5 Places To Find Secondhand Homeware
Shopping secondhand has many benefits, including being better for the environment. When it comes to homeware, buying secondhand mean you find lots of quirky, interesting and unique pieces. In this post, I take a look at five places to find secondhand homeware.
While I love taking a look around places like Wilkos, B&M and Homebargain for homeware, I do think they encourage overconsumption.
Cheap prices mean people can afford to re-do their homes more and more often and buying cheap homeware often mean the quality isn’t there. It’s a little bit like fast fashion, where poor quality products can end up in landfill after not being used for very long at all.
Don’t get me, wrong, it’s brilliant that these places allow those on a budget to furnish their homes cheaply, however, it’s more the people spending hundreds on redoing rooms in their house every few months because that’s what lots of home influencers on Instagram do that I have an issue with.
Shopping more ethically isn’t always easy, but I do think it’s necessary due to climate change.
It can also help your money go much further if you’re just starting out in your first home or furnishing on a very tight budget. Take a look at these places to find secondhand homware.
5 Places To Find Secondhand Homeware
1. Facebook Marketplace
As Facebook Marketplace tends to focus on local sales, it’s one of the best places to find bulkier items such as sofas, wardrobes and bookcases.
When we bought our house, the majority of our furniture was sourced second hand from Facebook, including our bed frame, TV unit, electric fire, storage chest, bookcases, dinning room table and chairs and a nest of three side tables.
As well as buying from private sellers, we also bought some items from a lady who had a business upcycling vintage furniture. Our storage chest came from her and then we paid her to paint our TV unit in the same colours so everything matches together nicely.
While for bigger items being sold on Facebook you’ll probably need transport, some sellers are happy to deliver for a small fee, so it’s always worth asking.
Facebook can also be great for finding items totally free of charge which I wrote about in this post.
2. Vinted
I am OBSESSED with Vinted. Buying secondhand in general is a passion of mine (so much so I have a dedicated slow fashion blog). I’ve recently bought my little girls entire winter wardrobe on there and Vinted recently changed some features to encourage more people to buy and sell homeware through the Vinted app.
How To Sell Homeware On Vinted
3. Gumtree
Personally, I find Gumtree tends to have more homeware than anything else and people tend to use it when clearing out houses in their entirety.
You can choose to search locally but if you’re happy to travel to collect something that’s a total bargain then you can easily extend your search parameters.
4. Charity Shops
Browsing charity shops for homeware is such an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon and you might be surprised at what you find.
Normal high-street charity shops are perfect for small homewares such as kitchenware, glass bowls and vases and ornaments.
Some charities have shops dedicated to larger furniture such as beds, wardrobes, tables and even white goods. Locally I know we have a BHF and St. Margarets Hospice shops that do this. The great thing about these shops is that they often also offer delivery for a small fee.
While some items may seem old fashioned, there is often lots of potential for upcycling and making things your own.
5. Etsy
Etsy is probably one of the more expensive options out of those that I have mentioned.
However, there are lots of items of secondhand homeware on Etsy, usually from businesses that specialise in upcycling.
You’ll also find more interesting and unique pieces, such as tables made from old pieces of scaffolding board which are often one-offs.
I hope this post has got you thinking about secondhand furniture and that’s it’s something you’ll consider buying in the future.
