Where to Buy Quality Cheap Furniture

You're all set to move into your new apartment, but there's an elephant in the room! You are in desperate need of furniture to fill the place with things you love, so you can call it your own.

However, there's one big drawback. Your furniture budget is small.

That begs the question: Where can you buy quality cheap furniture?

The answer is lots of places! We've got some great ideas to help you find stuff that fits your lifestyle and finances.

The best places to buy cheap furniture

Consider affordable retailers in stores you physically walk through to online shopping excursions. You might surprise yourself with musts you find at a garage sale. Or end up falling in love with a to-die-for bedroom set from somewhere you would have never considered.

So, get ready to stretch your budget. Let's go shopping and find some hotspots to buy cheap furniture!

1. Online shopping for cheap furniture

Online shopping for anything is a no-brainer. You can be comfy and hang out on your shabby, cat-scratched couch while you shop. With laptop in hand, pick out a stylish living room set for your new apartment. Here are a few popular places to look for where to buy cheap furniture:

• Amazon is an obvious go-to. If you're a Prime member, you get perks that can make it even more reasonable to buy online. Like getting stuff fast and paying a small fee for help assembling your goods upon arrival.
• Swedish retailer IKEA is a must. There are plenty of lures to keep you glued to the site. Prices are seriously hard to beat here. IKEA offers assemble-at-home stuff in all shapes and sizes. And the quality of the furniture for the price is often worth the hassle of following their confusing assemble instructions. While you're at it, get some Swedish fish and lingonberries.
• Wayfair could have just what you need. Sure, this is an in-your-face brand. But there are other furnishings and home decor brands that also offer competitive prices. You know which ones grab your attention. They usually populate commercial time in-between HGTV interior design shows.

2. Search thrift or antique stores for cheap furniture

Most thrift stores offer super low prices. A lot will sell everything from gently-worn, cheap clothing to jewelry, furnishings and home goods. This is why secondhand shopping is a viable option to fill an empty space. And this is especially true for those of us who may not have a lot of spare cash.

So, get on with it and get over the fact that the store itself isn't aesthetically pleasing or might not even smell great. None of that will matter when you find your new favorite thing.

• There are currently more than 25,000 resale, consignment and not for profit resale shops in the United States, reports the Association of Resale Professional
• Did you also know that thrifting is good for the environment? Thrifting is recycling. By choosing preloved items over newly produced pieces, you're shrinking your carbon footprint.
• Thrift stores are about a lot more than gently used clothes and handbags. You can find your favorite painting, lamp, rug, dining set or dishes at a thrift store of your choice. And since many thrift stores exist on behalf of a charity, it's a positive way to give back to the community, too.
• Don't forget to check out a Re-Store. We're talking Habitat for Humanity and similar stores with a focus on salvage. You could come upon great fixtures and well-priced furniture. It takes patience and possibly a few return trips to find something you want and need.

3. Hand-me-downs make great cheap (or free) furniture

There's nothing wrong with grabbing that extra couch from your parents' house and adding some new throw pillows to scratch a high-cost item off your list. The cheapest way to get furniture is for free, and items from a reliable source, like your friends or family, can feel like new. You already know the furniture received proper care, and it saves you a trip to a furniture store.

Before you get something for free:

• Have a wish list of everything you want for your place
• Rank what you need first and be realistic about your no-budget status
• Even if it's common practice to set unwanted furniture out on moving days in some communities, you have no way to ensure the condition of the furniture before you claim it as your own

4. Yard sales or garage sales for cheap furniture

If you're up for a shopping adventure, yard sales are a great place to start. It's about more than scouring through other people's trash. And as long as you love it, it won't matter where it came from!

• Picture and photo frames are a likely find at a community garage sale. Ignore the clown art the frame surrounds. Instead, haggle over the piece only for the quality frame! You can chuck the artwork after, no problem.
• Be sure to use a Garage Sales Tracker. It allows you to search garage sales, flea markets and consignment shops in your local area. If time is an issue, you can look for what you need before you go shopping. The site also offers an iPhone app that you can use to locate garage sales closest to you.
• One yard sale worry: Bedbug risk. Avoid upholstered couches and chairs. Instead, focus on anything made of wood. Look for nightstands, tables, dressers, headboards and bookcases.
• Nicks and flaws will bring out your DIY skills. Cosmetic changes like paint or a hardware swap can breathe new life into a piece that really did look like someone else's trash!

5. Flea markets for cheap furniture

There are beautiful pieces of furniture available online and in antique malls or free-standing stores. But the place where you're likely to grab a deal is at a flea market, ramble or estate sale.

This phrase rings true: They don't make 'em like they used to. By shopping at a flea market, you often end up with quality, better-made, used furniture than you would have gotten with something brand new. And for a lower price, too.

Here's why you should consider antiques and vintage items:

• Value, love of quality and cost savings are some of the top reasons to go treasure hunting at a flea market or antique mall
• It's fun to discover a piece of the past and walk away with something you can enjoy (for less) and that has some history to it

Dos for shopping flea markets and estate sales:

• Flea markets are for early birds and late-in-the-day buys. If it's a multi-day event, get there early on the first day to scope out the best of the lot. Return at the end of the day to find the deals and steals.
• Have plenty of cash on hand. It's important to have a lot of small bills, too. Not every seller can swipe a credit or debit card. There may not be an accessible ATM, either.
• While an estate sale might seem like a garage sale, there are some key differences. The sale typically takes place in the decedent's home or surrounding property. Consider shopping later in the sale because the seller commonly discounts items on the second or third day.

There are lots of great places to buy cheap furniture

Many apartment communities have bulletin boards where residents can post all kinds of stuff. Often, someone moving is selling furniture. If the seller needs to get rid of their stuff fast, you could find a good deal on furnishings for your new apartment.

Remember to look for wood, not upholstered items that could hold a bedbug infestation. Bed bugs are reported more than three times more in urban areas. Finding where to buy cheap furniture could be through your next-door neighbor. How easy is that?

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