that I really treasure. Generally, folks are very responsive, and the messaging and posting platforms are easy to use.
Good luck!
You could try Bay Home Consignment for the furniture, or Narrative Oak in Oakland. Also for an online option, Chairish is great!
I’ve recently tried Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, and Ebay (for local pickup). Sometimes it takes waiting a week or two. If all else fails, I’ve ended up putting it on eBay for free or just placed curbside to see if there are takers 🤷🏻♀️
I sometimes use OfferUp
I think selling used furniture is hard these days because IKEA has just flooded the market with cheap, throwaway furniture. I tried to sell a high quality Heywood Wakefield couch pre-pandemic and I ended up having to give it away. That said, have you tried Nextdoor? There is a market place there, but haven't used it so I'm not sure how easy/hard it is to sell things. Then there's your local Buy Nothing group (on Facebook) -- you wouldn't get money for your items, but you might find replacement items for free. You could also try holding an "Estate Sale." (Which to me sounds better than a yard sale... :)
Good luck! I would love to see a picture of your chandelier -- we need a new one for our dining room!
I have used The Local Flea, a consignment store in South SF. They have items ranging from affordable to high end. Some items have good bones but need refinishing. They charge a flat fee for transport depending on your location (that means the same fee for as many items as you want to buy during the same trip). They also charge a transport fee for buying your items. If they cannot sell your items after a certain period, they will donate it to charity.
I second the suggestions for Bay Home Consignment (does everyone know about this place? It's awesome) and online - NextDoor usually works. I'm loathe to log into FB for anything...
We just moved and I outfitted our new home with lots of pieces from CL, ND and BPN! And a sofa from Bay Home Consignment. I looked at Apt Deco but never pulled the trigger on anything.