Furniture Consignment Gallery Blog

Hey this is Christa, your friendly, FCG computer nerd and photographer!

We've had some great new features added to our website recently by our team.We've been on the quest of making the site even more user friendly for all of our valued customers! You may have noticed the red price tags. not only are they snazzy to look at but right underneath that tag we now have the next drop down price and the date it will drop down. That brings me to our first tutorial!

TUTORIAL: Email Reminders for Price Drops

This way you can have the computer automatically send you a friendly reminder that that wonderful piece you wanted has dropped to the next price (usually 10% off)! It's really easy to do this:

STEP 1: click the button circled in red below that says "Schedule a price drop reminder"

STEP 2. Type in Your name (this helps keep your important reminder out of that automated spam folder)

STEP 3. Type in the email address you would like to recieve the price update to (make sure it's something you check often so you don't miss out on a great item!)

STEP 4. Click the "Set Reminder" button

STEP:5 Click "OK" to confirm the email subscription to the item

STEP: 6 You should see this screen saying you'll recieve an update the day before the price drop and then you can just click the "Close Window" to continue shopping your heart out.

TUTORIAL: Email an Item to Yourself or a Friend

The other new feature that you may have noticed in your browsing on our site is the "Email a Friend" button. This little gem will help you email a piece you think would be perfect for that friend or relative without having to copy, paste and send the link from your own email.

STEP 1: Click the Purple button that says "CLICK to email This Piece To a Friend"

STEP 2: Type your name (so the recipent knows who sent this awesome piece of furniture gold to them and can thank you later for your brillance)

STEP 3: Type the recepient's email

STEP 4: Write a short message it you'd like about why this is right up their alley or leave it blank, whatever you'd like

STEP 6:Click "OK" to send the message on it's way

STEP: 7 Revel in your greatness of finding that perfect thing for him/her and click "Close Window" to return to your shopping bliss.

Salespeople are among the highest paid workers in many companies. Why? Selling is not easy! Smart companies know there are few things as valuable as winning new customers and keeping old ones happy. Top salespeople make a good living because they know the art of the sale.

You don’t need a business degree to learn how to sell your furniture, but there are some handy tricks of the trade.  

• Don’t show dirty furniture. Clean it before inviting in prospective buyers. Vacuum the upholstery. Try to remove stains. Nobody wants to see popcorn kernels and puppy hair when they are considering buying your sofa. And few things are as disgusting as gum stuck on the underside of a table.  Trust me, I've seen it!  Dust your furniture, but don’t use a polish that will rub off on buyers’ hands.  Make sure an old gum drop doesn't stick to someone’s pants when he sits on your sofa. Yep, that's happened to me, too.  Yuck!
• Don’t fib about flaws. You didn't notice the giant crack in the middle of the dining table you rated a perfect 10 out of 10? "Wow, I didn't see that!"  I love that little lie. Be honest about your furniture. If there are scratches, run to the hardware store and buy a couple of furniture markers. Minwax  makes markers that costs less than $5. They work like magic.
• Don’t overprice your furniture. If you set too high a price, you are wasting your time. Do a little research. Is your furniture old, worn or out of style? Respect your potential buyers. They are looking for a bargain, but they aren’t fools.
• Don’t have your furniture professionally cleaned. You shouldn’t invest more money in items that you want to sell. And, often, you can do a good job yourself with a bit of elbow grease. 
• Don’t restore furniture before selling. Refinishing and reupholstering is very expensive, and you rarely get your money out of this kind of an investment. Price your furniture based on its current condition. Let the new owner decide whether or not to refinish your piece.

Buying furniture for your home is exciting and fun, but it’s also stressful. You are about to spend your hard-earned money on a major purchase, and you want to make the right decision.

