Selling used furniture -- one practical, one ethical question

In My Humble Opinion
1

The story in brief: I have an ex-roommate who, in the space of less than two weeks, moved in, bought a bunch of new furniture, enrolled in grad school, discovered that his father had major health problems which his parents hadn’t fully disclosed to him before the move, withdrew from school before classes started, and moved back home. Due to the suddenness of the move, he offered me a couple of months’ rent plus money for utilities as a buffer in case I couldn’t find a new tenant right away. I initially said I’d take one month’s rent; the following morning Roomie offered to give me some of his furniture in place of cash. By then, of course, I had thought things over and decided that under the circumstances I couldn’t take any money from him in good conscience. (I did keep his security deposit, equivalent to about half a month’s rent.) Roomie ended up leaving the furniture anyway. I’m hoping that a new tenant will materialize before the end of September, preferably someone willing to buy the furniture, but if not, I may have to sell it through the classifieds.

First question – how much should I ask, bearing in mind that everything is brand new? 50% of the retail price? More?

Here’s what there is, and what the nearest furniture store charges for similar items when new:

One table lamp, one floor lamp – $49 and $79 at the furniture store, respectively.

Chest of drawers – $89 at furniture store, marked down from $109. (If I end up using an algorithm based on some percentage of the retail price, do I go with the regular or sale price?)

Metal twin bed frame – Headboard is $29.99 at furniture store, but I couldn’t find any item similar to the box part of the frame. Any guesses?

Twin mattress set – Same brand of mattress seems to be in the $250-280 range at various web sites, but is this for one mattress or both? How are they usually priced?

Desk and chair – I can’t find any identical items at the store or price quotes on line, but I did manage to come up with a picture of these items. Guesses on price?

Secondly, should I send the money to the ex-roomie (after compensating myself for lost rent in the event that I can’t find a new roommate in a reasonable amount of time, and deducting a suitable brokerage fee – I’m not Mother Teresa here :slight_smile: ) or should I just figure it’s my furniture now?

2

According to this site, the desk set sells for a little over $300.

How long ago did he leave? I would try to contact him before selling the furnishings.

3

This morning, but I know for a fact that he intended to sell them, so the only real question is who gets the proceeds. (And yes, I could ask, but it would be putting him in a somewhat awkward position, and in any case I’m fairly sure he would tell me to keep them if asked directly. The question is whether it’s actually right to do so.)

4

If he gave you the furniture to sell, then I would say technically you’re good to keep the money. But…

Morally, the guy had a family emergency. I would send him the proceeds over and above what you need for your own expenses. The guy did offer you two month’s rent, and did tell you to keep the new furniture. That tells me that he wasn’t trying to leave you in the lurch. You also kept his security deposit, which I think was fair.

I wouldn’t ask. Cut the guy from slack. His father is ill and he had to drop out of graduate school. Send him what you have left over and wish him luck.

5

Yeah, I guess you’re right. That’s about what I figured, although I must confess a small part of me hoped there was a moral escape clause just in case the roommate search drags on for months.

Oh well, hopefully I’ll pick up enough good karma by sending him the money that it won’t.

6

Since it’s definitely going to be someone else’s money, of course, I do want to be sure of getting a decent price for the furniture. Is 50% off of the “new” price standard? Looking at the classified ads, it seems to be, but on the other hand most of them are for items that are several years old.

7

Just an idea…you might contact an auction house nearby, if you can find a good one. They should be able to give you a good idea of what your items might fetch at an auction.

The real upside is that they’ll come and get the goodies and haul them off for you–which means you won’t have to deal with placing an ad, showing people the stuff, etc. Of course, if you live on-campus or in an apartment, that cuts down on the advertising expenses, etc.

Worth considering, perhaps. Good luck!

Best,
karol

8

What are the chances you can return the furniture to the store?

I’d say 50% off is too low. This is brand new furniture, hardly used. Try 25-30% off.

9

I’m gonna go with ivylass on this one, and say call the stores. Even stores who don’t usually take returns might be willing to take them back under these circumstances.

10

Trouble is, I don’t have the receipts, I’m not the person who originally purchased the furniture, and I’d assume my former roommate has already tried to return it. However, I will ask him if he did.

11

You could have a garage sale.

You could call a local auction studio & ask them to come get the stuff & auction it for you.

You do have a written contract with him, right?