When you buy furniture at a secondhand store, there’s a chance you’re getting better quality items than you’d find new at many stores.
But if you’re new to thrifting, where do you start? How do you know what to look for? And how do you know that what looks good is, in fact, a solid piece?
These are some of the questions WNYC’s Alison Stewart posed to Ashley McDonald, a store manager at Remix Market in Long Island City and Katie Okamoto, a lead editor of sustainability at Wirecutter.
They discussed topics like how a “slow shopping” mindset can be your friend, how to spot a sturdy piece, where to begin your search, and more.
You can listen to their conversation here; an edited version is below.
Katie, why does it seem like new furniture only lasts a few years, whereas it used to last for a decade or more? I’m thinking of that recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Your New $3,000 Couch Might Be Garbage in Three Years.”
Okamoto: A lot of it has to do with how furniture is made and the materials that are used. The furniture industry has really shifted toward this “fast furniture” model. Some of the ways in which the joinery is attached, it’s using more like staples and things like that that don’t hold in the same way. The upholstery is constructed differently.
You can often find better quality on the secondhand market for a similar price point that you would for a piece of furniture that you’re getting quickly. It takes some patience to get that of course, but it’s a slow shopping mindset that can really be to your advantage down the line. It can save you money, and it’s obviously softer on the planet.
How can people make the determination that used furniture is well made enough for them?
McDonald: Probably the easiest way to figure that out is weight. Every once in a while, we’ll find some expensive pieces that are surprisingly light. More times than not, heavy pieces are that beautiful solid wood, the metal instead of being hollow is full,…
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