What happened to furniture?

This antique sideboard has more real wood than the entire chain of Walmart stores! Click the pic to see what it sold for at auction.

Furniture is S-L-O-W. Very slow. Almost dead. For the past five years, sellers of antique furniture have been scratching their heads wondering whether to throw that old oak office chair in the fireplace for heating fuel or try to sell it one more time.

At auctions throughout the country, bureaus and chests that used to bring $300-$500 often sell for $50-$75 and the auctioneer sometimes has to beg for any bid. Yup, furniture is slow.

                                                               What happened?

Well, first of all result’s may vary, although this is a pretty widespread issue. But faring better is higher end furniture, that is, pieces priced at $1,000 and up.

Also, used furniture that is priced very low is selling well. Especially pieces that people always need such as bureaus, small stands etc. (Of course the rub here is you have to find these things at a price that enables you to sell it cheap. The incentive to deal in this market is just not there for a lot of dealers )  Auctions are suffering the most, as they need to liquidate inventory in a much faster manner than other venues.

Here are the causes as I see them:

• The foreclosure crisis has brought a glut of excess furniture on the market.
• The slow economy has done the same.
• Violent Spring storms of the last few years have made it difficult for antique furniture dealers who sell at outdoor shows.
• EBay has many former furniture dealers turning to smalls for income sources. It’s easy slip a piece of antique jewelry in an envelope and ship it accross world.

                                                 Who benefits and how to take advantage

• Young couples and people just starting out who can often get a house full of furniture at a country auction for under $1,000
• Dealers that are savvy enough to adapt their buying practices. 

                                                             The Dice Throw

I know several dealers that are stockpiling for the day when the “furniture market comes back”. As an auctioneer, stockpiling is against my nature. I crave liquiditiy. Getting great deals on furniture could very well afford one to store up a lot for a furture windfall, but this is a market that may never come back full steam. Be careful, and make sure you’re buying right!

Stay away from:

Oversized pieces. The market is even more limited for these pieces.

Still selling to some degree:

Small stands

Painted furniture and chests of drawers.

                                                                    
                                                                What to do

If you have some good furniture to sell, it’s best to eliminate the middle man. I know, I am one such middle man!

Two good options I see if you must sell your furniture is:

On boocoo.com Boocoo is an online auciton site that has been taking off pretty well. It’s free to list, and has a unique business model that relies on ads in local newspapers to generate online sales. The way boocoo works is when people sign on, their PC automatically shows first, the auction items in their geographical area. 

This is a fantastic way to sell large items which don’t need to be shipped! In this way it’s like Craigslist. UNLIKE Craigslist, you have to register so there is a good degree of safety. Also boocooo has an automatic in-house insurance policy on purchases up to $300. There is no cost to the buyer or the seller for this insurance.

Another feasible option is Craigslist itself.