That is a tough one. Most people are expecting bargains on cl. i would start with your gut, I am sure you have a number in mind. You can always then drop the price.

Hope that helps! Its a lovely piece!!

Well, all I can say is that I am sorry I don't live in the Seattle area! The marble is truly lovely! I can't suggest a value, but maybe check on eBay for similar pieces. You could always list it there for local pick-up only, I think. I have thought about selling some pieces at a local consignment store, but mine are larger and harder to move. You have to pay a percentage at a place like that, but it might be less bother and it would most likely sell quickly. You could also shop it around to antique dealers if it is old enough-sometimes things aren't antique in the strictest sense at small shops.

Good luck. Hope it finds a good home and you have some spending money!

Thanks for the input! I know it was about $800 new (it's only 7 years old, not even a pseudo-antique, LOL!) but of course that has nothing to do with how much someone will pay on CL. If I price it at $250, does that seem like a reasonable starting point?

Not a clue as to what you should ask, but I want to say that those are some great photos, and should help in the sale. Do buyers a favor and include the measurements.

If you pushed me for numbers for my area where stuff like this is plentiful, I would ask $150 and go down to $100. You might get more elsewhere.

I would start at 225.00 and negotiate if you found a buyer.

I think $250 sounds low for the asking price. Start higher, without listing the original price, and see if anyone bites. Maybe start at $400 obo. If no one replies within a few days and you really want to move this item, list again at a lower price.

If you start at $250 on CL, someone interested is going to offer far less.

Wow, interesting suggestions, kind of all over the place -- which is exactly where my thinking has been! I will definitely include dimensions etc. -- drives me nuts when people don't list dimensions on furniture pieces -- I usually just pass those listings by unless I'm super interested.

I honestly can't see it selling for $400, but who knows? I tried to sell a Thomasville triple dresser a few years ago on CL and didn't get so much as a whisper of interest. I think I listed it for about half what we paid for it. My DH would have died if I'd let it go for too little, so we kept it and he uses it now. He's not so attached to this little table though, thank goodness!

Thanks for the help!

I would start at 250 and accept anything between 150 (on the low side) and 200.

I think most people assume a price to be a little high with the idea of expecting negotiation.

Oh... I am not saying it would sell for $400, but people always offer much less than asking. If they offer you $250 for a $400 listing and you accept, they will feel like they got a good deal.

Honestly, if that piece fit my style, I would probably pay around $200 or $250 since it looks like a high quality piece of furniture.

Good luck with the listing. :)

Gotcha, lolauren!

Thank you all so much, this was really helpful. :)

I wouldn't bother listing the price YOU guys paid for it. Most buyers don't really care about that, only what they have to pay. Around here, I probably wouldn't list it above about $150, but that's just a guess. Make sure you list at the beginning of the weekend to get the most attention.

Red

It is suggested that the best you might expect on a resale about 25% of the original price, so $200. But as has been said, people on Craigslist expect bargains. In the end, I would think the best you might get would be $150, but more likely $100-125.

Only you can decide if you want to keep it if it doesn't sell. If you truly don't have room for it, and don't have a place to store it for future potential use, then I would sell it for the best price you can get quickly,and let it go. It is a pretty piece, but rather formal and would need just the right buyer to appreciate it.

It sure looks like resin and not carved wood, so the only intrinsic value is the gray marble top; rest is just decorative value. $175.
Casey

As someone who scours CL as I furnish our 2nd home (Snowbirds in SW Florida) may I second the importance of posting dimensions in clear terms, i.e. width (left to right) by height (top to bottom) by depth (front to back-from wall).
It's a beautiful piece.

I would start at $300. That table is gorgeous. I think it is important that you list what you paid. That gives the buyer an idea if it's a good piece of furniture or a cheap knock off. Immediately I was looking for the price you paid before offering a recommendation on the selling price.

In my area people would ask $150 but would have to wait a long while for a bite. If you want to sell it real fast ask a $125 but be willing to knock off five or ten. You enjoyed it for many years, the money you get could go towards a good night out.

