is my aunt being ripped off ? g plan or mid century furniture is "worthless" furniture

[SpinningCat2]

Hi all
My aunt is clearing a house for an elderly relative. She has been told the attached furniture is "worthless" and she has listed it in Freecycle. There has been a lot of interest in some of the pieces and my worry is that she could get something in eBay or the like. Would you be kind enough to have a quick gander and see if giving it away is the right thing to do. Thanks

Bloody hell, that would be worth a lot! Specialist furniture auction quick!

G plan is very sought-after!

None of those pieces are the most charming examples, and I love mid-century stuff. eBay is a huge hassle unless you’re in a big city where collection in person is likely, otherwise you end up with dealing with couriers etc. There’s no point having a bigger national pool of sellers if they can’t physically get hold of your item. Courier/transport costs on top will put people off.

I think your aunt is right, tbh.

@Crinkle77 - Yeah I thought brown furniture wasn't very desirable these days.
You have heard of people upstyling older furniture, right? Painting them and such like?? Anyone who doesn't want the furniture in its original state is free to paint them or repurpose them.

Don't give them away @SpinningCat2. They are definitely worth something.

I'd put it all on eBay at a low starting price. If it is desirable it will get a lot of interest and the price will reach whatever people are willing to pay.

For the less desirable items, they'll sell for a few pounds (or maybe not sell at all) and then you'll know. I'd rather get 99p for something and know it was going to a good home, than throw it on the tip.

Excellent advice from a PP though about removing the doilies and ornaments and styling the items in a more contemporary way (plants?) against a plain background. That will definitely help them sell.

I have that exact table - it’s G-Plan Brandon and I’d expect to list it for around £200-£300 depending on condition if I were selling it. HTH!

This is what the table looks like with the leaves up, it’s a lot nicer in real life

These probably have a little value but I wouldn’t say are the most desirable of mid century pieces. Best bet is likely a local auction with no reserve. Selling individually on eBay is likely to be time consuming and I’m just not sure that each item would go for enough to be worth the effort

We had 60s/70s g-plan stuff from my mum's house, the local auction house refused to sell it because it wasn't worth it and told us "you might have more luck on social media". Charity shops refused it too, so I dunno. Depends how much the hassle is worth to you.

I agree with others who say this isn’t the type that sells: the lighter wood is more desirable and this is later, more uglier stuff. In the West Country this would be freecycle or tip.

As others have said dark wood isn't as popular, I would probably donate to a charity and at least if they make some money you will know it has gone to a good cause.

Perhaps send good photographs to a local auction house to get an opinion?

If listing online, it's probably worth finding out the name of the item, so you'll get picked up by keyword searches.

A quick google brings up websites like this that look helpful.

I try and find an auction house. my husband sold a few bits from my MIL and the sideboard went for £300 or something like that

@MotherWol

This is what the table looks like with the leaves up, it’s a lot nicer in real life

I really can’t see how you can be sure your table is the same as the OP’s. It could be anything from their picture of it - you can’t see the legs or anything. Plus it’s much darker wood, a different grain. I agree your table is lovely but I’m not convinced the OP’s example is!

The style of chairs makes me think it’s not the Brandon table. The Brandon table was designed by Victor Bramwell Wilkins in the early 1950s; the butterfly chairs in OP’s photo were designed later, around 1960 by Ib Kofod-Larsen. So assuming the table was bought at the same time as the chairs, it’s more likely to be the Librenza table.

OP if you look underneath the furniture it will be stamped, and the style of the stamp will tell you when it was made. 1950s GPlan has a gold stamp, by the late 1960s the stamp was red and white. On earlier pieces the stamp also tells you the name of the designer.

home-modern.business.site/

Check out 'Home Modern' in North London. They seem to be your market. Just did a quick Google search, don't know them otherwise.