Hi there - you guys are such a wealth of knowledge... so I thought I'd send out a question. No judgments please....
We are downsizing big time. At one time we had 2 jobs and lots of disposable income and when furnishing our new home decided to make the investment into 'forever' furniture/rugs that we would be able to pass down to our children and grandchildren.
Fast forward 9 years and we're pro-actively heading in a different direction. Downsizing huge and several of our more expensive pieces will not fit into the smaller homes we are looking at.
Is anyone aware of a staging service, or high end re-sale site to sell larger, expensive pieces of furniture and oriental wool/silk rugs? New, these items were in the 8-15K price range per piece. I realize that we won't get anything near that, but Craig's list doesn't seem like a logical option either....
Any assistance is very much appreciated.
How about a living estate sale?
Or consignment at a higher end type consignment store?
Compare what the split is and go from there.
You are right though, you won't get what it's worth 2nd hand. I picked up a used Knabe Grand Piano, for free, and had it refinished for $2k. It's worth over $45k. And I have a Henredon sofa from a nice consignment shop for $400. Brand new it's at least $10k.
First, good for you. We made a similar decision recently and honestly... it has been great!
Second, if you are looking for a company to sell your items, you will want to look into someone who does estate sales. Call around and see what kinds of rates they are willing to offer you. When we moved, we sold most of our items privately because we paid a fortune for furniture that was then worth less than half of the retail value... adding a "fee" on top of it made it worth so much less.
Third, good luck! It's difficult to sell large items because most folks aren't going to come to you with several thousand dollars in cash. Had we not sold the dining room set, we would have consigned it so that it could be "housed" somewhere and purchased using a credit card.
Hello! I'm glad that you realize that you won't get the price you paid for it. It's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!!
I would check with a auction house that deals with high end furniture.
http://www.auctionmasters.com/
I don't know if this is the place you are looking for- I'm not from Minnesota. So check around and find out if there are high end auction houses or even consignment shops that might be able to take the items and sell them for you.
I would also check ebay - I know you don't want to ship these items - you can ensure it's a LOCAL PICK UP ONLY - and you can also put a reserve on the item so you don't end up selling it for less than you want for it.
Good luck!
At least you accept the fact that you will not get near what you paid for the pieces.
Look at the bigger picture.. If you donate, you get a tax deduction.
I would look into estate sales because thos agents may know someone who knows someone who is looking for something similar OR be able to find a place for you to re-sell or have an eatate sale.
Good luck
You're probably going to be lucky to get 50% of the retail cost for newer furniture. Take it and don't look back!
For antiques, etc. with HIGH value, consider consignment.
Look into your local auction houses.
high-end auction houses
Find a consignment shop. They sell it for you and they get a cut. If it's nice, that's where I would go.
Why would anyone judge you? That would be awful!
I'm sorry your circumstances have changed. I agree with the suggestion to contact high-end auction houses. Especially if you have some time to unwind things.
I would NOT want to allow Craigs List people to come in. There will be people who come in to case your place - that's a little scary. AND people go to Craigs List to find stuff really cheap and will low-ball you to the ends of the earth.
By the way, those rugs don't lose value. Don't just assume you will have to sell them cheap.
Best of luck in this.
you can look into Bookoo.com too
Talk to estate sale companies and/or high end auction companies. I use auctionmasters.com a lot but I don't feel they would be the right choice for you.