Here are the top five mistakes you should avoid when buying furniture:

• Don’t fight with your spouse in the showroom. Your salesperson is trained in furniture – not marital counseling.  Consider that your spouse may see things differently than you. Usually one person is looking at the functional use of furniture while the other is looking at the decorative side.  Be patient with each other. Polarizing views often lead to a good compromise. 
• Don’t ask other customers in the showroom for their opinions. This can be disastrous. Everyone has an opinion, but you want a qualified opinion. Asking everyone what they think rarely leads to a good decision. Try to find a salesperson you trust. That’s the best way to get the look you want.
• Don’t be lured in by zero-interest financing plans. Borrowing money to buy furniture is not a good idea. For one, these plans are full of penalties if your payment is late. And your monthly payments will soar if the furniture isn’t paid off before the interest kicks in. Unless you are extremely responsible with your finances, avoid these plans.  
• Don’t pay extra for product warranties. If a store asks you to pay an additional fee for a warranty, you should question the quality of the furniture – and the store’s willingness to stand by its products. Warranties aren’t expensive – generally less than $100 – which is why you may be tempted to view them as a kind of cheap insurance. But they’re a waste of money.
• Don’t buy new furniture without stopping by your favorite upscale consignment store. Why? Because it may have exactly what you want – for much less. Shop smart!

     Every time I think I got a bargain, I realize I probably could have done better. 

      I joined a gym a few months ago and after a week or so of intense negotiations I felt like I got a great deal.

   Only a few weeks later, I received a flyer in the mail from my new gym with special offers for new members. Turns out, these newbies are going to get their memberships for even less than me after all my hard work!
      The same, however, is not true for our customers.  Our customers are smart. And they do their homework.  We recently had a customer who fell in love with a beautiful sectional by Ethan Allen. They loved the color, the fabric and the styling of the sectional, but it had a minor tear in the back. They priced a new one at Ethan Allen and it was about $2,000 more than the one in our showroom in Hanover, MA.
     So what did our customers do? They purchased a few yards of the matching fabric and fixed the tear for less than $100. In the end, they got the sectional they always wanted – and saved $1,900. 

      At Furniture Consignment Gallery, we see clever solutions like this all the time. Buying furniture on consignment is so smart that we think everyone should check it out before making a purchase. You never know what treasures you will find. 
     Now, if only they sold gym memberships on consignment…  

Seller's remorse shifts into overdrive when we think about what we paid for something and look at the realities of the marketplace for similar pre-owned items.  Inevitably we stare off into space and say to ourselves, "what was I thinking??"

We are working with a customer who spent over twenty thousand dollars each on a handful of fine Persian rugs that no longer fit their living space.  They are moving cross country where the styles are different and the rugs need a new home. Finding a buyer for these rugs at even a few thousand dollars a piece will be a challenging task.  This couple is struggling with this reality.

Getting beyond Seller's Remorse is very difficult for many couples.  Here are three ways to combat Seller's Remorse:

1. Think logically about your situation. Did you purchase a product or a vision?  Paying for upgrades and customizations to achieve the exact right look for your living space often leads to overspending.  It happens a lot and it is not worth beating yourself up over it.  Move on!
2. Consider that even though you may be forced to part with a piece for far less than what you paid for it, feel good that someone else will use it and will appreciate it.  Accept the silver lining as it beats the alternative of paying additional moving and storage fees for furniture that you will never use again.
3. Make up for it on the other end.  There is a great deal waiting for you on your next purchase.  Spend some time hunting before you jump. We know of a great Furniture Consignment Store in Hanover, Massachusetts where you can quickly counter your loss.

Lagging behind the push to shrink Carbon Footprints is the maritme industry.  In an article in the New York Times this week on December 5, 2010 "Shipping Faces Calls to Lower Its Carbon Footprint" James Canter, re-iterates how important it is for progress to happen.  Retailers will soon have the ability and responsibility to choose more efficient and environmental friendly ships than not. 

This pertains directly to furniture as most furniture is manufactured over seas and shipped on a container vessel to America, but it even goes further than that.  Many manufacturers will ship the wood and raw materials from America to the country that it is to be manufactured in and then the final product is shipped back to the good ol' USA. It is true!

Though it is important to lower carbon footprints, it would be much better to not have them at all.  One way to do that is to buy domestically, as we all know, but in the world of furniture, most everything is shipped from overseas.  The execptions are products produced by local, commissioned craftsman and pre-owned furniture.

It doesn't make sense to purchase pre-owned furniture that you don't like for the sake of protecting the environment,  but it adds to the tremendous value that you get from buying consignment furniture.  You get a great deal, better quality and can feel good becuase by recycling; you are helping to protect and preserve our world.

If you are Selling your home and you have furniture that you no longer need, the buyer of your home should be the first option to purchase these items and here is why:

• If you can secure the sale of your furniture with your buyers, you remove what can be a stressful task from your list of things to do.  You have enough to worry about when moving so take this off of your plate right away if you can.
• You may be able to avoid costly moving and storage fees.
• You get your money with less hassles and get it right away.
• You eliminate the risk of damage by leaving the furniture right where it is.

