Latest / Wages and Prices with Fexingo: Cost of Living, Pay Raises, and Workers' Purchasing Power / Why Your Raise Is Finally Beating Used Furniture Prices
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've spent a lot of episodes this year tracking the things your raise is finally beating — rent hikes, tuition, daycare, even new cars. Luna: Right, the 'raise vs. price' series has been our most popular. But there's one category we haven't touched yet that I think is actually the most surprising win for workers. Lucas: Used furniture. Specifically, secondhand tables, sofas, dressers — the stuff you find on Facebook Marketplace, at garage sales, or at Habitat for Humanity ReStores. Luna: Used furniture? That's a category I hadn't thought about. How's it tracking? Lucas: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI data, prices for used furniture and furnishings have fallen about twelve percent since their peak in mid-2022. Meanwhile, average hourly earnings for private workers have gone from about thirty-five dollars to thirty-seven sixty over that same period — a roughly seven percent gain. Luna: So your raise is buying you more used sofa per hour. That's a tangible win. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just a rounding error. The CPI print for May 2026 — the most recent we have — puts the headline index at 334.0. Core CPI ex food and energy is 336.1. Both are still rising, but at a slower pace. But used furniture is one of the few categories going the other way. Luna: What's driving it? Is it just people having less money to spend on bigger purchases? Lucas: Partially, but there's a specific supply story here. During the pandemic, everyone and their uncle bought new furniture. Work-from-home setups, home renovations, stimulus checks. The furniture industry had a massive boom. But now, a few years later, a lot of that furniture is hitting the secondhand market. Luna: So there's a glut. People are downsizing, moving, maybe upgrading to newer styles. Lucas: Right. And the housing market plays a role too. With mortgage rates still elevated — the ten-year Treasury is around four-point-two percent — fewer people are buying new homes. And when you don't buy a new house, you're less likely to buy a new living room set. That depresses demand for new furniture, which puts downward pressure on used prices. Luna: We saw the June jobs report yesterday — only fifty-seven thousand new payrolls, unemployment at four-point-two percent. So the labor market is cooling. That might make people even more cautious about big discretionary purchases. Lucas: Exactly. And here's a concrete example. I was talking to a manager at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore outside Atlanta last week. She said a solid oak dining table with six chairs — retail value probably around two thousand dollars new — sat on their floor for six weeks before someone bought it for four hundred. Six weeks. In 2022, that table would have been gone in two days. Luna: Wow. So that's a buyer's market if you need furniture. But is it just a temporary blip, or is this a longer-term shift? Lucas: It's probably not permanent. Furniture is durable, so there's a natural replacement cycle. But we're still working through the pandemic-era bulge. And there's another factor: the rise of online resale platforms. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp — they've made it much easier to list and buy used furniture. That increases liquidity in the secondhand market, which tends to push prices down. Luna: So the 'raise beating' story here isn't just about wages — it's about structural changes in how we buy and sell used goods. Lucas: Precisely. And it ties into a bigger narrative: goods inflation has cooled much faster than services inflation. Used furniture is a goods category. So it's benefiting from the same global supply chain normalization that has brought down prices for things like used cars, electronics, and clothing. Luna: We did an episode on used cars a few weeks back. Those prices have also come down from pandemic peaks. But furniture seems even more dramatic. Lucas: It is. The Bureau of Labor Statistics index for used furniture peaked at 142.6 in August 2022. As of May 2026, it's at 125.9. That's an eleven-point-seven percent decline. For context, the overall CPI rose about fourteen percent over that same window. So used furniture is one of the few categories where prices have actually fallen in nominal terms. Luna: So for the listener who's thinking, 'I need a couch, should I buy new or used?' — the data says used is a screaming deal right now. Lucas: Absolutely. But there's a nuance. You have to factor in the time and effort of searching. It's not like walking into a store and picking a model. You're scrolling listings, messaging sellers, coordinating pickup. That's labor. But if you value your time at, say, thirty-seven dollars an hour — the current average wage — spending three hours to save four hundred dollars is a great trade-off. Luna: Right, you're essentially paying yourself a higher hourly rate on that transaction. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a lifestyle angle too. People are increasingly sustainability-conscious. Buying used keeps furniture out of landfills. So there's a feel-good element that aligns with the economic incentive. Luna: I've noticed that myself. I bought a vintage dresser off Facebook Marketplace last year for a hundred bucks. Solid wood. Would have been six hundred new. It's still going strong. Lucas: And that's the kind of purchase that, in the current environment, your raise genuinely makes easier. Since early 2020, average hourly earnings are up about twenty-two percent. Used furniture prices are down about twelve percent from their peak. So your purchasing power for that category has improved dramatically. Luna: I wonder if this will last. If the housing market picks up, or if people start moving again, demand for furniture could rebound. Lucas: It could. But the supply glut still has legs. Many millennials and Gen Zers bought furniture during the pandemic that they now want to offload. And the platforms make it frictionless. So I'd expect used furniture to remain a relative bargain for at least another year or two. Luna: That's a genuinely useful takeaway. If you're in the market for a table or a sofa, now is the time. Lucas: Yeah, and it ties into a broader point we've been making throughout this series: wages are finally catching up in some unexpected categories. It's not just headline inflation coming down — it's specific markets where supply dynamics are working in the consumer's favor. Luna: Speaking of making the most of your money, if you find value in these episodes and want to help us keep the show ad-free, listener support is what makes that possible. You can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: And we genuinely appreciate that. It keeps us independent and able to dig into these niche markets. So, back to furniture — one thing to watch is whether the trend spreads to other durables. We're already seeing it in some appliance categories. Luna: Right, but furniture is the most dramatic example. And it's a tangible win for anyone willing to shop secondhand. So, Lucas, if someone wants to track this themselves, what should they look for? Lucas: The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a 'used furniture and furnishings' sub-index within the CPI. It's CUUR0000SEFD. That's a mouthful, but you can find it online. Watch the month-over-month change. If it stays negative or flat, the buyer's market continues. Luna: And if it starts ticking up, you'll know the glut is clearing. Lucas: Exactly. So for now, if your living room needs a refresh, your raise has got your back. Just maybe not for the brand-new stuff — but for the gently used, you're in a sweet spot. Luna: Alright, that's a great place to leave it. Thanks for joining us.