It's not resin at all -- solid wood. What makes it look like resin??? Scratching my head on that one! :)

I don't usually like listings that say what someone paid for an item -- kind of ends up sounding like justification for asking too much, LOL! Except for the fact that as HIWTHI says, it gives you an idea whether something is crap or decent.

I didn't actually pay for it, it was something my mom bought just before she died. One of the reasons I kept it at all was because I knew it wouldn't go for much second-hand, even though it was brand new. In fact, we opted not to sell the rest of the furniture she'd just bought for that reason -- we gave it away to cousins instead.

Anyway, thanks again for all the input -- I definitely don't expect to sell it for a whole lot, I just wanted some general ideas for where to start.

It's a lovely piece. Have you considered a local consignment shop? Less headaches and hassles of CL

Just remember that some folks will search "up to" a certain price point. A price of $255 will not get as many hits as a price point of $250.

Good luck.

I can't help with the price, BUT when you list it, put it for $1 in the title and clearly include the price in the body of the ad.

The reason for this (I have learned) is that spammers will leave you alone when the price is $1. If they see $150, or whatever the scams will start.

Good Luck.

Also, consider eBay, with Local PIckup only offered.

We sold furniture on Craigslist and at a garage sale, and sure wished we hadn't later, when we tried out a consignment shop. The consignment shop gave us about 60% the price we'd paid originally, and there was no effort whatsoever involved beyond driving the pieces there. So, if you have a good consignment shop, you might want to see what they'd offer you.

Or consider etsy, not an auction site, and you could make it local pick-up only. I would start at $350 so you could come down to $250 if that's what you're wanting to get. ;o)

I second the consignment shop. The seller gets a percentage, but will be able to sell it for more money than an item listed on Craigslist. Been there, done that.

What a beautiful table! Your pictures of it are great.

I would include the price you bought it for. You could always start a little higher and see what happens since you aren't in a huge hurry to sell it. If nothing happens lower the price.

I'll look into consignment, too -- thanks all!

It does look like a lovely table --

Unfortunately, there's a lot of crappy newer furniture with a similar look, and some CL buyers will not be able to tell the difference and will therefore lump your nice piece in with those crappy ones when evaluating your asking price...

Because of that, I'd take extra pains with your wording. DO include the maker and in this case, I would include the original purchase price. Even a photo of the receipt might help -- (Whoever it was that mentioned 25% of retail as a likely sales price was right on for our CL.) I've had good results by placing the item's quality in context -- ex. "This is the Macy's version, not the designer original or the WalMart knock-off."

I'd Strongly Disagree with the '$1 in the title' advice. As a potential buyer, that would tell me two things: first that whatever you're selling is cheap (poorly made), and second, that you're very likely a dishonest seller. (What's the $1 for?) I wouldn't even open your ad for a look.

You may also be able to get a higher price if you list an expensive neighborhood as your location, as zip coding is alive and well on CL.

I heartily agree with sweeby discouraging you from putting $1 for a price in the title. It's false advertising for one thing and if you're using craigseasy, you can quickly see all the pictures and the titles with prices without having to click on any of the ads. But if there's an ad with $1, you have to click to see the price. Personally I've found most of those ads in my area are either way overpriced or junk--so I usually skip them now. I've used CL for selling and haven't had major problems with spam even when it's a higher priced item. If you get a spam, it's pretty obvious, so just delete it, but at least you don't eliminate many potential legitimate buyers. I'm not sure who started the $1 thing, but I find it silly and misleading. After all, how many of us would put up with a store advertising $1 on the front of their ad page, and then $200 inside?? Just list the price and be done with it--don't try to be coy. ok, getting off my soap box and backing away very carefully now..... : ] heh-heh

But as others have suggested--consignment may be your best bet.

Beautiful table and there are still people out there who like formal and elegant, just not usually on CL. I took all my good pieces to our local consignment and so so glad I did. Even with her take I was very pleased with the outcome.
I ended up getting $250 for a sofa table, $225 for an overstuffed chair etc.You have to really ask around before choosing a consignment store tho because some of them are ripoffs. Would rather pay the commission than haggle with someone from CL wanting a table worth $275 for $100.
Good luck!

