How to shop for vintage and second-hand furniture just like the pros do

Want to score a designer lamp for a fraction of its original price? Looking for vintage furniture to complement the historic feel of your century-old house? Or are you on the market for unique, handmade furnishings that won't blow your budget? Even if it means giving up the convenience of one-stop shopping or buying everything to match, it often makes sense to shop for furniture on the second-hand market.

Buying used and vintage furniture is usually cheaper and almost always more eco-friendly than buying new. Of course, finding the perfect pieces for your home — and at the ideal price, size, colour and location — can be a time-consuming and, if you aren't sure where to look, a challenging process. However, just like shopping for vintage clothes, it's an exercise that gets easier with practice, and can be highly enjoyable. 

To get you started (and inspired), we asked two Canadian design experts — Nicole Sjostedt, a props and fashion stylist at Lizbell Agency in Vancouver, and Autumn Hachey, the owner of Toronto-based Make Moves Vintage — to tell us everything they know about buying vintage and used furniture. Here are their top tips for both novice buyers and long-time collectors.

Shop on and offline 

"I love everything from thrift stores to flea markets to antique markets and those bigger sales like the Christie Antique and Vintage Show," says Hachey. But she also shops on Kijiji, the Facebook Marketplace and Facebook trading zones like PALZ, and the app Letgo. 

Estate sales, which you can find out about via online search and email lists, are another potential resource for great finds — although you often won't know the prices of the items pictured in the marketing materials in advance. Attending her first estate sale two years ago, Hachey found her favourite find to date: an ornate, 100 pound brass headboard for $65, which she took home in an Uber XL. With estate sales, notes Hachey, you want to arrive as early as possible — entry is offered by order of arrival. 

Sjostedt recommends looking at eBay and Craigslist for used furnishings, especially if you're looking for items that would fit a particular era. "I often use Craigslist for decorating sets," says Sjostedt. "I've had to find 1950s-style sleeping bags and old 1970s bed linens and vintage video cameras. She's also a fan of vintage furniture stores, too, which can offer a more curated selection. "There's this amazing place called Stepback in Kitsilano," says Sjostedt. "It has the best old makeup cases, and old school desks and wicked school chairs that maybe even you and I have sat in ... or something that our parents would have sat in."

Look, and look again

Finding the right pieces can take time and patience. "One of my biggest tips for someone who's wanting to find thrifted anything is that consistency is key," says Hachey. That amazing Value Village find that she posted about? It may well be the result of multiple, otherwise unproductive visits. "You have to be going often, and you have to be checking everywhere often," says Hachey. "You can find things everywhere; there's no secret source of one place to find something. It's just [about] keeping all of your options open."  

Of course, you can have someone to do the legwork for you by buying from a professional reseller, which could be an established second-hand store, or even a furniture-focused Instagram account like Make Moves Vintage. "Going through a vintage seller, there's more trust" says Hachey. The prices may be a little higher, but the selection is much more curated and the buying process will be generally smoother. 

Conduct an online search to understand pricing

"I think the biggest mistake you can make is actually not searching around the different websites online — like eBay, Craigslist, online shops," says Sjostedt. When you see something that you're interested in, whether it's at a flea market or on Kijiji, a quick online search will give you a good idea of the typical price of the item, and how much a reproduction or knock-off piece would cost. The price of vintage furniture can fluctuate, adds Hachey, who also recommends checking sites like 1stdibs and Chairish to see pricing on big-ticket items.

Having that research in hand allows you to shop and negotiate from an informed perspective, which is a good starting point. "All you have to do is Google it; it's like a 10 minute search," says Sjostedt. "You can really angle yourself and be prepared that way. It's like a weapon."

Haggle selectively 

Use your judgment when it comes to haggling or asking for a discount, says Hachey. At a flea market, for example, you could ask for a discount if you've seen an item that's been there for a while, or if you're buying multiple items from one vendor. "Just be realistic about it, If the item is a hot item and it might sell immediately — you don't want to haggle at all at that point. You want to just get it in the car and get out of there," says Hachey.

With online purchases, Hachey points out that on Facebook and Kijiji you can see when an item was initially posted for sale. "If it's been up for more than one day, never pay the full price because if it was a good item or an item that was [coveted], it would be gone immediately," she says. 

Don't worry too much about authenticity 

With some pieces of furniture, authenticity can be relatively easy to determine, says Sjostedt. "The number one thing to do when you're shopping for furniture is always pull the drawers out or look underneath, because once you do that, you'll see all the inner workings of it … [and] how well it's made." For example, an antique piece won't have pieces that are glued or stapled together, since those are modern-day assembly techniques. 

But you may also want to think about your intentions for buying the piece, too. "You have to decipher what your value is versus what the 'real' value is," says Sjostedt. "The fact of the matter is, when it's second-hand and you didn't buy it straight from source, you'll never know. Do your homework, be prepared, but also have your intentions at heart." 

Consider a 'white glove' delivery service for big-ticket buys

"I always do 'white glove' for antiques or the century modern piece that are coming from the States," says Sjostedt. These specialty moving companies — where sometimes movers will literally wear white gloves to handle the furniture — may cost more, but will deliver your new purchase with care. 

Truc Nguyen is a Toronto-based writer, editor and stylist. Follow her at @trucnguyen.