Did you know that some pieces of furniture such as wooden tables and chairs can last as long as 20 years before needing to be replaced?
When it is time to buy new furniture, you might be wondering where you should start. Going to your average furniture store will give you some very average choices at very high prices.
On the other hand, if you go to a consignment furniture store, you will find that your options will be quite varied and unique. But, at the same time, you won't have the chance to buy factory-new furniture. Even so, buying consignment furniture can still be one of your best options simply because of the variety and quality you can find.
But what should you look for when learning how to buy consignment furniture? Keep reading and learn more about it with these consignment furniture buying tips.
Keep a Detailed Shopping List on Hand
It can be easy to wander around a consignment furniture store and not buy anything if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. After all, there are so many options to choose from and you may be easily overwhelmed. Should you buy a new set of chairs or an armchair or a table?
To start, you will need to think about what you actually need to buy and then what you want. For example, if you're armchair broke, you will need to get another armchair right away. This is something you need and not necessarily something you want.
On the other hand, you may want a unique and luxurious coffee table even though you have a perfectly functioning coffee table already. This is a want instead of a need. Whatever the case, you should put all of these items on your shopping list.
For the most convenience, try listing the most important items at the top and then list the least important items at the bottom. This will keep your list organized and it will also keep you focused on what you need when shopping for consignment furniture. You might be persuaded to buy things you don't need, but as long as you stick to your list, you should be able to find the most important furniture items.
The Details of Your List
But keep in mind that your shopping list should be more detailed than a list of furniture pieces you may need. You should also include the dimensions and materials you are looking for. Dimensions are especially important.
After all, if a piece of furniture is too large, it might not be able to fit through the doorway to your home and, in some cases, it might not even fit in the room you want it in. On the other hand, if you buy a piece of furniture that turns out to be too small for your living space, you will find that it will look a bit strange among all of your other furniture.
When writing down your shopping list, don't forget to list the furniture materials you would like to buy. Suppose you want a wooden dining table to complement your dining room. You might be tempted to buy other types of dining tables made of glass or metal, but as long as you stick to your shopping list, it will be much easier to come home with exactly the furniture that you want.
Choose the Right Consignment Furniture Store
Many people think that they can walk right into any old consignment furniture store and find exactly what they're looking for, but unfortunately, it isn't so simple. Different consignment stores will have completely different selections of furniture. Some stores might have furniture pieces in a style you love while others are full of tacky furniture.
More than that, if you really don't do your research before shopping, you might end up walking into a consignment store that is musty, dusty, and smelling of mold from old furniture. Of course, the last thing you want to deal with is furniture that has not been kept in good shape over the years. But when it comes to the question of where to buy consignment furniture, where should you start?
A great place to start is on the internet with online customer reviews.
In this day and age, most businesses have at least a few customer reviews. Online customer reviews are important for a variety of reasons, most importantly because they have already experienced a particular consignment store for you and you don't have to waste time and energy going there for yourself.
Online reviews can also tell you information that you might not find on the store's website. For example, suppose you find a consignment store that you seem to like and its website seems high-quality and reputable. However, when you check the customer reviews, you'll find that the majority of the people who shopped there were unhappy with their experiences.
What You Need to Know
They might not have liked the quality of the furniture, the quality of the store, the customer service, or something else. Whatever the case, you should be suspicious of stores that have bad customer reviews. If a store doesn't care about making its customers happy, then what does it care about?
On the other hand, if you find a consignment furniture store with a ton of positive customer reviews, it might be worth looking further into that store. Reading the individual customer reviews will tell you a lot about the pros and cons of a particular store. For example, a store might have great and unique furniture but the customer service might not be that great.
Also, keep in mind that every review is a personal opinion, so what might be a downside for one person might not be a downside for you. As long as you check the customer reviews of a particular store before visiting it, you shouldn't have any trouble having a good experience when you finally arrive to do your shopping.
Don’t Forget About Your Budget
Many people get so excited about the idea of buying new furniture that they end up completely forgetting about their budget.
You shouldn't let this happen to you, otherwise, you might regret it later. One of the benefits of consignment furniture is that each piece is unique and you won't be able to find anything else like it, but that doesn't mean you should buy up every piece of furniture that catches your eye.
If you do end up doing this, you'll soon find that your wallet is empty and you're stuck with a bunch of furniture that you don't really need. Even though the furniture might be nice, you can't have everything which is why you should stick to a budget. Creating a furniture budget isn't hard at all.
First, you need to think about what you need to buy. If you need to buy a dining table along with a whole set of chairs, you're going to need to set aside a large chunk of money. On the other hand, if you only plan on buying an armchair, you'll need a much smaller chunk of money.
Whatever the case, when setting up your budget, you should choose an exact number so you have a defined spending limit. Once you have an exact number to work off of, you won't be so tempted to go over that number and spend more than you want.
The Details
This won't be the case if you don't set an exact number.
Instead, you might be tempted to buy a few more pieces of furniture because they will only take you "slightly" over your budget. It is best to avoid this problem so you don't end up regretting all the money you spent at a later time.
Saving up and setting aside a bit of money for furniture shopping will make the process of shopping for furniture much easier. That way, you can rely on the extra money that you set aside instead of the funds that you might need for more important things such as food or rent. Again, the amount of money you need will depend on what kind of furniture you plan on buying.
Bedframes and dining tables tend to be very expensive while smaller furniture items shouldn't cost all that much. However, this may not be the case at all times. You might end up stumbling across some very high-quality or even antique pieces of furniture.
For example, you may find a beautiful chair full of intricate designs, but because it is a chair, you might not think it is worth that much. However, later on, you might find that the chair was worth a fortune because it was an antique. If you specifically want to go shopping for antique furniture, you'll want to have a larger budget.
Otherwise, plan your budget around whatever ordinary furniture you plan to buy.
Take Your Time
When shopping in an ordinary furniture store, you can find pretty much whatever you want in a short period of time. That's because these furniture stores will have almost every piece of furniture on hand from couches and armchairs to dressers and tables. On the other hand, shopping at consignment furniture stores might take a bit longer when it comes to finding what you want.
This is because consignment furniture comes from all over the place and each piece will be unique. One consignment store might be full of chairs while another is filled with lamps and tables. Day by day, pieces of furniture will come and go out of your local furniture stores and, as a result, every time you visit there will be something new.
You'll never be able to know if the type of furniture you want will show up. For that reason, when shopping at consignment furniture stores, you will need to have a certain degree of patience. More often than not, you won't be able to find exactly what you want right away.
Buying Consignment Furniture
You might have to wait a while or you might have to visit a few different consignment stores before you finally find what you're looking for. But why deal with consignment stores when you could get faster results at ordinary furniture stores?
The main benefit of consignment furniture stores is that they sell very unique pieces of furniture. At ordinary furniture stores, all the furniture pieces are practically clones of each other. You might end up with the same set of furniture as your neighbor.
But if you want your home's interior design to be unique, you don't have to look any further than your local consignment furniture shop. In such a shop, you can find furniture made of all different materials and sometimes even from different eras.
While the furniture you buy might not all match perfectly, it can give your home a splash of color and style that you would never be able to obtain when shopping at an ordinary furniture shop. All you need is a bit of patience when looking for the perfect pieces of consignment furniture.
What You Need to Know About Buying Consignment Furniture
Buying consignment furniture isn't as tricky as you might expect. Consignment furniture has the benefit of being unique and stylish, but when buying pieces of furniture, you will need to keep a few things in mind. You will want to have a shopping list on hand, make sure you're shopping at the right shops, and you shouldn't forget about your budget.
To learn more about buying consignment furniture, contact us here.