Beekeeperswife~ I don't post in craigslist so I don't understand what you mean by spammers ..
They don't get your email address unless you respond to them via email.NEVER respond via email...
Request a phone number in the posting or no reply will be made.

I also hate the $1 in the title..

Well, can you stand another opinion? LOL. The table is beautiful and the marble curved in the way it is would cost a fortune to have made. I think you are in danger of giving it away to people with a garage sale mentality.
I agree with those who suggested a consigment shop or ebay for local pick up. I think ebay would be a good idea. What have you got to lose? Also, if you have an auction house that takes consignments you could really do well. All it takes is two people who want it and have an "I will not be denied mentality" to fight over it and that often drives the price beyond what you paid. Seriously. That is very true. worked for an auction company for years and saw this happen over and over again. I think CL is really not the place for fine furniture. You should have plenty of good options in Seattle.

Answer to forboystoo re: spammers on CL.
I sell furniture on CL often and the spammers are a BIG PITA!
They respond automatically to anyone selling something of value (if you put $250 instead of $25 they zoom in like hawks).

What they do is send fake emails asking to buy the object but they have this long involved story about why you have to ship it to them and they will send you a check. They are looking for a sucker to fall for it and ship them a valuable object (check will bounce of course, or never arrive). There are bunches of them out there cruising the listings.

When you get these emails - Delete! Delete! Delete!

It also makes you suspicious of every normal person who replies. You really have to think twice.

I too would suggest consignment.

I seem to be an unusual CL buyer in that if I don't want to pay the advertised price, unless it specifically states "OBO", then I move on to something else. I would not expect to negotiate. That being said, it seems like most people do, so start off higher than you want and put in "OBO" if you are not firm on the price.

I agree with consignment but you might want to "shop around." I looked into selling a few things on a consigment basis and found places wanting to keep as much as 75% of the sale price. Most places wanted around 50%. In my case, I had to figure at what point I was better of to donate it & call it a tax deduction. :)

Without knowing the dimensions, if I saw something like that on my local CL I might be surprised if it was listed over $250. But I don't buy tables like that, so that's just going off a very generic guideline.

25% - 30% of the retail price seems to be fairly standard for furniture.

I always pad my asking price a bit knowing that most will negotiate. If that is the style table that a person is looking for they would probably pay $225-250 for it knowing that it was much more new, and being solid wood, in excellent condition, and Kinkaid, they'd know they're getting a good deal.

Don't forget to list the dimensions.

It's Seattle. I'd ask $300. Most know they can bargain.

That is one good-looking table! If it were mine, I think I'd advertise it for $250, and negotiate slightly down from there.

I wouldn't put $1 in the title either - I hate that myself, and I would imagine that many (if not most) CL users haven't a clue why others do this. To me, it feels like "bait" to try to get me to open the ad without instantly disclosing the price in the item description.

Getting off topic, but here is the latest craigslist annoying scam that I fell for:

I posted to give something away, got a response, replied that the person could have the item, and the spammer sends this back:

OK, thank you for getting back to me. Actually i cant get it right now anyways, my son just put a HUGE dent in my van and now im gonna need to figure out how much money its gonna cost to repair it. ugh!

Im so happy he didn't get hurt but of course it just had to happen now, when i am finally making good money with this home income program i've been doing. You know, if you want, theyve just opened up 2 more positions in our area. Basically you get paid to post links online, its very easy and I usually just do it while watching tv.

Here's the link if you want to read about it:
(I have deleted the link)

I've earned about $500 a week since I've been doing it.. not enough to leave my job yet but i finally have some extra money in my bank account. Well, maybe not after i have to pay the mechanic bill lol. My sister is planning to sign up later and these positions usually go fast, so Id appreciate it if you don't give the link to anyone else. Thanks!
Click here to Reply or Forward
People (2)
kacypearman87
Show details

I flagged it for craigslist.

Oh Graywings... Unwanted solicitation is one thing, but THAT constitutes trickery and deceit. I would be livid.