I have been to: Raymour and flannigan- Decent stuff--mid priced. bought the kids furniture and some of the office furniture there. Happy with the quality and the service. Sales people attack you at the door- but still worth checking out. Raymour and flannigan clearance- I went twice did not see anything i was looking for - but if you are looking to be thrifty check it out Ethan Allan- love their things but the style is not really what i'm looking for at this time. High End. Ashley- too low end for my taste Rider Furniture- Great things but a smaller store- if you know what you are looking for the will usually beat the price. Traditional style items. Flemington Department Store- Be aware- you will think you walked into some hokey gross thrift shop--- but keep going in-- Great selection of name brand furniture- huge store... good prices- worth the drive.. Also they sell things like great cleaning products for stainless steel and wood floors. Gasior's on Route 206 in Belle Mead- High End- very pricey and very stuffy. Too fancy for my lifestyle and kids... Thomasville- Very nice furniture- mid/high end. Bought a tv console and end tables. Sales men a little pushy but liked the quality. Nice store. Lauter's Furniture- Far drive for me... but a great store- I didn't find what i was looking for, but reasonable prices and HUGE store. Macys Furniture- too low end for me Decorators Consignment- Hopewell NJ- Great consignment store- I have not found anything yet, more of a hit or miss, but worth checking out. You might have to go a few times to find what you are looking for. Greenbaum's in Paterson - Too high end for me

DD1 went to college in San Francisco and moved with only the suitcase she took on the plane. We pre-ordered her mattress set from Macy's so that it would be delivered the day we arrived. She wanted custom sofa and chair, so she ended up using twin blow-up mattress until then. We shopped vintage and antique stores, along with Shabby Chic, for tables, etc. Took a taxi to/from Bed Bath and Beyond. fyi, since she is moving, if she does an address changes with USPS, she will get a 20% off Coupon for her entire purchase at BBB. We used that and saved a bundle. DS went to college in Chicago. We furnished his apartment at IKEA (furniture), Best Buy (TVs) and Wal-Mart (microwave, cleaning supplies, etc). He only recently got rid of his last IKEA piece after 7 years. We did drive up with him and rented a large SUV. I bought bedding ahead of time. His apartment was in a large building also. They had a furnished unit you could rent, so we rented for three nights (so that DH and I would have a bed). Maybe her building has a unit too. DD2 purchased a sofa from Macy's about 2 years ago. They do have some ready for delivery, but many still take 6 or more weeks. Floor sample sales are great, if the pieces are what she can use. Ask employees when you're shopping. That's how we found a lot of places in San Francisco. When she moved, it was my first time there. DH had gone with her to look at the college, then again to look at apartments.

msrose, the problems with my Bassett sofa were with the cushions and the fabric. My sofa had a semi-attached back, which was always lumpy and the seat cushions would flatten out and become lumpy in a very short period of time. I think Bassett replaced the seat cushions 3 or 4 times before they finally said no more. They did come out one time and add more fiber fill to the back cushions. They pretty much told me I would have to continue to do that on my own for the life of the sofa. As for the fabric, it did not wear well at all. On one arm, they had not extended the padding out to the end of the arm and the wood of the frame cut through the fabric. Also, the seams they used to join two pieces of fabric were so tiny that they ended up pulling apart. Bassett wouldn't cover any of the fabric problems and I ended up paying a furniture repair company over $100 to deal with the seam issue. My neighbor had similar issues with the cushions. I had heard bad things about La-z-boy (after I bought mine, of course), but so far mine are holding up pretty well. I do have to give the loose back cushions a "restorative massage" once a week or so to get them back in shape, but once I do that they aren't too bad. Totally Confused

Of the places you and others have mentioned, I've only ever used Craigslist for selling large furniture, though most of what I sell isn't super high end (we're not at the point of down-sizing yet). I have bought a few higher end items (antiques) through Craigslist at what I would consider fair prices, though less than what an antique store would charge. My general rule of thumb for buying through Craigslist is I don't pay more for an item than I think I could re-sell it for if I change my mind. I love Craigslist for the simplicity and ease, and have never had a bad experience selling (or buying) items through the site, though as others have mentioned you just have to make sure you ignore the scammers. It's easy to weed them out once you know to expect them anytime you list something of significant value. Just read the page on their site that details typical scams and follow the guidelines to avoid being scammed. Craigslist didn't work well for my in-laws when they were downsizing a couple of years ago, but they were also on a tight schedule and I thought they were asking WAY too much for their furniture. I listed it for them but didn't have the heart to tell them that it just wasn't worth much in today's market, even though they took great care of it and kept all the original receipts. They eventually donated it because no one was interested at the prices they wanted for it and they ran out of time. If you'd rather get something than nothing, you just need to price it low enough and someone will buy it. If you are selling 80s/90s honey oak furniture, it doesn't matter how nicely its been cared for, the market is saturated with it and realistically you are not going to get much for it. Take a look on your local Craigslist and see what the market is like in your area. Is there a lot of furniture like what you are wanting to sell, and how much are other people asking for it? If your items are priced to sell, they will sell. humbleandkind's advice to be willing to break up sets is excellent advice for the secondhand market. People are often looking for individual pieces and sets aren't as popular as they used to be, so you'll likely get more for your items if you are open to selling pieces individually. I bought our breakfast table off of Craigslist and it came with chairs I didn't like, so I just re-sold them on Craigslist to 3 different buyers. Good luck with your move!