HI guys, I'm planning on leaving Switz to go home and was wondering what are good ways to sell furniture that I have in my flat?

You could do worse than try http://www.englishforum.ch/sale-wanted/

Are you leaving because you can't spell 'Switzerland'?

Try
http://www.ricardo.ch/

Somebody told me its the Swiss Ebay.

I find Switz even worse than the regular "I will come to Swiss soon" posts... "Swiss" sounds like somebody is still in "French mode" but Switz?

Whatever you do, don't try and donate what didn't sell to the salvation army, they most likely won't take it.

Obviously they can afford to chose what they take and what they don't; it just shows in what a consumer society we live in !

Why should they take anything if they have no use for it as they will then have to pay to dispose of it as you will have to do so.

Based on recent experience?

Yes, very bitter recent experience!

Yeah, amazing that they can. Perfectly good furniture, but because it wasn't some antique that they can get a lot of money for, they don't want it. But they offer to take it away for you at a price (in my case) of minimum 1k.

sell it at a fair price but claim you paid 5x more for it originally.

Why is it amazing ? Second hand furniture is basicaly worthless, new furniture is cheap and credit is available. Even good quality furniture (not Ikea/Interio) is only worth about 20% of the new price, if you can sell it.

I don't doubt it's perfectly good, but there's plenty about; simple supply and demand, and if it's unsaleable, why take it ?

@ Charlie: It is amazing or rather surprising I would say because the salvation army in other countries will take anything that they can sell for a fair price. Not only "expensive stuff", then again it should not be surprising because we are in "Switz"

You can buy cheap new stuff, so why bother with second hand, and if you do want second hand there is a very big choice out their, hence why not everything is wanted.

You go to any second hand shop, there's always a huge stock of furniture adn people today don't want second hand; they buy it all new, cheaply from Ikea on credit

I just want to GIVE away my things. People won't take it?

I'd rather have a 2nd hand table with a bit of character than a pre-fab same-as-the-rest-of-them IKEA table.

Although, the table I have right now is a pre-fab, same-as-the-rest-of-them IKEA table, but I'd prefer a cool 2nd hand one

Damn right, most of the Ikea stuff not made from real wood looks nasty... especially when you get entire rooms made from the "birch efect" plasticky stuff... yuck.

2nd hand stuff is so much nicer most of the time.

there isn't much of a market for second hand furniture... even on Ricardo it is tough. You can also try the free adds on http://www.anibis.ch/ , with a few pics you may sell some pieces.

The easiest way is still to ask your commune to have a garage sale (they can authorize it, worth the effort as here it is a novelty and people come from the neighbourhood as long as you advertize and pick a good timing), and then move the left-overs out on a day af large-items recycling. Amazing how many items disappear during the night!!!

If you want to get rid of it free and don't want that those items goes in natural landfills, use freecycle...


Freecycle Zurich

Bring it to a flea market like the saturday morning one at helvetiaplatz... get there early though!

No - not everybody buys new. And not everybody is comfortable living on borrowed money. Second hand market is not big here, unfortunately. I've never seen big furniture sections in thrift stores here. It is so much more interesting to find the odd talking pieces among the thrift store furniture than go shopping new, esthetics that are different, furniture bought very far away that used to matter to somebody else, garage sales, etc...That chic idea didn't pick up here yet. Plus, it is so much greener to recycle.

I wish Salvation Army here took some normal furniture, I can't stand most of the smelly stiff ugly antique stuff. Most of it has no value, anyways, and is as kitchy as you can get.