eBay Gold or Expensive Firewood? Buying a Used Designer Floor Lamp Without the Regret

There's a particular kind of thrill in spotting a designer floor lamp sitting at the back of a charity shop in Sale, tagged at £35 because nobody there knows what it is. There's a particular kind of misery, too, in getting it home, plugging it in and watching the living room lights dip while the flex goes warm. Both outcomes are entirely normal in the second-hand lamp game. The difference between them is about twenty minutes of careful checking, done before you pay.

Second-hand is genuinely the smart way into designer lighting right now. A new Flos Arco is comfortably north of £2,000; a used one in decent order turns up for £600–£900, and the occasional scruffy-but-sound example goes for less. An original Anglepoise 1227 or a Type 75 can be had for £60–£150 depending on finish and age. Artemide Tolomeos float around the £120–£250 mark second-hand. That's real money saved on pieces that were built to be repaired rather than replaced — which is exactly why buying used is a reasonable bet in the first place, and also why so many of them have been quietly bodged over the decades.

Where the good stuff actually surfaces

Most people default to eBay, and that's fair enough, but the best finds tend to come from places where the seller isn't a lighting specialist. Vinted has become surprisingly good for house clearances, and because it's a fashion-first platform, homeware listings are often priced by people who just want it gone. Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace are where the heavy marble bases live, usually collection-only, which paradoxically keeps prices down — nobody wants to drive to Doncaster for a lamp.

Then there are the regional auction houses. Places like Bamfords, Fieldings, or the smaller rooms attached to a local saleroom often lump lighting into general interiors sales, and a decent mid-century standard lamp can go for the price of the buyer's premium. Read the condition report properly, though. 'Electrical goods not tested' means exactly what it says, and it's not a reason to walk away — it's a reason to budget for a rewire.

Telling a classic from a convincing copy

The three names you'll meet most often are Anglepoise, Artemide and Flos. Each has its own tells.

Anglepoise. Herbert Terry originals and later 1227s have a heft that copies never quite manage. Look at the springs: genuine ones are tightly coiled, sit square in their mounts and don't rattle when you move the arm. The base plate should be thick steel with crisp stamped lettering, not a thin pressing with a printed sticker. Copies usually have a plastic shade rather than pressed steel, and the joints will feel loose or graunchy rather than firm.

Tolomeo. Artemide's aluminium arms should be cool, light and precisely finished, with polished knuckles and a spring that takes up weight smoothly. Fakes are frequently painted rather than anodised, the knuckle joints are often chrome-look plastic, and the whole thing feels slightly too light for its size. Check the underside of the base for a proper Artemide label rather than a rectangular sticker with a font that looks almost right.

Arco. The giveaway is the base. Real ones are Carrara marble, heavy enough that you'll want two people and a proper courier. Fakes use resin or a marble-effect composite, which you can usually identify by tapping — resin sounds dull and plasticky, stone rings slightly — and by looking at the underside, where the veining often stops dead at the edge. On the stainless steel stem, check the telescopic sections slide cleanly and that the shade's swivel hasn't been over-tightened into a droop.

The five-minute electrical MOT

This matters more than the badge. Before money changes hands, ask for a photo of the plug, the flex where it enters the base, and the inside of the shade.

• The plug. A modern UK plug top should be moulded or, if rewirable, have the correct fuse fitted (3A is right for most lamps) and the cord grip actually gripping. A round-pin plug, a cracked bakelite plug or a plug with taped-up flex is a rewire waiting to happen.
• The flex. Run it through your fingers for its full length. Perishing, stiffness, kinks or any sign of heat damage mean replacing it. Double-insulated (Class II) lamps can use two-core flex; anything with a metal body and no double-insulation mark needs three-core with a proper earth.
• The shade. Look for browning, brittleness or a scorched patch on the inner surface. That's heat damage from an over-wattage bulb, and it can make a rare fabric shade unusable.
• The switch and dimmer. Rotate dimmers through their full range a few times. Grinding, dead spots or flicker mean a new dimmer. On older tungsten dimmers, check the lamp isn't being asked to run an LED bulb it was never designed for — that mismatch causes most of the buzzing people complain about.

What testing and rewiring actually cost

PAT testing at a local electrical shop or repair café is typically £15–£30 per item, and it gives you a documented pass and a sticker. A full rewire with new flex, plug and switchgear runs roughly £50–£90 plus parts at an independent repairer — less if it's a simple job on a standard lamp. A replacement in-line dimmer is £20–£40 fitted. A new shade, if the original is missing, is where costs can spiral: budget £40 for a well-chosen high-street shade, £120+ for something that genuinely suits a design classic.

Doing the sums before you commit

Say a used Arco-alike at £180 turns out to be genuine but neglected. Add £70 for a rewire and PAT, £35 for a courier willing to handle a stone base, and £60 for a decent shade. You're at £345 for something that retails well over £2,000. That's a good trade. The same maths on a £90 fake gets you nowhere — you've spent £250 on a lamp that wobbles.

Two last things worth asking the seller directly: whether the lamp has ever been stored in a damp garage (corrosion in the switchgear is common and invisible from outside), and whether they'll pack the base separately. A marble base rattling around in a single box with a chrome arm is how good lamps die in transit.

Buy the badge, but price the electrics. That's the whole game.