Finding second hand, luxury furniture on classified sites like Craigslist or Gumtree is neither easy nor particularly enjoyable. Even if you think you’ve found that perfect piece, chances are it’s too good to be true. Is that Tom Trimmins Contemporary Mirror authentic and actually in “MINT CONDITION”? Will I travel all the way to your apartment only to discover that your Svensson Armchair smells like 10 years of cigar smoke? Or worse, is that “amazing mid-century modern lamp” actually an Ikea floor lamp you bought for $49.99 in college?
Companies like Vinterior want to save you from this mess. The London-based startup is building out a marketplace that provides a simple and reliable way to search, discover and buy second-hand luxury furniture and home decor online – from modern to antique. Attempting to cover all the bases, the Vinterior used collection is broken out into Furniture, Lighting, Art & Decor and Textiles & Rugs, including sub-categories of wall art, tableware and more.
Vinterior was founded in June of 2015 by Sandrine Zhang Ferron out of her own personal frustration with the process of finding and buying high end furniture in London. She learned how to code at Makers Academy and decided to scratch her own itch by building this solution, which officially launched its Beta at the end of November.
The Vinterior marketplace not only connects sellers with buyers, but offers a selection of individually curated items, attempting to eliminate the mystery factor when it comes to quality questions in classifieds.
Once an item of interest is found, customers can purchase it directly on the site and either pick it up locally or have it delivered for a small fee. The startup’s biggest strength and differentiator, other than dearth of Ikea furniture, is that they handle the entire process for the user, from payment to pickup and delivery.
It is worth noting that in exchange for the digital and physical accessibility comes a slight hit to financial accessibility; Vinterior takes a 20% commission on the final selling price, so it’s safe to assume that prices might be slightly inflated compared to the usual classified model – to provide some context, there is a minimum listing price of £100 (about $150USD). But if selection, quality and style are just as important as the money (if you’re in the market for a $850 decorative male torso, they probably are) then a specialized, curated marketplace like Vinterior will certainly offer a number of advantages.
For listing their furniture for sale, there is no fee and listers are provided an online interface to manage their inventory.
Currently, Vinterior is available primarily for local pickup in London, but furniture can be shipped globally for a fee. All searches and purchases are made through their website or their more personalized concierge service, with no smartphone app available at this time. No funding information has been publicly announced.
