Sell Heavy Furniture?: Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen
Sell a couch, piano, or other heavy furniture before the movers come, without no-shows. Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen with Avery Cundill.
Avery Cundill opened this episode of The Declutter Queen with a scenario many people live through: the house is sold, moving day is close, and the couches, the piano, and the big wooden furniture still need to go. Facebook Marketplace brings questions like "Can I take it with me on the bus?" about a wooden armoire. A donation crew arrives and takes one of four pieces. Free listings get no bites. "Luck and hope is not a strategy," Avery said. Then she asked Commonplace founder Ari Kimmelfeld for a better way to declutter the big stuff.
Listen to the episode: How to Sell Bulky Furniture Without the Stress, The Declutter Queen with Avery Cundill, aired October 8, 2026. Listen on Apple Podcasts.
Also on Spotify.
Key takeaways
- Big items are hard to sell because of everything around the sale: messages, no-shows, stairs, trucks, and paying a stranger.
- Most people are not experts in washers, hot tubs, or saunas. An inspection before pickup protects the buyer and makes a warranty possible.
- On Commonplace buyers reserve with $1 and pay the rest on delivery. Sellers are paid at pickup.
- Every item comes with a free two-month parts warranty. Facebook and Craigslist sales are usually final.
- Moving before it sells? Store to Sell keeps it listed instead of stuck in a storage unit.
- Declutter on a schedule. Once a month beats a scramble before moving day.
Why big furniture is so hard to sell
A couch, a piano, or a heavy armoire is the last thing to leave a house that has been sold. Marketplace messages ask if it fits on a bus. Donation crews take the easy piece and leave the rest. The sale fails because of weight and timing, not because the furniture has no value to the next household.
Ari said Commonplace started with almost exactly the scenario Avery described.
I would say the catalyst to starting this business is really the scenario that you painted that picture for. And it was specifically with a Peloton experience that was not very different from the couch selling experience you just described... You have to send a bunch of messages. A lot of sellers might not reply right away or some of them are not available. And so for both buyers and sellers, there's a lot of frustration that happens on Facebook Marketplace.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 06:27
Because it's a big item, you then have to figure out how you're going to haul it. Sometimes it's down a few flights of stairs and then it's into a truck. In New York City, most people don't have trucks or cars... And you're also meeting up with a stranger. You have to make a payment to a stranger that's usually hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars that you might not be comfortable doing.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 07:00
You can't inspect what you don't know
You can see a stain on a sofa. You cannot see a leak in a washer, a hot tub, or a sauna unless you know where to look. Most buyers are not experts in those products. An inspection before pickup protects the buyer and is what makes a warranty possible after the item is delivered.
With a couch, you might look at the couch and be able to see any stains or any scratches on it. But with something like a washer and dryer, you might not be a washer and dryer expert when it comes to inspecting a used washer dryer or a hot tub or a sauna... So you really want to have an expert there that's inspecting things for leaks, any damage, and help you with the whole pickup and delivery process.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 07:30
How Commonplace takes the stress out
The seller lists the piece, sets a price, and waits. A crew comes to the house, takes the item apart if it needs it, carries it out, and pays the seller at the door. The buyer is not a stranger from an app. Nothing leaves until the seller has been paid, and listing itself is free.
So we basically manage all of that. Sellers get paid right away. Buyers just place a $1 deposit to place an order on something, and they can pay the rest on delivery. We do a 30 to 50 point inspection pre-pickup, as well as on pickup, with our trained crew that touches every single product before it gets picked up. And we send over that inspection to the buyer to make sure that they're happy with what is getting picked up. And remember, nothing is paid for by the buyer until it actually gets delivered and set up for them.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 08:45
A warranty, unlike Facebook or Craigslist
A sale on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist is usually final, with no one to call if the washer leaks the next week. On Commonplace the item is inspected before pickup, and a free two-month parts and labor warranty covers problems that inspection missed. Longer coverage is available when a buyer wants it.
Unlike Facebook or Craigslist, where everything is pretty much final sale, obviously there are no returns and you're not getting a manufacturer warranty, but we offer a free two-month parts warranty on every single product... If there's anything wrong in the inspection, we'll let you know... But anything that wasn't picked up in the inspection, we offer that free warranty.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 09:22
More in can you get a warranty on used furniture or appliances.
What counts as a big item?
The items Commonplace is built around are expensive and hard to move: sofas, pianos, hot tubs, saunas, and the Peloton that became a clothing rack. Those are the things people abandon or pay to dump, because moving them is the whole problem. If it needs a crew, it belongs in this category.
Avery asked whether Commonplace only handles large items. Ari said most are, and the rest are simply expensive.
For the most part, to answer your question, they're big things that are hard to move and also on the pricier side.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 11:19
Things that are expensive and hard to move are really the North Star in terms of what categories to get into.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 14:23
Avery knew the feeling from her own move: "Some of my larger sized furniture, like really beautiful wood furniture, for example, that's super heavy, I was kind of left at the last and it was sort of like, okay, it's a fire sale at this point."
