Can I make money reupholstering old couches or loveseats?
Question:I'm looking for a way to make some supplemental income. I was thinking of buying some old couches in good condition except for maybe the fabric for say $30-$50 bucks and reupholstering them to sell them at a profit. I have no experience doing this and have no idea what kind of costs are involved. Can anyone with any insight in this field let me know if this is plausible?
Answers:
you probably already know this but experiment and know that mistakes will be costly to you both in time and monetarily. my feeling is that people with pricey wood furniture are willing to pay for formally trained upholstery pro's because it's such a big monetary decision they desire pro's with a lot of experience. of course you can find your own style, your own niche, meaning you can fly in the face of convention and say HA, in your face... just look at rachel ashwell for example
Well if you have no expertise, then you will lose money doing it until you cut costs and learn how to do it right by yourself... Selling them is a whole other story, too. Expect to run a junk business at first...
I have had plenty of pieces of furniture re upholstered and it was so expensive! So there is definitly some money in it. Maybe you could check out some books from the library to give you an idea what all is involved. Good luck!
Buying junk couches and re upholstering them isn't going
to make you very much. The fabric is the least of the
expense. You generally need to replace at least the top
layer of cotton wool batting, on cushions, you need to
re wrap with the poly fiber batting. In many cases old
pieces of furniture need joints re glued, the webbing
usually needs replacing, the springs re sewn and re tied.
The labor in re upholstery can be pretty intense, and you
will not recoup your time for the price you will get for a
used couch. People just don't want to pay a lot for used
furniture. The way to make money is to get paid to
re upholster someone's furniture, letting them buy the fabric
on their own and then just charging for your labor. Depending
on the size and condition of a couch, the charge can be from
$300 on up.Check out local upholstery shops for their
prices to get an idea of what the labor costs are. Then if
you really want to do this, take some classes to learn how
to upholster. If you can, try to get a part time job with
a small upholstery shop, the old-timers can teach you some
tricks and skills that you just don't get in a class. Its an
interesting trade, if you like puzzles and taking things apart
and remembering how to put them back together, it can be
a lot of fun.
It can cost a lot to do, your best bet is to buy new, get deals and coupons going and you will land new furniture in no time.
Have you ever reupholstered anything? I would try it. Go to The Salvation Army or Good Will, or see if anyone throws out a love seat or a chair and get it for nothing. Get a remnant upholstery fabric: fabricguru.com (low prices) and start practicing. If you see that you are very good at it, then advertise in your local Pennysaver and charge lower than your competitor, and you will start getting business. But make sure you know what you are doing first, and practice, practice, practice.
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