HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFITS AND GUARANTEE A SALE: TOP 10 STRATEGIES TO SELLING YOUR PAINTED FURNITURE

Hi sweet creative SI family! While going through my inventory over the weekend, I came across 5 pieces of previously painted furniture that I have NOT listed for sale (for various reasons) and this gave me the idea for today’s post. I’m sharing my Top 10 Strategies To Selling Your Painted Furniture. These 10 tips will help maximize your profits whether you’re listing a piece of painted furniture for the very first time — or whether you have a full-blown furniture flipping business!

Let’s get right into it…

#1. PRICING

Pricing has a lot to do with how fast my furniture sells. Lower-priced items (which are usually smaller pieces) usually sell faster. For example, nightstands, smaller dressers, and entry tables are the best and the fastest sellers for me. My larger items with higher price tags sell just as well but will sometimes take a little longer to find a home.  In my experience, checking your area pricing along with how your colleagues are pricing their refinished pieces is a great indicator. I have a full tutorial on How To Price Your Painted Furniture here. I’ve also included another amazing resource from Christina Muscari in the “Related Posts” section at the bottom of today’s post.

#2. SELLING PLATFORMS

When I first started painting furniture I sold my pieces on Craigslist and Kijiji. Over the years these two online platforms were bringing in fewer and fewer views. I switched over to Facebook Market Place and immediately had an increase in inquiries and sales.

If you find the selling platform you’re using is taking forever to sell your items, try branching out. EBay, Etsy, Social Media profiles/groups/pages, Facebook Market Place, Consignment Shops, local flea markets, etc may be a better way to sell your painted furniture in your area.

#3. INCREASE YOUR EXPOSURE 

A large part of selling is a numbers game. The more exposure you have will increase the likelihood of your furniture selling quickly. For example, Salvaged Inspirations brings in thousands of readers every day. I feel extremely blessed (because I soooo appreciate you being here!!!) and many of my furniture makeovers get inquiries via email even before I list them for sale. That said, you don’t need a website. Increasing your exposure on a social media platform can greatly help in selling your pieces!

And don’t forget about family, friends, neighbors, and your community because word of mouth is awesome! Everyone I know knows that I’m a furniture painter and online publisher who teaches furniture painting. This works to my benefit on both ends of my business. I receive furniture pieces that are no longer wanted. This is a win-win because I get old unwanted furniture to flip – and my neighbors or friends have it taken off their hands without the hassle. And on the other end of the transaction, if someone is looking for a unique piece of furniture, I may have that one-of-a-kind piece they’ve imagined for their space!

#4. STAGING AND STYLING

When I first started painting my furniture, it took me DAYS to style a piece. It not exaggerating when I say it was agonizing for me. I couldn’t figure out why other painters’ furniture looked so beautifully styled while mine looked forced and unremarkable. It took me years to get comfortable with styling my pieces.

For the most part, I still prefer the ‘less is more styling’ to keep the piece of furniture as the main focal point. But finding your own style is an important part of selling your furniture. If you learn how to let your “style” showcase your art, it will make a huge difference in how fast your piece sells!

#5. IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY

The second part of staging and styling is to capture your beautiful work in a clear image. As the saying goes “A picture is worth a thousand words!” and it’s so true.

You want the seller to be able to visualize the furniture in their space while looking as good as the product image does. Do you need an expensive DSLR to achieve this? NO! You can create stunning images with your camera phone. And if the captured image isn’t 100% to your liking, do some small tweaks and post edits in Canva or Photoshop.

A few things to keep in mind when photographing your piece are~

• Good staging and styling.
• Good lighting.
• Good product angles.
• A few close-ups of the details.
• Clear images.

If you are interested in a more detailed article on photography or styling, leave me a comment down below because this is a huge topic in itself!

#6. PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS 

When listing your furniture for sale, the product description and language you use are important. If your furniture is not selling, double-check that your product description sounds appealing to the potential buyer.

For instance, I find when I write and describe “4 large drawers” it doesn’t work as well as saying “this dresser has four (4) spacious drawers to safely keep your belongings. All the drawers are clean and work perfectly. See the difference? The first is an accurate description but it doesn’t draw the potential buyer in. Here’s another example “small desk” compared to “this desk has a small footprint and will look gorgeous in any cozy space”

If you are stumped on how to craft a product description, a good idea is to see how the professionals do it. Go onto a few websites where they sell furniture and see how they are phrasing the description. Also be sure to add important information like color, style, manufacturer, dimensions, and pick-up or delivery details.

#7. REPURPOSING | CHANGE IT UP 

If your furniture has not sold OR has been scratched or damaged in storage and you don’t feel comfortable selling in its present condition, consider repainting and restyling it. Remember it’s JUST PAINT! And changing the color, legs or hardware could make all the difference! Although I’m never thrilled about painting the same piece twice, I do think there’s something fun and exciting seeing how many looks I can give to one piece.  I do this every Christmas with this Christmas Washstand tradition.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, here are a few pieces that I have NOT listed for sale because there’s an issue. They have either been damaged in storage or there’s an issue that needs addressing before I list them for sale. Over the next few months, I’m hoping to repaint them and share them with you here on the #siblog. We can have some fun seeing how different I can make them look and which version YOU prefer!

#8. OFFER DISCOUNTS OR PROMOTIONS

I price my furniture very fair as I have other streams of income such as this blog, affiliate income, etc. If someone wants to make me an offer on one of my pieces and it’s slightly less than the listed price, I don’t have a problem with it. The reason is I have limited space for my finished furniture, and it makes more sense for me to find it a forever home where someone will love it and get good use out of it rather than me holding onto it for an additional month (or longer) for the extra $50 or so.

I know some painters have a special time of year they discount their inventory for instance around holidays or end-of-year sales. Personally, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of doing this but rather whatever feels comfortable for YOU and YOUR business! I’d love to hear your thoughts on offering discounts or promotions in the comments below.

#9. DONATING

This may not fall under the category of maximizing your profits, but if all else fails, consider donating your piece to a local thrift store, restore or even curbside which will give someone else an opportunity to work on it.

This way the furniture is given a second chance and it frees up some time and space for you to work on something that inspires you!

#10. BE PATIENT

Lastly, in my experience of painting and selling furniture over the last 12 years, be patient and don’t give up. Some pieces will sell super fast. Others will take some time. There are so many reasons this could be the case (as listed above) but just know it’s the nature of this business. And just like with everything in life, the more experience you have under your belt, the easier and easier painting and selling becomes!

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS ON HOW TO SELL YOUR PAINTED FURNITURE?… I’D LOVE TO HEAR! OR FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE… I ALWAYS LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. IT MAKES MY DAY! 🙂

Happy furniture painting friends!

Denise x

RELATED POSTS::

HOW TO PRICE YOUR PAINTED FURNITURE

22 SALVAGED FURNITURE FLIPPING IDEAS

HOW TO STAGE-PAINTED FURNITURE LIKE A PRO!

STYLING & STAGING FURNITURE (FB GROUP)

HOW TO SELL & PRICE FURNITURE (CHRISTINA MUSCARI)

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