Where to sell antique mahogany sofa and chairs

[missl1]

I have inherited an antique mahogany (I think) sofa and three chairs. For the last 15 years, they've been in my house but now it's time to let them go.

I don't know enough about them to put them on eBay. Where should I go to sell them? Any good recommendations?

Local auction house?

Unless they are very special/ a sought after name, I think you’ll have a hard time even giving them away tbh.
We sent a large solid mahogany dining set and china cabinet to the tip because not even charities would take it after PiL died. Nobody showed any interest online to give away either. Sideboards / dressers seem to be the only thing people want, to turn them into fancy Coffee stations a la intstagram 🙄

Look for 'antique sofa' on Ebay and see what they go for.
List it and see if you get any interest. Where you are will affect whether or not it will sell.
Don't accept anything other than cash on collection.

or

Try an auction house or two. If they're not interested, stick it on Ebay.
If it doesn't sell, freecycle it.

If you put the make , like 'chesterfield sofa' into eBay, you can filter by Sold Items and see how much they actually sell for.

Ok thanks everyone. I'll try a local auction house first, but doesn't sound massively promising.

Your first problem will be without fire safety labels on the upholstery, no retailer or auction house will touch them, technically it's illegal to sell them privately but you are unlikely to be prosecuted.

I love buying antiques/vintage items on eBay and have - almost - entirely furnished several period houses that way over the past 22 years. So I'd definitely look there for similar sofas/chairs to gauge what they might be worth first @missl1.

We've bought a few period sofas there, from dealers and private sellers. Currently have just one antique sofa that we paid a few hundred pounds for - admittedly it's a fairly unique Arts & Crafts design with original embroidery/applique, but if your pieces are unusual or interesting, someone might be interested.

You could always post a pic here to get opinions on whether it's worth the effort and/or find out more about them.

As an aside, none of the vintage/antique upholstered sofas or chairs we've bought on eBay or auction houses have ever had (or are likely to have) fire safety labels. We purchased an antique armchair within the past six months from a very reputable local auction - no labels whatsoever. It's an antique so why would it? If you want safety labels, you don't buy antique/vintage.

Mark the listing 'needs re-upholstering'.

I’ve had loads of mahogany furniture to sell from my mother’s house and it’s been really difficult to shift. People don’t want what seems to be called ‘brown’ furniture any longer and I couldn’t even give it away for free. Some was absolutely beautiful. I ended up donating lots to a charity furniture centre.

They will sell if you put them on ebay.

It will be difficult to sell unless it’s in some way collectible or exceptional.

List it clearly, honestly and succinctly with good photographs.
List width, depth and height of each piece.
Don't use words like beautiful, gorgeous and stunning - they are off-putting and nobody searches for those words.
Use words like 'believed to be x years old/mahogany' if not sure.
Name the origin or provenance, if you know it.
Mark the listing 'needs re-upholstering' (if it doesn't meet fire regs), 'cash on collection only'.
Give some indication of where collection is from - 'approximately 1 mile from J12 of M41' or 'just off A14' or whatever.

It will have a market.