Ask HN: Where to find used office furniture?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=469498

by KevBurnsJr • 17 years ago

6 4 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

We're looking specifically for lots of big whiteboards, but we don't want to break the bank.

Does anyone know of any treasure troves in the valley housing motherloads of used office furniture?

alnayyir• 17 years ago

Don't post at 0300 EST if you want answers. I know you're not asking for answers on the eastern seaboard, but there clearly aren't many more people online.

I'm only here because I'm a night-time Linux admin.

brk• 17 years ago

craigslist is usually a dearth of used office furniture. You can also often find used office furniture dealers in your area via a Google search for the same.

For whiteboards you can also use a large piece of glass (mounted on a standing frame, or against a wall).

FYI, I bought a roll of "whiteboard vinyl" a few years back at another startup with the intention of covering the walls in a conference room with it to make huge whiteboard areas. It sucked, don't waste your money. If the walls are not glass-smooth all the little bumps come through and make it a bitch to write on or erase.

RobGR• 17 years ago

The white board vinyl works best if you use it to repair some old whiteboards. You get the old ones for free, that are scratched and suffering from the can't-quite-erase-completely problem, and then cover them. You can also convert a chalkboard into a whiteboard this way.

If you start from scratch, you have to get something extremely smooth I guess -- maybe formica countertop material would work.

In answer to the general question, the best place to get used office furniture is in the dumpsters and loading docks of office buildings.

pedalpete• 17 years ago

I've been looking too, but haven't been able to source big whiteboards locally (and shipping costs on the big items limits any savings you'd get).

I went to ikea, in the "as is" section and grabbed a huge panel of lamenated something ($6). Now, i've just got to get some whiteboard paint http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17835&utm_source...

The whiteboard will end up twice as big as anything I found at office depot, and cost should be less than $40.

Ask HN: Where to find used office furniture?

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