How to determine the value of your furnishings

[Opti]

I need to make up a list of my furnishings and a sign a value to
them that they might realistically sell for. Given I live in an apartment with no ability to hold a garage sale I feel I'd be lucky
to get $200 if I had to sell reasonably quickly.

How should I value things like a couch, coffee table, really
old bedroom set, etc.? My furniture has suffered many moves
so I'm not sure really I'd get buyers on anything.

[dannylion]

Here's a website that suggests values for donations. There are probably similar sites with different ideas about value. Pick the one that works best for your situation.

donateguide.com/donationvalue.html

[Deleted]

Why do you need to do that?

[Deleted]

Look on Craigslist for equivalent condition items. Save a snapshot into a file so you have back up for your valuation. OR go to the local thrift store and value per their prices if they have similar aged items.

Do you have to list items individually, or can you lump them together? e.g. 12 year old living room furniture: $50, 5+ year old Electronics: $70, Kitchen Wares: $40. You need to list with each item/group what valuation method you use. Garage Sale value, craiglist value, thrift store value and so on.

Good Luck!

[Sum Dum Gai]

Is this for renter's insurance? They always had some rule of thumb value, like $X/room that they told us and we went with that. The only thing you'd list individually are art work, jewelry, antiques, etc. Actual high value items, not Ikea bedside tables and stuff.

[Deleted]

If it is for insurance isn't it replacement value?

[Opti]

Not for insurance - literally what I could sell it for if I had to.
Danny thanks for the website. I did think of craigslist but it only
tells you really what people try to sell things for not what they actually get.

The only thing I really learned from that is if you are selling a table like a kitchen table, unless it is really special you probably will need to sell it for $100 or less.

[Tennesseer]

While it might be exhausting and time consuming, look for furniture and other items similar to yours on Ebay. Watch tho individual pieces and see if they sell and for how much.

[Deleted]

I also suggest looking at similar items on craigslist. You are right, you won't know what it sold for but you can see a pattern, reduced pricing... I tend to agree with your comment about selling for less than $100. I see bedroom sets, couches and stuff for thousands... Why would anybody spend thousands to buy used furniture??? At least I would rather buy a lower quality but new.
Another thing you can do is, list the items on craigslist and see if you get any responses. If not, lower the price... It wouldn't be as quick but if you don't get at least 1-2 responses within a day or two, you could lower.

[Tennesseer]

And still another idea: visit garage, yard and estate sales and see what the owners are pricing their items. You won't know what they sold for but it at least give you an idea.

Or attend a live, local auction.

[Opti]

Huh. I didn't know they sell furniture on Ebay. I've yet to try to sell anything there because of the start up costs and needing at least PayPal IMO.

[Tennesseer]

You don't need to sell your furniture on Ebay (and yes, people sell their furniture on Ebay). I only recommended watching Ebay's furniture sales so you could see what others are selling their furniture for and if folks are buying it and at what price. It would give you a very rough idea what you might want to sell your own furniture for and if it's a realistic price.

Ebay is one of the few websites where you can actually see the final sale price of an item.

[dannylion]

You might contact an auction house or someone who handles estate sales and ask if they'd be willing to give you a ballpark estimate on what your stuff would bring if you sold it. They might be willing to give you a quick estimate based on a description and not have to come to your home and probably charge you for their time.

[mollyanna58]

I've yet to try to sell anything there because of the start up costs and needing at least PayPal IMO.

There aren't any start up costs that I'm aware of on Ebay. There are fees to list items for sale, but if you use the auction format, you get 50 free listings per month. There is a final value fee when you actually sell an item (9% on most items; this may scale down after a certain final value).

You are correct that most small sellers need to use PayPal.

[Deleted]

I am guessing you don't have to itemize, so really $500 if the furniture is older - used furniture has very little value. They are looking to be sure you don't have $100K in Louis XIV furniture that you don't want to sell.