How do you agree on price?

• Don't be greedy.  
• If your furniture is 5 years or older be prepared to sell it for a quarter of what you paid for it.
• If your furniture is newer than that and in "Showroom" condition, then push your asking price to half of your original purchase price.  
• For the sake of simplicity, you are willing to sell the items at a discount from what you could achieve on the open market and you need to explain this to your buyer.  

Too many people make the mistake of shooting for the stars and turning off the most logical suitor -- the buyer of your home.

If you are unable to work out a deal with your buyer, it is not the end of the world.  If you have upscale items in excellent condition, then the next stop should be a high end furniture consignment store.

When  my wife, Diana, first passed the NCIDQ exam and began her career in Interior Design armed with a 4 year degree from the fine University of Kentucky, she landed a fantastic customer.  Being young and thrown in the middle of an exciting project,  she was learning on the fly and creating great designs that the customer loved. The clients were buying the best of the best.  They asked Diana to pull together a plan for a guest bathroom as part of the project and Diana obliged.  After reviewing the proposal, the gentleman said, "Diana, I am not sure what a $1,400 toilet paper holder looks like, but I am quite certain that we don't need that."  Lesson learned!  There are times to push a client to spend money on certain aspects of a plan and there are times to bargain hunt.  A good Interior Designer needs access to the finest showrooms, but also needs to know how to find good deals.

Here are 5 ways an Interior Designer can benefit from Furniture Consignment Shopping and Services:

1) Staying in touch with your favorite furniture consignment store's ever changing inventory and popping in alongside your customer demonstrates that you are looking out for their pocketbook.  Saving money for your customer increases your credibility, especially when closing a proposal with high priced items.

2) A furniture consignment store may be able to handle the items that your client plans to replace.  This makes the client feel better about spending new money as the old items will find a good home.

3) When you see something that works for your client in a consignment store, you can have it now!  This is huge as clients want immediate results and are often frustrated by 10 week lead times for custom pieces.  Filtering in some items that have immediate impact can help a client to relax and start to see the benefits of your talents and work.

4) Consignment stores have unique pieces that fit unique corners and spaces.  Sometimes you have to hunt for furniture that fits, and consignment stores are a great place to start.

5) The multitude of unique pieces that populate an upscale furniture consignment showroom can inspire creativity.  Sometimes there are projects that are hard to get excited about, and going into a furniture consignment store can jolt your imagination.

A personal highlight of our business for me is getting the opportunity to pick up high-end furniture consignments from private residences in the New England area.  For starters, I get to ride around in a truck, which helps me to connect with my inner manhood. Aside from the windows down and sports radio blaring, it is never boring when we enter a consignors home.

Working with people and helping them to solve their furniture logistics problems just tickles me to death (to borrow a line from my wife's Southern roots).  Even more than that, new furniture means new excitement and energy in our showroom for our staff and for our on-line and in-store shoppers.  But what about our valued Consignors?!  What's in it for them? After all, they have to wave goodbye to all of these beautiful pieces that were recently purchased that for one reason or another, won't fit wherever they are going.

Here are some reasons why a furniture consignment store that offers in-house pick-up services should get top consideration when choosing a channel to sell your items:

1) If a furniture consignment store accepts an item for consignment and places it on their truck, they feel they can sell it.  Therefore they have a vested interest in removing the item carefully from your home and transporting it safely to their showroom. Safe transport preserves the condition and allows for the highest possible sale price which means the most money for all parties involved.  The last thing we want to do is cause damage to a piece we can sell.

2) Furniture consignment stores move more furniture than any professional moving company.  Thursday, we brought a sofa into the store for sale, sold it one hour later, and then swiftly removed it from the showroom floor. We delivered the sofa Friday.  To put it bluntly: We move a lot of furniture!  This is important because you have people who know what they are doing, have a vested interest in your furniture and have the expertise to remove items from your home quickly and safely.

3) If you have beautiful and marketable furniture, a good furniture consignment store should make arrangements to adjust their schedule to yours.  This leads to great convenience when dealing with life's otherwise stressful and transitional situations.

Safe and convenient pick-up service offered at a reasonable price, is a great reason to consider consignment as an option when selling upscale furniture.