Craigslist is an invaluable resource for discount purchases from individuals anyway, but it can be especially useful for large home furnishing items like couches. This is because couches are big and bulky, their value is hard to determine, and they are difficult to resell anywhere else except directly to other consumers. Sometimes, the Craigslist seller just wants to get the couch out of his or her house as fast as possible, and won’t even charge you for the sofa. If you are patient, you can get a great deal on a quality couch off of Craigslist. Here are some steps to help you find a great, inexpensive couch off of your local Craigslist listings.
- Do your research beforehand. If you are looking for a Camden Crate & Barrel sofa, for instance, be sure you know what it looks like. Consider visiting your desired couch in its retail location beforehand, and even take some pictures if you can. And of course, know what the retail price is. Most people won’t outright lie in their Craigslist ads, but they might fudge and say the couch cost them $100 more than it really did, or that it’s a more expensive model. Know your facts, and you won’t be tricked.
- Be patient, and do not compromise. Do a search on Craigslist for your search terms; for example “Ikea” and “futon,” and at the bottom right of your search results there will be a link for an RSS feed of your results. Subscribe to this link (I use Google homepage) and you can easily see if there are any new results for your search. If you are specific in your search terms, you also won’t have the chance to compromise and get a couch you don’t absolutely love. Only bring the perfect couch into your home
- Once you find a listing for an ideal couch, contact the owner as quickly as possible. If there aren’t pictures in the posting, ask for pictures, and if the couch comes from a smoke-free and/or pet-free household. If its current owner smokes, you are going to have to give the couch a thorough cleaning to get the smell of smoke out (including washing as much of the fabric as you can), which is a time-consuming operation to undertake. If the owner has pets, a good vacuuming should fix the fur problem. Find out if there are any stains or other problems with the couch. Why is the owner getting rid of it?
- If you still like the couch: if you’re not in a huge hurry to bring a new couch home, offer 10% or so lower than what they are asking and see what happens. Otherwise, tell the owner you will purchase the couch and ask when you can come get it. At the house, sit on the couch and look over it one last time to make sure you love it before you pay for it. Then, pay in cash, and bring it out to your vehicle. The posters on Craigslist are generally not interested in helping you move it or load it, so make sure to bring a friend or two, and a truck to take it away in.
If you find a couch that is the right shape and size, but not the color or fabric that you want, consider re-upholstering it or buying/making a slipcover for it. Repairhome has a great article about creating your own slipcover, including some good suggestions on how to make your slipcover more unique. Re-upholstering a couch is a much more difficult task that can be physically exhausting and time-consuming. If you are prepared for this, however, it can make a huge, positive change to outdated or unattractive fabric on your sofa. Curbly has an extensive do-it-yourself re-upholstering guide, complete with pictures, for amateurs who want to give it a shot. For everyone else, there are professionals who will re-upholster your couch for you, so consider giving them a call. Happy couch hunting!
