Resale Living — Local services in Sioux Falls Township

A Hit or Miss Place – in More Ways than One

The goods:

Mostly the kind of furniture the 55+ community likes – stuffed chairs and sofas with floral upholstery, heavy wood furniture like sideboards, dressers and headboards, and fancy table lamps. Don’t expect the good stuff like Henkel-Harris, Bassett, Baker or Henredon – you won’t find much better than middle-end like Ethan Allen. But if you’re looking for used furniture, this is one of the few options, as the other resale/thrift shops in the city have little or no furniture, except for Consignors Design up the street. Prices aren’t low for used furniture, so carefully watching the constant furniture sales around town might offer something new for just a little more.

Back room does have a selection of recliners that someone looking to furnish a den or first apartment might like. Here and there you might find a nice piece of accent furniture, but the goods are packed pretty close, so you have to look carefully around. Wall art is mostly just printed landscape posters in frames – the kind of stuff that usually hangs on the wall over a sofa – nothing original or collectible. Decorative items are the better thrift shop variety. Stock doesn’t change much from month to month.

The staff:

I’ve been in five times now, and it’s remarkable how some of the people know the basics of Retail 101 that you learn if you worked in a mall store in high school, and some don’t. Once when I was there, the staff was a teenager/young woman who just looked up from the desk, said “let me know if need anything.” Another time it was a slender older woman with blonde highlights who came around the counter, said hello, and asked if there was anything special I was looking for. She offered the store’s business card as I left, and asked me to come again. She definitely understood Retail 101 – each new customer is a potential return customer, and also someone who might refer other customers.

The other staff (owner?) was a short older woman with a blonde ponytail, who was looking at her phone when I came in, looked up, and went back to the phone. Another time she did talk to me, but then the phone rang, and she forgot Retail 101 – the person in front of you is more important than the person on the phone (barring a medical emergency, which it definitely wasn’t). Bringing in something for consignment can be hit or miss, too, and again, even if something is turned down, a friendly “Well, it’s not what I’m looking for right now, but thank you for coming by, and keep me in mind if you have anything else” would generate more future inventory than a curt rejection.

In a place like this the customers could also be suppliers and the suppliers may later be customers; today’s item might not be marketable, but the next thing the consigner would bring in might sell for a good price (and the consignor might walk out with a purchase) - something Ponytail and Teenager didn’t seem to grasp. Each time I was in there - weekday or weekend - I was the only person there, so the business wasn’t exactly booming.

It’s not worth a special trip, but if you’re in the hardware store or grocery store in the neighborhood, it might be worth walking over if there’s something in particular for which you’re looking. You could get lucky and find Blonde Highlights...

The business, Resale Living looks good, Sondee is a nice lady but operates by some bad business practices unfortunately. I dropped off a pretty miraculous piece of furniture at an agreed price to split 50/50 if she sold the item. She said the item would sell in two weeks and was totally confident about that. After about 3 month later and no word from her. I contacted Sondee and she said she had sold the item about 5 weeks ago for $100 less than the price we agreed upon AND she never even bothered to mail a check or even contact us that it had been sold. She just decided it was ok to keep all the money without any regard for our legal agreement which was manipulated on multiple levels. This is a great place to purchase nice used furniture but do not make a deal with this lady to sell your stuff. Not trustworthy. Not reliable. Additionally, she tried to change the terms of our contract and demanded 25% for a so called ‘holding fee’ if I sold the item on my own or removed it from her possession. A SERIES OF UNFORTUNET BUSINESS...

I have been going here for years and we have previously bought a fun maroon leather section and several smaller decor pieces. They have a very large selection of furniture, prints, decor, and stools. I love their variety and unique pieces. Sometimes the store is a little hard to maneuver through since it is so full of good stuff. Also, their prices can be a touch high for previously loved items. There are a couple pieces that I would love to have but aren't priced for what I think...