Company provides new way to buy, sell used furniture
A company headed by a Raleigh native hopes to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers of used furniture.
Creating online listings and dealing with potential buyers is often a hassle that discourages people from selling furniture over the Internet, so Move Loot tries to make the process easier through consignment sales.
Move Loot will pick up used furniture for free in a 30-mile radius , and the company's professional photographers shoot pictures of each item and create listings on their website. Sellers set the sales prices and then split the money evenly with Move Loot. Buyers who live within 30 miles of Raleigh-Durham International Airport get free delivery when they spend more than $99.
For people who don't want to buy based on a photo on a website, Move Loot opens its Durham warehouse to the public on the last Saturday of each month so buyers can get a closer look at everything from sofas to bedroom sets to office furniture.
Items that don't sell are either returned to the owner or donated to local charities.
"What we're trying to do here is revolutionize how people buy and sell used furniture," general manager Mike Althoff said.
The concept started last year in San Francisco and was expanded to the Triangle earlier this year. Move Loot Chief Executive Bill Bobbitt is from Raleigh, and he and company co-founder Shruti Shah, who is chief operating officer, are University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduates. Move Loot opened in Charlotte this week.
"There's a lot of growing for us to do. Our hope is to become a trusted resource for people, whatever it is they have to sell or buy," Althoff said.
Alesia Michaels already trusts Move Loot after buying a vanity for her Cary condominium. She said the experience felt much better than going through Craigslist or another online sales outlet.
"I didn't have to worry about going to meet a stranger or something like that," Michaels said. "I'm finding myself looking every other day about what they have on their website."
