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bjstem

Chairish, 1stDibs, or stay local?

11 months ago

I have a question for people who have had to downsize and had antiques/silver to sell. Have you tried one of the above-mentioned websites, or did you choose to stay local?

For those of you who have tried Chairish or 1stDibs, were you pleased with how they handled business?

I'm trying to rehome dining room furniture and sterling serving dishes that we simply don't need, and while I've given some silver to the Junior League shop, I was considering selling a few things.

Comments (2)

  • 11 months ago

    Charish and 1st Dibs are similar to Etsy or EBay. They are an online market place made up of many vendors who post their items to Charish and 1st Dibs. Some of the local antiques and consignment shops in your area may have online "shops" on Charish or 1st Dibs.


    I once found a bench on 1st Dibs. For $1,000. I looked up the name of the shop. It was local. I went into the store and found it with a $600 price tag on it. Charish and 1st Dibs charge local, independent stores to vend through their site, and dealers often raise their prices on items they post there to cover the costs.


    The antiques dealers I know hardly ever purchase items from individuals looking to see unless it is an extremely rare item for which they can resell for a lot of money. They buy at much lower prices through auction houses and estate managers. Individuals looking to sell are often not worth their time because they want so much for their furniture that the profit margin for resell isn't enough.


    Look up the names of your furniture, silver, try find them online and see what they are selling for. If it is selling through a retailer, you can imagine they will purchase it from you for much less. You can use that price to try to sell on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. Also, try calling some local consignement stores, see if they will let you text pics to them so they can decide whether to accept the piece and for what they would price it.



  • 11 months ago

    ^^^^This is excellent advice. Selling antiques as an owner can be frustrating, but Kendrah gave you the basics. I would try the easiest route first (maybe that is FB Marketplace for you) and then see what happens.