Home & Style

This Group Wants to Make It Easier for You to Buy and Sell Secondhand Furniture

Kaiyo just launched in DC, and will pick up, list, and deliver gently used furniture for buyers and sellers.

Image via Kaiyo.

Anyone who’s navigated buying or selling used furniture on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace knows it can be a lot of work. Sure, you can score a coffee table for much cheaper than you would in-store, or quickly unload your beloved sofa, but the mechanics of messaging the seller or buyer, photographing the piece, agreeing on a price, and finding a time and place to meet can be a time-suck.

Which makes it all the more exciting that Kaiyo is officially available in the DC area as of yesterday. The online marketplace takes the hassle out of selling and buying pre-owned furniture, and will pick up and deliver furniture from folks’ homes. The group launched in 2015, and previously serviced just the New York and Philadelphia areas.

And while, yes, Kaiyo wants to help shoppers save on items like Knoll chairs or Restoration Hardware dressers by buying secondhand, it also wants to promote living green. Kaiyo’s emphasis on sustainability differentiates it from similar entities like Chairish: The group has so far kept over 2 million pounds of furniture out of landfills via its sales, and it plants a tree for every order.

Here’s how it works: Sellers can submit their pieces for consideration via the website. (The group will only accept well-made, assembled furniture that is still in good shape, and doesn’t take things like mattresses, bedding, or electronics.) If accepted, Kaiyo employees will come to sellers’ homes; pick up the furniture; clean it, price it, and professionally photograph it; and then list the piece on its website and store it until it’s sold, when sellers will get a percentage of the profits. Buyers can purchase pieces via Kaiyo’s website and, if they live within a delivery zone, the group will bring it to the buyer’s home.

Kaiyo will deliver and pick up anywhere in DC, as well as Montgomery, Prince George’s, Arlington, and Fairfax counties. If folks live outside those zones, they can arrange a delivery via Kaiyo’s third-party vendors. While pick-up for sellers is free, delivery for buyers is $149 and only comes with purchases $350 or higher. Buyers can also pick up pieces directly from Kaiyo’s Hyattsville warehouse.

Mimi Montgomery Washingtonian
Home & Features Editor

Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. She’s written for The Washington Post, Garden & Gun, Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Del Ray.