So I inherited a queen-sized bed from a roomie, but I’ve been having trouble sleeping on it, so I’m going back to my old one. But now I’m curious, I want to get rid of it on Craig’s List, but I’m wondering how much I might be able to get for it?
The bed frame is nothing special, but the mattress and box spring both seem in good shape (no holes or tears, from what I can see).
Any ballpark figures I should set it at? I’d rather under-value it than over-value it as I mostly just want to get rid of it, but I wouldn’t mind making a few bucks in the process.
It is worth less than nothing unfortunately. The bed frame might get you a few bucks but you will most likely find that the mattress can’t even be donated to charity and must be taken to the dump. Bed bugs, bodily fluids, and other such things have made it so beds are worth nothing unless they are brand spanking new. We just tried to get rid of a beautiful bed frame and mattress and we finally ended up just giving it to my boyfriend’s mom because no one on CL would take it, even for free.
You can try cleaning it (we hired a professional carpet cleaner to clean the beds in our rental unit) and seeing if you can use that to sweeten the ad. But really, I don’t think there’s a lot of call for used mattresses.
Alright, well I posted an ad on CL for free–already got 5 emails. Figured I’d rather just get rid of the damn thing then be bothered to try and see if it’s worth anything. Someone’s picking it up in a few minutes.
In some states you can’t sell used beds, I guess because of the idea they really can’t be cleaned. That’s the law here in NC but I don’t think it gets enforced unless you are blatant about it.
I’ve heard that you can’t sell used beds legally in some states. I think people get around it by offering the frame for $100 and “throwing in” the box/mattress for free.
That’s the case in Iowa too. I’ve seen it done at estate auctions. Usually the person who wins the frame leaves the mattress, but not always. When I bought a new mattress, the delivery people took the old one away. They told me they donate good used mattresses to shelters, but they can’t sell them from the store.