A WOMAN has revealed that she paid less than £4 for an old, dirty chair from Facebook Marketplace.
And whilst she shared that cleaning up the furniture find was “repulsive” it was totally worthwhile when she discovered its real value.
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Lilly, a savvy woman who flips furniture for a living and is known as ‘The Furniture Doctor’ online, explained that even though she found a green chair that was in need of a deep clean, she knew it was a “gem” that was worth a lot more than its sale price.
The young woman took to social media to show off her find, in a clip captioned ‘MY CRAZY GARAGE SALE FIND!! I can’t believe I found a $1,000 chair for $5!’.
The DIY fan got to work restoring the item, which she described as a “crazy” find.
The content creator pointed out that the chair was originally sold for $2,600 (around £2,000).
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She shared the whole process on her YouTube account, as she said: “I was scrolling through Facebook Marketplace when I found this chair, which looked to me like a chair by Eero Saarinen produced by Knoll.
“It was listed as $5 [around £3.90] so I immediately went to get it – and sure enough, there was a little sticker on the bottom that said Knoll. My suspicions were confirmed! I had found a gem, but this gem was so dirty!”
To turn the chair from drab to fab, Lilly began by running an upholstery cleaner over every inch of the chair, as she confessed: “The water it was vacuuming up was black, it was repulsive”.
Following this, she added some stain remover on the areas that needed sprucing up, as she added: “This seemed to do the trick, it was honestly very satisfying.”
To complete the makeover, she “polished up the chrome legs”, which instantly made the chair look brand new.
But instead of reselling the item for a hefty profit, Lilly decided to keep it, as she confessed that it “goes perfectly” in her office.
She continued: “It is anything but perfect but it was a $5 garage sale find that could easily sell for over $1,000 [around £780] to the right person.”
Not only does her chair look fabulous in her office, but her little dog was a huge fan too, and sat pride of place on the renovated seat.
Top tips when buying on Facebook Marketplace
Be scammer-aware
As a general rule of thumb, deal locally, and face-to-face. If someone asks you to ship an item, be wary. Only use secure methods of payment, look at buyer and seller reviews, and inspect an item closely before purchasing it. Stick to Messenger to communicate as well.
Choose wealthy areas to get high-end items at low prices
A well-to-do person who is selling something on Marketplace probably doesn’t know or doesn’t care what their item is worth. This is a jackpot scenario for a buyer.
Don’t be afraid to haggle
If an item has been listed for weeks, offer 25% below the list price. It’s likely the seller will counter offer, but you’ll still get the item for less than originally priced.
Don’t send the auto-filled “Is this item still available?” message
If you notice an item is well-priced and desirable, and you really like it, don’t wait around. Send a friendly opening message with an offer, and make the transaction hassle-free for the seller.
Keep search items as broad as possible
Assume the seller doesn’t know exactly what they have, where it’s from, what the material is, what the design style is, or how much it’s worth—and cast a wide net.
SOCIAL MEDIA USERS BEAM
The clip, which was shared on YouTube Shorts, has clearly impressed many, as it has quickly racked up more than 511,000 likes.
Social media users flocked to the comments to share their thoughts on the chair’s epic overhaul.
Gasp! What a beauty!
YouTube user
One user said: “Amazing work and GREAT find.”
Another wrote: “You did a fantastic job. That chair looks so fresh and clean.”
Whilst a third penned: “That was a FABULOUS find.
“Sometimes a little bit of work restores a high-end piece back to its former glory. Excellent work!”
At the same time, another YouTube user chimed in: “Gasp! What a beauty!”