So you’re planning to clear a house and you have plenty of furniture to try and do something with. Thinking about doing this task can be harder than actually doing it. Luckily there’s various options you can do with your furniture at a loved ones home.
Donate your furniture to charity
A common way to disperse unwanted furniture is to donate it to charity, a local charity will appreciate a phone call for them to call by and have a look around your house and pick a few items to take with them. They will generally load up the items straight away and take them back to their premises to sell in the hopes of making a profit for their cause. There’s a few items that a charity will have to check before taking, they will have to check that a fire safety sticker is present on particular items of furniture. A fire sticker will need to be present on sofas, mattresses and anything with a padded cushion, this will be a small tag with a fire picture on a printed code and its normally stitched underneath the piece of furniture.
Sell your furniture on facebook or ebay
If you have the time and want to sell some items to pay for costs and contribute to the estate then selling the better pieces of furniture on Facebook marketplace or ebay is a good idea. Both of these platforms are great to sell items but you need a little patience and be prepared to be messed around. You may sell the item and end up getting a cancellation email or message, or end up meeting someone on a Saturday evening to collect a table, chairs or some piece you have sold. The only issue you may have with selling on a platform are buyers nit-picking the item when collecting it and aiming to give you less money than agreed. The best way to avoid being messed around is to ensure you are honest with your description and supply plenty of pictures.
Sell your furniture at auction
Another great way to sell furniture without the risk of being messed around by the buyer is to sell at a local auction house. First you will have to call them and possibly email some pictures to them and they will give you an estimated sale price. You can think about your decision and if you decide to use the saleroom, you can simply deliver the items down to them or hire a man & van or a house removal company. Always be mindful about hiring transport as their costs could end up costing more than you gain. You may want to leave all the transport work and hire a van and complete it all in 1 day or over a weekend, you can hire a van then deliver the auction items and while you have the van you can do some tip runs or move items between family members. Selling at auction will definitely be easier than selling it yourself but you will be charged round 30% of the hammer price so be prepared to lose this money.
Hire a house clearance company to buy or clear your furniture
One of the easiest but more expensive options is to hire a house clearance company. A professional set up will give you options and they will offer to purchase the better items depending what your house clearance company specialises in. They may specialise in vintage and retro, antiques, modern, art deco etc. They will buy the items directly and take them straight away. You will not have the head of ache organising transport or dealing with buyers and letting you down or worst of all, time wasters. Regarding the other items which have no value, your chosen house clearance company will be able to clear these items and leave you with a completely clear house. This service is the most costly but it will leave you with a clear house, with no issues like dealing with other people. They will recycle everything and ensure zero fly tipping takes place.
