This ripped, dated and water-stained sofa was headed for the landfill. Saved by Carol's Upholstery, this 1940s Chippendale Camel Back style sofa with intact metal coil springs and a solid harwood frame is ready for reupholstery and many more years of use.

DIYers and Environmentally-Conscious Shoppers Find Value in Second-hand Furniture

Furniture is the third largest household expense, which is an expensive reality for many newly established households including newlyweds, first-time homeowners and young families.  With garage sale season just around the corner, it’s a great time to find quality second-hand furniture but, unless you know what to look for, can be hard to spot.  The key is to look beyond the furniture’s outward condition to see its real value.  Older furniture is typically better constructed than new and has a long life-cycle that can span generations. Second-hand furniture purchases also keep these items out of our landfills. Millions of pounds of furniture are unnecessarily dumped in landfills every year in the United States.

Carol Morrissey and Ann Ray, the garage sale gurus and co-owners of Carol’s Upholstery, located in Novi, MI, want to share their collective 40 years of furniture and upholstery experience with you.  “You’ve got to look past, even ignore, old, worn, torn, stained and dated upholstery.  It’s what’s underneath the fabric and filler that makes for a quality piece of furniture.  You can always change the upholstery to suit your style,” says Carol.

Subtle animal print upholstery and decorative nailheads updated the old chair into an on-trend accent piece.

They offer the following advice:

1. Know where to go.  Thrift shops, garage and moving sales are the best places to find furniture at low cost.  Shopping estate and antique shops increase the likelihood of finding quality furniture more easily, but you’ll pay more since the store is in business to make a profit buying and selling second-hand furniture.  Check the web first to plan your shopping excursion.  Sites like GarageSaleFInder.com can give you multiple listings for a specific day and may even include photos of big ticket items, like furniture.
2. Ask about age. “You want to find furniture at least 15 -20 years old, which is better engineered and manufactured,” says Ann.  She continues, “Most furniture in this age range is made with steel coil springs, which are virtually indestructible.”
3. Flip the furniture over.  Look for a solid hardwood frame and, again, any steel spring system.

Faux patent, available in many colors and patterns, is one of the latest upholstery trends great for kids of all ages.

Once you have your fabulous find, you’re ready to reupholster the piece to fit your style. Upholstery fabric ranges in cost from $20 – $100 per yard, with the average cost of $45 per yard. Total cost for re-upholstering depends on the type of fabric selected, fabric yardage required for the project, labor, and cushion refill. Labor will vary depending on the complexity of the piece. Budget-minded consumers with smaller projects, like dining room chairs, should check for remnant fabrics available. With literally thousands of upholstery fabric brands, styles, patterns and colors, you have unlimited options to make your second-hand furniture find uniquely yours and looking brand new.

For those in the Detroit metro area, check out Carol’s Upholstery’s Garage Sale Furniture Finding Clinic Saturday, May 19, from 12-1 p.m. at their shop located at 44480 Grand River Avenue in Novi.  Giveaways, special promotions and refreshments provided.  For more information, visit Carol’s Upholstery Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CarolsUpholstery.

Eleventh ANNUAL
“GREAT U.S. 50 YARD SALE”

“THE NATION’S YARD SALE”

MAY 21-23, 2010

GENERAL INFORMATION

The eleventh annual Great U.S. 50 Yard Sale will be held Friday-Sunday, May 21-23, 2010. The yard sale started in 2000, stretching across most of Indiana. The goal is for it to grow into a Coast-to-Coast event held each year on the weekend before the Memorial Day weekend. The Great U.S. 50 Yard Sale also serves to promote tourism along U.S. 50, to unite the many diverse communities, to provide opportunities for fund raising by civic organizations, to aid the environment through recycling, and to serve as an opportunity for individuals to enjoy a great weekend of sales.

SPREAD THE WORD

The National Coordinator for the U.S. 50 Yard Sale is Tom Taylor of North Vernon, Indiana. totaylor@seidata.com

Please forward the www.route50.com site to friends.

The site is set up to view just your local area, because plotting this many sales takes a few minutes and would frustrate most people.

When shopping for home decor at garage sales you will have to keep your eyes open for items that will enhance the look you are going for. There’s no point in picking up a wall sconce, even if it’s only a buck, if it doesn’t match what you are going for or looks like it’s from the wrong era. The stuff is out there, but you’ll have to be patient in finding it.

It helps to scan the ads before heading out so you don’t waste time looking at sales full of baby stuff or antiques (unless that’s what you’re going for). Sites like GarageSaleFinder.com and craigslist are completely searchable, so you can plan your route to hit the sales that have accessories or furniture that you’re interested in.

Particularly with furniture, go early. Furniture sells FAST.

Angela Sullivan gives some great advice to readers of her blog:

Look for quality. Many homeowners are just looking to clear out their basement or garage, and are selling items that are otherwise valuable. Others just have a bunch of miscellaneous items that could easily be thrown in the trash. Thy to find that diamond in the rough.

She’s really nailed it. You have to really look at the items you’re buying, there’s no returning an item if it doesn’t work or doesn’t fit the space. Fortunately, at pennies on the dollar compared to retail, your risk is minimal and chances are you’ll be able to find something that will add that extra bit of flair to your rooms.

My niche for resale items: college textbooks

I’ve bought them for as little as 50¢, with a resale value of over $75. Last summer one seller gave me a whole box of them. It was the end of the day and she didn’t want to deal with them. I sold them individually for well over $125.

