Consignment Store Deal Hunting

We always like bringing you guys in on our favorite “DIY games,” whether that is trying to figure out whether stuff we see on craigslist is great or terrible, predicting how much weird stuff should cost at a flea market like Brimfield, or just griping about everything that’s wrong with our houses.  However, we were out looking at stuff at a consignment store the other day and realized that we haven’t yet involved you in one of our most common and most simple games: discussing whether the stuff we see at a consignment store is a good deal or not.

Consignment stores are tricky, stuffed as they are with painted serving platters and blocky wood tables made in the 1990s.  If you’re used to flea markets and thrift stores, its easy to be seduced by the plethora of reasonably clean, reasonably sturdy, and reasonably priced items.  But we’re not after reasonable: we’re after awesome pieces and great deals.

We thought it would be fun if you helped us spot them!  We’ve collected a variety of pieces at different price points – give us your opinion on which are the best deals at the price:

If you had $25 to spend at a consignment store…

If you had $25 to spend at this particular consignment store, you could buy a lot.  Consignment stores are built on the $25 price point!  One of the first deals we noticed was this cool wooden piece, billed as a planter but probably good for holding blankets or magazines in a living room.

You could also get a really nice chair – sturdy, clean, and with a modern style that would fit in with a lot of different tastes.  This would be good at a desk or as an extra chair in the living room.

You could also get these adorable elephant book ends.  Brass animals never go out of style!

Finally, and we feel bad even including it since it is obviously a STEAL and will throw off the voting, you could get this demonic Nixon statue.  Just in time for Halloween!

So what would you buy?

If you had $80 to spend at a consignment store…

$80 doesn’t sound like the most obvious price point for us to pick, but there were some amazing deals!  For example, you could get this little side-table/chest, with beautiful wood, nice metal details, and tons of storage.

There was also this simple but good quality side table, with that MCM style that is so popular.

Finally, you could get this intricate wall lamp, which could probably be sold by anthropologie for like $1500.

So what would you buy with $80?

If you had $150 to spend at a consignment store…

Getting into more serious prices, you can start getting some serious stuff, like this media cabinet/bookshelf.  It has simple lines and a vaguely MCM vibe, and the dark glass would be great for keeping unsightly things like a small TV out of sight when not in use.

You could also get these high quality office cabinets, with room for supplies and files.  They’d be great for kids/teens, but also look great in a modern grown-up office.

Speaking of stuff that would be great for both adults or kids, this vanity has real mother-of-pearl inlay in a sweet pattern.  How adorable for a little kid’s room, and $150 isn’t that much for such a substantial piece!

Finally, you could have a lamp made out of cardboard.  OK, that doesn’t sound awesome, but it clearly is.

So what would you buy?

If you had $250 to spend at a consignment store…

$250 will go a really, really long way at a store like this, even getting you this attractive and clean looking sofa.  It would look great in a living room, but is also causal enough to work for a porch or a sunroom.  And does its style remind you of anything that the tiny bloggers may have made lately?

(We checked, and the cushions weren’t made out of wood… I guess we’re still waiting for that trend to catch on #looksovercomfort.)

You could also get this intricately carved and freshly reupholstered chair.  We’re not sure we would have picked that exact fabric, but its awesome in a more-is-more kind of way.

This glass bookshelf was also available, with beautiful old wood and great storage.  The cloth would easily come off, and the glass could either be kept clear or frosted.  It has a similar feel to those barrister bookcases, but at a price a reasonable person can actually afford!

So what would you buy?

If you had $300 to spend at a consignment store…

Finally, with $300 to spend, you’re the elite 1% of consignment store shoppers and the best stuff is available to you.  You could get a sleek, mod, teal chair, which would have looked awesome in Sage’s living room if she had that kind of money to spend that day.

You could also get a display table with beautiful wood grain that folds out into a desk with hidden storage.  How cool is that?

Which would you buy?

So what did we think was the best deal?  Did we actually buy anything?

There were a lot of tempting pieces (like that woven lamp and glass covered bookself), but if you know us at all, you’d easily be able to predict that the elephant bookends came right home with us.

What do you think?  Did you agree with the consensus, or feel way off?  Were you picking on personal style or what you thought was the best objective deal?