Buying furniture second hand ??

[itstime]

Hi all

Yes I know about craigslist and kijiji but I'm wondering about the safety of buying furniture second hand, in regards to bedbugs. Those who have settled and bought furniture, did you have an issue with "importing" bedbugs in to your home when buying anything upholstered such as sofa and/or bed?

Cheers and thanks in advance

 

[MyCanadaPlan]

As a student I bought used furniture off of Kijiji and Craigslist many times. Looking back now, I would not buy a sofa or mattress knowing the risk of bedbugs - they are a lot more prevalent now, especially in Toronto.

If you must buy a mattress used you can also buy a plastic cover for it that ensures that if there are bugs, they won't escape. These are available at department stores such as Target.

To this day I use Kijiji and Craigslist for all other furniture, and I'm always pleased with the deals I get!
If you are on a very tight budget for the upholstered items you may find that Ikea is within your price range, and a safer bet for bed bugs.
If you get bed bugs (which my friends did), it dramatically disrupts your life as they must gas your apartment, and you would have to throw out a lot of your clothing or have it professionally cleaned.

 

[Line.a]

Anything such as hardware, kitchen supplies and stuff like that i would consider buy, or wait until I can afford it. But I wouldn't buy anyone's used couch, mattresses and stuff like that exactly because of the fear of bed bugs or contamination!

 

[browntrout]

Anything such as hardware, kitchen supplies and stuff like that i would consider buy, or wait until I can afford it. But I wouldn't buy anyone's used couch, mattresses and stuff like that exactly because of the fear of bed bugs or contamination!

+1, don't get soft stuff used (soft couch, mattress etc) not only bedbugs, but bacteria etc. Leather i would get used, if its taken care of properly, but a used leather is often times more expensive than a new fabric one. Also, any of the bed & mattress stores have very cheap stuff so you can get a new.

 

[actonis]

If you decide to buy something bigger at kijiji like chairs and some furniture and you don't have car, what you use for transportation?

Do you try to negotiate with the seller to transport them to your apartment, do you call transport service ...

 

[browntrout]

If you decide to buy something bigger at kijiji like chairs and some furniture and you don't have car, what you use for transportation?

Do you try to negotiate with the seller to transport them to your apartment, do you call transport service ...

you could.

1. walk it to your place
2. rent a car to transport it
3. hire a "man with van" type service
4. tell seller to deliver it

only so many options....

 

[actonis]

Thanks browntrout for the answer.

About option 2 whats average price for renting a car for a day? Can you rent it for half day
About option 4, is it common the seller to deliver it... is it a practice or it depends... can you negotiate ?

 

[browntrout]

Thanks browntrout for the answer.

About option 2 whats average price for renting a car for a day? Can you rent it for half day
About option 4, is it common the seller to deliver it... is it a practice or it depends... can you negotiate ?

You can check car rental locations in your area in Canada, not sure where you are but should be able to find some prices online. if the seller can deliver or not, does he have a car? if he has, maybe you meet his price in exchange for delivery. No practice, case to case as with everything used.

Another option is if you visit IKEA, can get some decent stuff for cheap, and they often time have free delivery if you spend more than X amount.

 

[sharat_joshi77]

If you decide to buy something bigger at kijiji like chairs and some furniture and you don't have car, what you use for transportation?

Do you try to negotiate with the seller to transport them to your apartment, do you call transport service ...

You can find the moving services as well in Kijiji.
They are much cheaper than some of the established movers and packers.

You can also check out renting a U-haul van and move it yourself if you have couple of friends who can help you out.
Mostly sellers in Kijiji wont help out in moving...thats my experience so far with kijiji...

 

[NetMecca]

For buying used furniture you could also try the odd thrift store. (I also know that in some cases you could get cheap (new) matresses, so have a look at that. I do not know about bugs unfortunately, but I am fairly certain a professional cleaner could deal with this if need be.

I agree, people selling used furniture are not going to transport it for you. You have to arrange that yourself.

Negotiate away. People may tell you to get lost, but mostly will not be offended if you tried. Stay polite though.

U-haul is a fairly cheap option, and have several options including trailers, and vehicles that you could rent. Realise that most rental cars will not have a tow bar.

Car rentals start from $15/day, but you will have to buy insurance (some deposit) and gas. Though these are only for small vehicles, and would not likely prove suitable to transport anything large.

Sounds like you have a fun adventure ahead.

Good luck & enjoy