I sell textbooks both on Amazon and Ebay. And I almost never buy a dud! My secret weapon: my iPhone and a little piece of software called SnapTell. SnapTell is now available as an Android application, so you can use it on a variety of smart phones.

This little iApp is awesome! Even better… it’s FREE!

You just snap a picture of the front of a book, dvd, cd, or video game and within seconds you get tons of details — the most important for purposes of resale — the price it sells for used.

To get the “used” price choose Amazon, then scroll to the bottom and you’ll see the price range for Marketplace Offers.

That tells you approximately what the book will sell for. It helps, for textbooks, to also look at the date of publication. More than a few years old and you may have to sell it internationally to get any takers.

Plus, you’ll want to consider the size and weight of the book. Really heavy books (like an art history book I bought), may cost only a couple of bucks and sell for $12, but Amazon has strict rules on what you can charge for shipping, and any extra charges are at the seller’s expense. (Priority Mail, for instance – Amazon maxes the charges out at $6.99, for a heavy book you’ll be paying the USPS at least $9.80.) The other option for the heavy books is to sell them on ebay; no standard shipping price.

Selling books on Amazon and Ebay is super simple. For the most part, all you have to do is enter the ISBN number and all the data is provided. Then, just customize your listing with details about the condition of your item and you’re good to go.

If you’re on a Mac, it get’s even easier to list books on Amazon. An inexpensive application called Delicious
Library, handles most of the work. Using your iSight camera, shoot a picture of the bar code and the software will look up the book, cd, dvd, or video game and add it to your catalog. Then just right click on the item and choose: “Sell on Amazon”. It couldn’t get much easier than that!

Shipping

For most books, I ship them in padding envelopes. I reuse the ones I get in the mail and have supplemented my supply by shopping the sales at Walgreen’s; they frequently have them on sale for about 50 cents each.

If you choose to sell online, I highly recommend you check into using the online service for postage such as Endicia or Stamps.com. You can also use the post office website, but you can’t purchase postage for media rate parcels. Ebay, through PayPal, has a built-in shipping solution, which makes it very easy to ship, and you can choose from UPS and USPS. Most of the online solutions give you a better price on options than you’ll get in person.

Selling online isn’t for everyone. You need to be honest about the quality and condition of items you are selling. And you need to be prompt in processing and shipping orders.

Consider looking for textbooks the next time you’re out bargain hunting. The best “season” for buying is a month or two after the end of the term, and the best time to sell is a week or two before terms begin (that’s when people are looking to buy!).

Baby Shower Items

In today’s tough economy many new moms and dads are finding that the amount of items they need greatly outweighs the amount of money they have to spend. Check garage sales for gently-used baby items such as monitors, baby clothing and highchairs. These items may not be ideal for a baby shower gift, but as a gift that you can give privately they are perfect. Make sure to wash any items you purchase before giving them to the new mom.

Housewarming Gifts

When people move into a new home, especially those who are just starting out, being able to furnish a home is a struggle. Garage sale finds can make great housewarming gifts. Many times you can find sets of dishes, nice pictures to hang on the wall and other great, useable items that would be perfect for a housewarming gift.

Other Gift Giving Finds

If you know someone who is into fun jewelry or collects certain items (such as pig figurines, Elvis memorabilia, etc.) garage sales are the ideal places to shop for unique gifts. At garage sales you can find an array of neat items that will add to someone’s collection. Think about your friend who just loves panda bears. Stumbling upon a panda bear nick-knack that is really cute would make an ideal gift for your friend. Do you have a friend who is an avid reader? Getting a good deal on a box of books by his or her favorite author would be an amazing gift for your friend.

Before you purchase, always think about the person receiving the gift and how they will feel. There are people who will wrinkle their nose at second-hand items. For those folks, a garage sale find may not be the best choice, but with the move toward a greener world, most people welcome previously owned gifts and think of it in relation to the goal of “reuse-reduce-recycle.”

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Is it in style?

Make sure that the item you are purchasing is still in style, especially for older children. You don’t want to buy gently used pants that were in style back in the ’90s for your child now, no matter how great the price it. Keep your children in mind because if they wont wear it them it really doesn’t matter if you only paid 50¢ for it.

Choosing classic styles is a great way to avoid a wardrobe that looks “dated”.

Inspect every item

Never purchase any clothing before looking it over closely. Check for missing buttons, zippers that don’t work, tears and stains. If the area that the clothing is displayed in is dark, don’t be afraid to step into a better lit area to look over the clothing. You don’t to get an item home only to find it has a stain on it that you overlooked.

Check Sizes

Many people do their laundry differently, which can cause used clothing to vary in sizes. Ideally, if you are on the hunt for jeans for your daughter carry a pair of her jeans that fit nicely with you. Make sure that the garage sale owner knows you brought them with you before you start shopping. By having an item with you that fits well you can then hold up items you are considering purchasing to the item to get an idea on whether the new item will fit correctly. Likewise, a measuring tape can come in handy for verifying waist and inseam measurements.

Getting a Bargain

If you find several items that you want to purchase, don’t be shy about negotiation with the seller. Many sellers will give you a discount on a large purchase just to get the items out of the way. So if you find 5 pairs of jeans for $2 each ask the seller if they will take $8 (or less!) for all 5. This makes a better deal for you and it also makes them money.

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