Buying Used Furniture? – Beware of Bed Bugs

One of the great tenants of frugality is buying used products. Most of the time the stuff you can buy used will work just as well for you as if you had bought something new. Almost all of us buy a used home, most of us buy new cars, and some of us even buy used clothes! Generally, buying used products is a great way to save a lot of money and cut down on some un-necessary waste. We would never buy underwear or food used, because it’s well, gross. What about furniture?

Usually buying brand new furniture is a very expensive proposition. Most of the time furniture sets are extremely marked up, and you have to negotiate down to get a reasonable price. A lot of us don’t buy furniture very often at all for this exact reason. Others don’t buy new furniture because when you’re just starting out and finally have enough money for an apartment, there’s very little room left over for furniture. Most people then result to buying used furniture, and taking whatever they can for free from friends and neighbors.

Usually you can get used furniture for a fraction of what you would pay new, often under 10%. People just want to get rid of their old stuff so they have room for some new furniture, but there’s a hidden danger in used furniture that a lot of us never consider, and that’s bed bugs. Bed bugs are small creatures which live in cracks, nooks, and crannies around one’s home. There’s been a real outbreak of bed bug infestations in New York recently, so its definitely something to be concerned about.

Bed bugs are almost impossible and very expensive to get rid of. Some people have to call multiple exterminators, get rid of all of their furniture and books, and wash absolutely everything they own in extremely hot water just to get rid of bed bugs. A few bugs around might not make that big of a difference, but bed bugs actually come out at night and feed on human blood. Their victims wake up with horribly itchy welts, which are not fun to deal with at all. You should definitely keep them out of your home if at all possible.

If you see any random nice furniture sitting out on the curb, chances are it’s infested with bedbugs, and the owner got rid of it because of them. Don’t think that you’ve found a great free piece of furniture, when in reality all you found was a bed-bug infestation waiting to happen.

Usually used furniture is a rather good deal, but just remember that you’re taking a risk. If there’s been reports of bed bug out-breaks in your area, you should be very hesitant to pick up any used furniture.