How to buy secondhand furniture: tips from people who do it

Most of the homes we've toured have some secondhand furniture, and a few have almost nothing new. The people who live in them know where to look, what to check and how to get a sofa up three flights of stairs. Here's what they've taught us, with the prices they told us on camera.

How we chose these: the tips below come from hosts we've filmed who furnish their homes with secondhand finds. Every price is what they told us in their tour.

Where our hosts find furniture

• Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji: the most common source by far. Andy says about 70% of his Toronto one-bedroom came from Marketplace, including an EQ3 sofa that retails for about $3,000. He paid around $400.
• The curb: Camille credits the Stooping Toronto account for many of the chairs in her Toronto apartment. Anlan spotted a stereo cabinet the same way for her 1980s condo.
• Estate sales and flea markets: Jillian furnished her Upper East Side walk-up from flea markets, estate sales, Goodwill and the street. She says almost all of it is secondhand.
• Sellers of floor models: Mary found a seller who sells designer display pieces. She bought an EQ3 conversation sofa set, worth about $32,000, for $2,000 for her Toronto loft.

Know what you want before you scroll

Good pieces sell fast, so it helps to know what you're hunting for. Jillian always keeps a list when she thrifts. A Victorian fireplace screen sat on hers for a long time before she found one.

A list also stops you buying things that don't fit. Lynda bought her dining chairs before she even found her Toronto loft, because she knew she loved them. They fit the space when she moved in. Bryan takes the idea further in his Midtown condo: if a piece doesn't match his mood board or his budget, he doesn't buy it, however much he likes it.

Use placeholders while you wait. Jillian painted an old childhood dresser and added hairpin legs until she finds a mid-century one she loves. She says you don't need a finished apartment the day you move in.

Check quality and authenticity

Secondhand prices are low in part because buyers can't always tell what they're getting. Ask for more photos, look at joints and drawers, and sit on anything you'll sit on.

For designer pieces, do your homework. Sofia found a Milo Baughman burlwood table for Thayer Coggin on Marketplace for a fraction of its value. She confirmed it was authentic before she bought it for her Toronto condo. Sylvia drove four and a half hours for a Marketplace table for her Toronto condo. She paid $200 and later found the same table at auction for $4,000.

Reproductions are fine too, as long as you know what you're paying for. Mike calls his Eames lounge chair a replica from Amazon in his Manhattan apartment. He's happy with it.

Negotiate with respect

Jillian's rule for flea markets and estate sales: always negotiate, within reason, and always be respectful. She once lost a painting to another buyer at a hoarder's estate sale, then met him the next day selling it at a flea market. They talked it through, and she went home with it.

Honesty works in both directions. When Jake found a Samsung Frame TV on Kijiji, the seller didn't use the internet and had won it at work. Jake made sure he knew what he was selling before they agreed on a price. See it in his Ottawa studio.

Plan the trip home

The hardest part is often getting it home. Our hosts have stories:

• Maycel spent about three hours bringing a mid-century coffee table home by streetcar, in two pieces, for their Toronto condo.
• Snehan's kitchen island didn't fit in his rental car, so he carried it on his shoulders for a kilometre at night to his Montreal studio.
• Arriane paid a friend in dinner for a free couch and carried it up to her Toronto walk-up, which has no elevator.

Measure your doorways and stairs before you go, and bring a friend. Large pieces often mean a pickup at the seller's home. For smaller items, safety advice reported by the Dallas Morning News says Facebook recommends meeting in a public, well-lit place such as a coffee shop or mall (Dallas Morning News). Tell someone where you're going either way.

Clean, repair and refinish

Many great finds look rough at first. Maycel's $15 Marketplace rug was musty, so they scrubbed it with hot water, bleach and detergent on the balcony. Gail spent about two hours cleaning a pair of cane chairs that cost $35 for both.

Some fixes are bigger. Jake bought a mid-century fireplace that a previous owner had spray-painted gold, which lowered the price. He and his stepfather stripped the paint and refinished it in orange heat-resistant paint. Kelsey restores some of her mid-century finds herself, including a teak sideboard in her Toronto Victorian.

Let things go when they stop working

Buying secondhand also means selling. Samiha and her partner sell furniture and buy again each time they move, so each home fits the new space. Andy buys pieces he can resell for what he paid or more. Jillian plans to pass her current sofa on through Marketplace once she finds the vintage one she wants.

Secondhand takes patience, but every piece comes with a story, which is half the fun of the homes we tour.