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Thread: Second hand market

  1. #1
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    Second hand market

    I am in the process of downsizing and trying to sell a lot of my stuff. I am discovering that so many baby boomers are unloading their stuff too that the market is saturated. Some resale shops are no longer even taking Waterford and Lennox!

    I used to be able to sell just about anything on eBay. Now I can hardly give the stuff away. I took a lot of things to an auction house - sold about half and didn't make much, but it was better than nothing.

    I had a few Longaberger baskets. Those were hot items in the 80s and 90s. I didn't get much for them. So I searched eBay to see how many of them are listed and as of today there were over 17,000!

    Has anyone experienced something similar? When we were clearing out my MIL's house a few years ago, we couldn't sell much of her stuff either. And she had a lot of nice vintage and antique items.

  2. #2
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    We have had many, many conversations about this exact topic. There is no market for "old brown furniture" meaning antiques that people my age and older once collected. Formal dinnerwareis not popular at all.

    One time in recent months I surreptitiously followed a young couple around an antique mall because I wanted to see what they were looking at. They were such odd birds, everyone else in the antique mall is my age. Young people like industrial items, things like metal shelving.


    I don't mind it because I don't have tons of collectible stuff that I plan to sell, and if there is something I like now it's reasonably priced. I have said many times Here that now even I can afford 18th century furniture. It's unlikely I will go out and buy a chest of drawers from the 1780s, but I could if I wanted to because it is now affordable.


    Longaberger items are manufactured collectibles and there is never much of a market for that kind of thing.

  3. #3
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    Yes!

    I have been steadily downsizing for about a dozen years. I've gone from a 1200 sq ft 3/2 house, to a 750 sq ft 1/1 apt, to a small house -> about 550 sq ft, plus wrap around deck and nice sized yard (this one I own! and Not "with the bank" lol).

    I gave up on trying to sell furniture, and focused instead on finding people who can use it, for free, and last 2 pieces are finally gone.

    My cupboards and shelves are too full, so I am in the process of culling; that stuff will go to "Circulation Day" at my church in a couple of weeks.

    I have china that I would love to sell, but there is absolutely NO market for it so it sits in boxes in the corner of my bedroom.

    And, I have way too many books! I was happy to have them to read in the long rainy winter this past year and I know I wont read them again, but! I'm finding I can't even give them away!! I was routinely donating books to the library for their semi-annual used book sales. Now they say they had so many left over that they aren't accepting any more!

    And the great children's literature that I was hoping to donate to my school/district as I was retiring last month -- they didn't want any more books!! The district librarian told me, "No, thank you. I've just finished throwing away half of what was in each library."

    Yes, disposal of excess stuff is a huge problem, especially if you try to do it responsibly. And forget about selling anything.

  4. #4
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    A year ago, I spent a lot of time trying to sell furniture and stuff before we moved. No one wanted a lot of it. I ended up handing over what I couldn't sell to my neighbor who ran estate sales since the house sold and we had to empty it out. I will never know what he did with all that stuff but he sent me a nice check afterwards. You can only grieve so much over all the things that once had value. Now, we are just replacing what we need using craigslist, i.e. buying used except for a new mattress. I no longer feel attachment to stuff after going through that ordeal.

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    Yes.
    Dust catchers sold as collectibles (the baskets, hummels, precious moments, etc. etc. etc.). As well as the old china, crystal, duncan phyif (or however it is spelled) furniture and in the last decade or so, the oak furniture.

    Antiques seem to be something that the younger generations have about as much interest in, as they do getting a car at 16.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    if there is something I like now it's reasonably priced. I have said many times Here that now even I can afford 18th century furniture.
    Iris lilies - I know exactly what you mean. As I look through second hand stores, I see so many items I longed for when I was younger and couldn't afford them. Wedgwood, Waterford, Lennox, Ethan Allen furniture, etc. It is cheap and plentiful now, but I no longer desire them.

  7. #7
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    I see this trend, and I have almost always lived in small spaces so the appeal was not there. I do have some antiques, they are small sized pieces that make me happy and I have had for a very long time. But people have been trying to pass down formal dishes to me for years and I have been saying no, thank goodness.

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    We got mom set up with Ethan Allen arrangable room plan units for probably less than $30 a piece. Her whole apartment was less than $800 and it looks great. Will outlast her and me.

    Used auctions, estate sales and craigslist.

    I told hubby for 30 years that mass manufactured stuff would not be "rare" and would only hold value thru the speculation cycle. Even stamps and rare coins went thru a huge speculative bubble. Much like real estate. So our motto is "when others think they will make a lot of money, get out."

  9. #9
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    I grew up surrounded by antiques, and have zero interest in them. Most of the stuff I have "too much" of consists of clothing and art supplies. Most of the books I've hung on to are arts/crafts books, for which there's still a market, I bet. You can find sellers' groups on Facebook--and probably other places--where people report on what sells and what doesn't. Fascinating stuff. Look for old $axophone$ in good condition.

  10. #10
    Moderator Float On's Avatar
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    The really nice antique and flea market I was in last year sold out...it's being remodeled to be a huge dollar general store.
    I walked through a new flea market yesterday...noticed there were a lot of metal fake'tiques with made in china tags.
    A guy came in asking about selling his wife's china. Guy behind the counter said there was no interest in China.
    I did find a "weathered" shelf I was interested in for $10 its probably fake "weathered".
    Float On: My "Happy Place" is on my little kayak in the coves of Table Rock Lake.

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