How to Sell Your Old Kitchen When You Are Replacing It

When a kitchen comes out, most of it ends up in a skip. That is a waste twice over: you pay for the skip, and you throw away units that someone else would happily pay you for. A decent kitchen that is only a few years old, or one you are ripping out because you fancy a change rather than because it is falling apart, has real second-hand value. Here is how to sell it properly.

Who actually buys a used kitchen?

More people than you would think. Landlords fitting out a rental want something solid and tidy without paying for new. First-time buyers doing up a first home are often working to a tight budget and are glad of a good kitchen at a fraction of the price. Holiday-let owners, people kitting out an annexe or a garden office, and buyers who just want a sensible kitchen without the showroom markup all shop for used and ex-display kitchens. Your old kitchen is somebody's upgrade.

Measure it before you photograph it

A buyer's first question is always the same: will it fit? So get the measurements down before you list anything. Note the number of base units and wall units, the width of each one, and the overall run lengths. Record the worktop length and depth. List every appliance with its make and model number, and say clearly whether they are included.

Write down anything relevant about condition too. A small chip on a plinth is fine to mention; hiding it just wastes everyone's time when the buyer comes to view. Honest, detailed measurements are what turn a browser into a buyer.

Photograph it so people can actually see it

Clear the worktops. A kitchen full of kettles, bins and washing-up sells nothing. Open the blinds, put the lights on, and take photos in daylight if you can. You want:

• A wide shot of the whole kitchen so people grasp the layout.
• Each run of units from straight on.
• Close-ups of the door style, the handles and the worktop.
• The appliances, including the model badges.
• Honest shots of any wear, so there are no surprises at viewing.

Good photos do more for your price than any amount of description. A dark, cluttered picture makes a perfectly good kitchen look tired.

Pricing it to sell

Used kitchens are priced on condition, age, the brand and how complete they are. A full kitchen with matching units, a worktop and working appliances is worth far more as one lot than as bits sold separately, so keep it together where you can. As a rough steer, a good-quality kitchen a few years old might fetch somewhere between a tenth and a third of what it cost new, more if it is a recognised brand in excellent order.

Be realistic. The buyer has to pay to remove it and transport it, and they are taking a chance on parts they cannot test until it is out. Price it fairly and it will move. Price it like it is still new and it will sit there until the skip becomes your only option.

Who dismantles it?

Sort this out in the listing so there is no confusion. The usual arrangement is that the buyer removes the kitchen themselves, at their cost and risk, once they have paid. That suits you, because it means the kitchen leaves cleanly and you are not left carrying units to the kerb.

Time it around your own fitting. Most people sell the old kitchen for collection just before the new one goes in, so they are not living around a stack of dismantled cabinets. If the buyer is taking it out, agree a date that lines up with your schedule and make sure the appliances are disconnected safely first. Gas appliances must be disconnected by someone competent.

The ex-display and used kitchen market

There is a proper market for this now, sitting alongside ex-display kitchens from showrooms. Buyers who look for ex-display kitchens are exactly the people who will consider a good used kitchen too, because the appeal is the same: a quality kitchen for a lot less than new. Listing yours where those buyers are already looking is far more effective than hoping a neighbour happens to want it.

To put your kitchen in front of them, set yourself up as a seller at register as a seller. It costs nothing to list, and because the site connects you straight to the buyer, you keep what you sell it for. You can see the sort of kitchens people are browsing over at ex-display kitchens.

The short version

Measure it, photograph it in good light, price it honestly, and let the buyer take it out. You clear the room without paying for a skip, you put a few hundred pounds back towards your new kitchen, and a perfectly good set of units carries on being useful instead of being crushed. Everyone comes out ahead.