Buying a used couch or furniture on Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji: what to check

Furniture is one of the easiest wins in buying used. It loses most of its resale value quickly, solid pieces last for decades, and the seller usually just wants it gone. It also has two problems that new furniture doesn’t: bed bugs, which you can’t see from a photo, and the fact that a sofa you can’t get through the door is worth nothing to you. Both are easy to check if you do it before you hand over money.

Measure before you message

Before you fall for a sectional, measure the room and the way in. A couch that won’t turn the corner at the top of your stairs ends up back on Marketplace, listed by you.

1. Measure the space. Width, depth and how far it can stick out without blocking a door or walkway. Mark it on the floor with tape if you are unsure.
2. Measure the way in. Every doorway (width and height, with the door open), hallway, stair turn and elevator. The tightest point decides what fits.
3. Ask for exact dimensions. Width, depth and height, plus the diagonal depth for a sofa (the measurement that decides whether it tilts through a door). If the listing names a model, look up its specifications yourself.
4. Ask what comes apart. Legs that unscrew, a sectional that splits, a bed frame that flat-packs, a table with removable leaves. Each one makes a tight entrance possible.
5. Measure your vehicle. The cargo opening, not just the floor. A three-seat sofa rarely fits an SUV with the hatch closed; plan a truck, a van rental or a delivery service.

Bed bugs: the five-minute inspection

Health Canada advises checking any furniture or bedding from second-hand stores, garage sales or the curb yourself, and not relying on the seller’s word. Bed bugs hide in seams, cracks and joints during the day, and they are easy to bring home in an upholstered piece. Do this before it goes in your car, not after.

1. Bring a flashlight and a card. A phone light is fine. A credit card or putty knife helps you look into seams.
2. Pull off every cushion. Check both sides, the seams, the piping and the zipper ends.
3. Check the deck and the crevices. Run the light along the creases where the seat meets the back and arms.
4. Turn it over. Look at the frame joints, staples, the dust cover underneath and where the fabric is tacked to the frame. These are favourite hiding places.
5. Look for the signs. Dark brown or black spots like ink dots (droppings), rust-red smears, pale shed skins, tiny white eggs, and live bugs about the size of an apple seed.
6. Smell it. A heavy, musty, sweet smell can mean a large infestation. Strong smoke or pet odour is a different problem, but also hard to remove.

Once a piece is home, vacuum it thoroughly, including every seam, and steam-clean upholstered pieces before you use them.

Condition checks by piece

Sofas and armchairs

• Frame: sit on each end and the middle, and rock gently. Creaks, cracks or a wobble mean a weak frame. Lift one corner a few centimetres: the other front leg should rise too if the frame is solid.
• Seat support: press down through the cushions. You shouldn’t feel springs or bars, and the seat shouldn’t dip.
• Cushions: foam that stays flat after you stand up is worn out. Check whether the covers come off for cleaning.
• Fabric and leather: pilling, fading, tears, scratches from pets, and peeling on bonded leather (it flakes and can’t be repaired).
• Smell: pets, smoke and damp all linger in foam.
• Recliners and sofa beds: run every mechanism several times. Open the bed fully and check the mattress and the frame.

Dressers, tables and shelving

• Drawers: pull each one all the way out and push it back. Runners should glide; drawers shouldn’t drop or stick.
• Veneer or solid wood: look at the edge of a top or drawer front. A grain that wraps around the edge and matches on both sides is usually solid; a thin layer over particleboard is veneer. Both are fine, but solid wood can be refinished.
• Damage: water rings, swelling at the base (particleboard that got wet won’t recover), lifting veneer and burn marks.
• Wobble: push on a corner. A wobbly table may just need tightening, or may have a cracked joint.
• Tip-over: a dresser or tall bookcase needs anchoring to the wall, especially with children in the house. Ask whether the anti-tip hardware is included.

Bed frames

Check the slats (none cracked or missing), the centre support leg on larger frames, all the hardware (bring a bag for the bolts), and the headboard joints. Take photos before you take it apart.

Mattresses

Many buyers skip used mattresses entirely. If you look at one, check every seam and the tag for the manufacture date, look for sagging (lie on it), stains and odour, and inspect the box spring or base too. A mattress still sealed in its plastic, with a receipt, is the safest version of this purchase.

Dropshipped and fake-new furniture

A lot of “brand new” furniture on Marketplace isn’t from a local seller at all. Dropshippers copy photos from a manufacturer or retailer, list the piece in dozens of cities at a price that undercuts the store, and order it for you only after you have paid. Some deliver a cheaper copy; some deliver nothing. A close cousin asks for a deposit to “reserve” a piece that is supposedly in a warehouse.

