Where/ how to sell a new bespoke sofa?

[sellotape12]

Has anyone reliably sold a new sofa? I'm reluctantly admitting I don't like our new sofa which is a beautiful, bespoke Love Your Home 3-seater in olive green. It's much comfier than Loaf or Swoon and well made, I just have buyer's remorse. I've tried eBay at half what we paid, and people on Marketplace seem to be time wasters. Where else could I go?

Just be patient.

Nice advertisement though 😁 👏👏

What don’t you like about it?

It's bloody lovely. But no one wants to spend much on a 2nd hand sofa, especially if new... indicates it's not comfortable. Plus, if I waa to spend hundreds on a nearly new sofa ot would have to be exactly what I wanted.

I just bought a sofa and armchair for a tenner, the most I've spent on a 2nd hand sofa is £50.

Maybe try a local auction house?

Sorry, probably not helpful.

People don’t pay half price for second hand sofas. They want to choose their own sofas in the colour and shape that they like and that fits the space they have in their house and they want to be able to buy other things that go with it. And they don’t want to mess about arranging vans.

I fell in love with and bought a sofa from a shop at the weekend that was 80% off and sold my perfectly lovely old sofa for £2O on facebook marketplace.

Unfortunately you won’t get much for it. If it’s comfy why don’t you style it so you like it? Play around with the colour of the wall behind it, cushions and throws.

The problem with second hand soft furnishings is that there's always a risk of bed bugs being brought into the house, so even though I buy a lot of my furniture second hand I'd never buy a sofa that way. So the only people who will are ones who are looking for something very very cheap and willing to take the risk.

Get it reupholstered if you don’t like it and it’s comfortable.

That’s a good idea, to get it reupholstered.

Or change up your room so it fits in better. What sort of style do you like?

This. I don’t think you’ll get half or a quarter of what you paid secondhand.

Ooh I love it! Where are you?!

I actually saw your eBay listing @sellotape12 as we've been looking for a new sofa for our second living room. I was searching for a green sofa, but as I really wanted something in linen, ruled yours out.

It's a gorgeous sofa though and I'm sure the right buyer is out there - it'll just take a bit of patience, but you may also have to accept a little less. At least you have it on Best Offer, but having paid that much I can understand you don't want to let it go for peanuts!

@CatherinedeBourgh we've bought several gorgeous second hand/antique/ex-display sofas on eBay and at auction houses over the years and have never had an issue with bedbugs...these have been everything from £200 up to £2000, so I disagree that only people looking to spend a few quid will be buying!

We just sold our Sweetpea & Willow sofa for £400 on marketplace which I thought was ok considering it was seven years old. I almost didn't list on there though as every other sofa listing seems to be a scam.

Tbh, I'd probably look at reupholstering/loose covers rather than sell at a huge loss!

Whilst it might be 3 seater length, two cushions means the third person would be cursed with sitting on the cushion crack which is extremely uncomfortable.

It’s a good shape, if it’s comfy I’d go the loose covers route.

You can't get much for second hand sofas no matter how expensive they were.

The other problem with second hand sofas is transporting them. You’re adding a hundred quid to so for a man with a van etc.

I’ve seen this place but can’t vouch for them as I’ve not used them but they sort out the delivery I believe
www.sofalistic.co.uk

Can you provide a link to your eBay ad please @sellotape12 ..?

Why don’t you like it?

Looks a tad low to the ground but i'll give you a tenner for it, if you'll give a free delivery to central Scotland.
Pm me if interested
Tia 😁

Why don't you like it? Sometimes it takes a while to get used to things? New cushions?

I think I recall your original thread. It’s a gorgeous sofa, perhaps ask a local interior designer for inspiration. It’s such a great colour and the ‘right’ cushions could break up the colour and bring your room together.
not what you asked for but if it’s comfortable I’d invest in trying to work with it. Or try it in chat gpt etc

The greigy rug and grey doors are clashing with your sofa. The walls look like they have a yellow undertone. Perhaps a new rug and a tin of paint could help? Much cheaper than getting a new sofa!

I'll have it. How much and where do you live?

No sofa is ever possible to sell second-hand for anything near its purchase price. Even very new, you are being unrealistic to even think you might get half what you paid for it.

Over 90% of the "value" of sofas is the premium people place on being able to choose something that exactly works for their space - either from a big supplier who stocks many many models so they can filter for the exact dimensions and colour they want, or getting one custom made, the price is intrinsically linked to this function of choice and therefore the fact that the seller has very little economy-of-scale - ikea sofas by contrast are generally cheap because there is comparatively little choice so they can make savings by making a larger volume of identical sofas.

When you are selling a single sofa because you don't want it, it doesn't matter how nice or high quality or comfortable or new it is, it is worth less than 10% of what you paid for it precisely because you are offering no choice at all, it is available in one size and one colour and so there is no premium or value. You only have a chance of selling it for more if it just happens to exactly meet the desires of one person who is actually looking for a sofa just like that, who happens to want a sofa right now. That's not very likely but is possible if you have spare space for it to wait in unused until the right buyer comes along.

When we wanted to sell our old sofa we realised we had no chance - local advertising platforms were full of Free to Collector sofas because of the number of people simply wanting to avoid paying the £30 council bulky waste collection fee. We eventually found someone willing to collect it for free with free beer thrown in too.

Lower your expectations.

I’ve just bought a similar lovely second hand sofa for £200! Just got to find a man with a van now.