Secondhand has real value
People buy a Peloton, a sauna, a hot tub, or a couch for a season of life, then stop using it. The item still works. Delivery within 100 miles is free, which is what lets a buyer choose used instead of new without hiring movers. The value is still in the product. The friction was the only thing hiding it.
A lot of people buy either a Peloton or a sauna or a hot tub or even a couch for one reason, and for another reason when they're moving, or maybe they just don't use it as much and it just became a clothing rack, which happens... So there's so much value there.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 12:35
We offer free delivery within 100 miles. And 100 miles is pretty far.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 13:12
Moving before it sells? Store to Sell
If the truck comes before the sofa sells, you do not have to donate it or pay for a storage unit you will forget. Store to Sell picks the piece up, photographs it, and keeps it listed. When it sells, it is delivered to the buyer and you are paid wherever you moved. The listing stays free.
Avery had a piano she could not get anyone to pick up when she moved. Ari described the option Commonplace already offers for people who run out of time. Read how to get rid of a piano, or see Sell Your Room if a whole room has to go.
Imagine if somebody is moving, say, from Texas to New York... They can't sell all of their furniture and belongings that they want to get rid of because they're moving to a smaller apartment in New York. Putting it all into a storage unit just makes it more difficult to actually declutter later, because now you're just endlessly paying for a storage unit, when maybe a good number of those items can be sold and should be sold.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 17:16
We offer a store to sell option where basically you pay a storage fee, the same way you'd be paying a storage fee if you had all your stuff in storage, except the benefit, of course, is that it gets listed on Commonplace. It's open to buyers. And then when something sells, we manage the sale process. So we pick it up from storage. We send you the payout digitally, so you don't have to worry about meeting up with a buyer.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 17:48
Read how to sell heavy furniture before a move, or see Store to Sell.
Declutter on a calendar
The hard part of letting go is not one heroic weekend. It is putting a recurring time on the calendar so things do not pile up until a move forces the issue. Ari's household treats it as a monthly habit. The big pieces are scheduled first, because they take the longest to place with a buyer.
Avery asked whether Ari is a declutterer himself.
I think the hardest part about it is just putting it on a calendar and just decluttering on a schedule, because things just happen to pile up. That's my one tip that has worked for us: just put it on the calendar, a monthly thing that we're proactively getting rid of things.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 16:12
More in how often should you declutter.
Where to find Commonplace
Listing starts on the sell page for the thing you actually have, not a generic form that treats a piano like a t-shirt. Furniture, washers, and hot tubs each have their own page. A crew picks the item up and pays you at pickup. If you are shopping, the same categories are browsable as used inventory.
We like to post a lot of helpful content on YouTube, for example how to move a hot tub or a sauna or even a swim spa with a crane... We're also on Instagram, on Facebook as TryCommonplace, and then the website is TryCommonplace.com.
Ari Kimmelfeld on The Declutter Queen, at 15:13
Commonplace is the Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and OfferUp alternative for big items. Listing is free, and Commonplace handles pickup, inspection, delivery, secure payments, and a two-month parts and labor warranty. See how it works.
Categories in this episode
These are the two or three categories this conversation covers. Shop the used listings, or open the sell page when you are ready to let one go.
- Sofas. Selling one: sell furniture.
- Washers. Selling one: sell a washer and dryer.
- Hot tubs. Selling one: sell your hot tub.
FAQ
Is there a better way to sell bulky furniture than Facebook Marketplace?
Use a marketplace that moves the item for you. On Commonplace listing is free, buyers reserve with a $1 deposit, a crew inspects and picks the item up, and the seller is paid at pickup. No back-and-forth messages, no strangers at the door, and no renting a truck.
Do used items on Commonplace come with a warranty?
Yes. Ari Kimmelfeld said that unlike Facebook or Craigslist, where almost everything is final sale, Commonplace offers a free two-month parts warranty on every item for anything the inspection did not catch, with optional longer coverage. See the warranty.
What should I do with furniture I can't take when I move?
Do not just put it in a storage unit you keep paying for. With Store to Sell, Commonplace stores it and lists it, picks it up from storage when it sells, and sends your payout digitally, so you never have to meet a buyer.
How often should I declutter?
Ari's one tip is to put it on the calendar: a monthly session where you proactively get rid of things, so they never pile up into a last-minute moving scramble.
Thank you to Avery Cundill for having Ari on The Declutter Queen. Quotes are from the episode, lightly edited for reading. Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts.
More from Ari's podcast interviews: questions Ari answered on podcasts and every show he has been on.
Ready to let the big stuff go?
List it free on the furniture, washer and dryer, or hot tub sell page. We pick it up and pay you at pickup.