Signs of a dropshipped listing:

• Stock or showroom photos, often on a white background or in a staged room, with no sign of a real home.
• “Brand new in box”, “free delivery”, “fast shipping”, “wholesale” or many colours available.
• A seller who can’t show you the piece in person or meet you, and wants payment first.
• The same photo listed in many cities, sometimes under different names.

The quickest test is to run the main photo through Google Lens. If it turns up on a retailer’s website or in listings across the country, it isn’t one person’s couch. On Facebook, set Delivery method to Local pickup to drop most shipped listings. Read more in Marketplace shipping scams.

How to judge a fair price

Furniture has no single price guide, so build your own reference in a few minutes:

1. Find the piece new. If the listing names a brand and model, look up its current price. If it doesn’t, ask; a seller who knows it’s from Article, EQ3 or Structube will usually say so.
2. For IKEA, check two prices. The current price on IKEA’s site, and the As-is section in your nearest store, where IKEA resells furniture returned through its Sell-back program. A used IKEA piece from a stranger, which you have to carry yourself, should usually cost less than either.
3. Compare both sites. Search the same model on Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji and note the spread. How to tell if a price is fair has a method that works for any item.
4. Adjust for condition and effort. Wear, pets, smoke and the work of moving it all lower what it is worth. Solid wood and well-known quality brands hold value better than flat-pack.

Most used furniture sells far below retail. Sellers who are moving often take a fair offer, especially late in the month. How to negotiate on Marketplace has the scripts.

When to look

• The end of the month, when leases end and people move.
• Student move-out weeks in university towns, usually late April and May.
• Late June in Quebec. July 1 is Moving Day, when a large share of the province’s leases end at once, and furniture floods Marketplace and Kijiji in the weeks before.
• Spring cleaning season, when people clear out basements and garages.

Searches and filters that work

Search the way sellers write titles. Brand and model names find the best listings, because people who know what they own tend to look after it.

• IKEA model names: “Kivik”, “Ektorp”, “Söderhamn”, “Hemnes”, “Malm”, “Kallax”, “Billy”, “Pax”.
• Other brands: “Article Sven”, “EQ3”, “Structube”, “La-Z-Boy”, “West Elm”.
• Type and size: “sectional”, “loveseat”, “sleeper sofa”, “queen bed frame”, “solid wood dresser”, “dining set”.
• French: “divan”, “sofa”, “canapé”, “sectionnel”, “commode”, “table de cuisine”, “meubles”.
• Words to block: “rent to own”, “financing”, “brand new in box”, “wholesale”, “free shipping”.

Set a real radius. A $150 dresser is not worth a two-hour drive and a van rental. On Facebook, set Delivery method to Local pickup; on Kijiji, search the furniture category for your area and set the distance. Kijiji’s search alerts send matches once a day on the web; Kijiji alerts has the faster options.

Pickup and safety checklist

1. Confirm the address, time and size in writing before you leave.
2. Bring help, straps, blankets and tools. A screwdriver set and an Allen key cover most legs and frames.
3. Go in daylight, and with someone if you are going into a home. Tell someone else where you are going.
4. Inspect first, then pay. Do the bed bug check and the condition checks, then pay on the spot by cash or e-transfer once it is in your hands.
5. Never send a deposit to hold furniture. A seller who needs money before you have seen it is following the deposit scam script.

Copy this setup

A furniture hunt that works on both sites:

• Distance: 15 km from home (more for a rare piece).
• Hide “Ships to you” listings, and turn on the dropshipping word pack.
• Block: “rent to own”, “financing”, “brand new in box”.
• Dim the listings you have already looked at.
• After your first pass, switch to new listings only.
• Watch one search per piece you need: “sectional”, “queen bed frame”, “solid wood dresser”.

With Sift on a computer

Most of that setup is manual on Facebook and Kijiji. Sift, a free browser extension for both sites, saves it as a preset on a computer. In Chrome, Edge or Brave, it:

• keeps every listing inside a real distance from your home, not where the site guesses you are, with a km badge on each card;
• hides “Ships to you” and partner listings, and turns on the Dropshipping pack, which hides “dropship”, “wholesale”, “free shipping”, “fast shipping” and their French versions;
• links each listing to Search by image (Google Lens on the photo), so a stock photo is one click from exposure;
• shows only free listings when you want them, leaving out $0 listings that really mean message for price or best offer;
• marks price drops and Reposted listings, so you can see how long a couch has been sitting and what it was first listed at;
• dims or hides the listings you have already opened, and alerts you to new listings for a specific piece as often as every 15 minutes.

Sift doesn’t check for bed bugs, measure anything or inspect a frame. Those are still yours to do in person. Shopping for a fridge or a washer at the same time? Read buying used appliances. Hunting for free pieces? See finding genuinely free stuff.

IKEA and the other brands named here are trademarks of their owners. Sift is independent and not affiliated with them, or with Meta, Facebook or Kijiji.