Redefining Resale: GoneGirl Nashville Simplifies Fine Furniture Selling
Expert resellers Collins Hooper and Carlisle Hamling can get your high-quality home furnishings gone, girl! The best part? They handle everything. Image: GoneGirl
One person’s trash may be another’s treasure, but finding the treasure hunters can be challenging. Listing items on social media, holding an estate sale, or consigning items at a retail shop can generate more extra work than extra cash for the seller.
That’s where the GoneGirl Home Nashville team comes in. Long-time friends Collins Hooper and Carlisle Hamling handle every aspect of selling your items from start to finish. Their comprehensive approach eliminates the hassles of dealing with the public, haggling over pricing, and delivering your item to its new owner. In other words, “We sell your problem,” laughs Collins.
A Seamless Selling Process
They may “sell your problem,” but more accurately, GoneGirl Home offers a one-stop solution for getting rid of furniture and home accessories that you no longer need or want.
The process starts with an assessment of the items you’d like to sell. Collins and Carlisle come to your home to measure, photograph, and assess the condition of your pieces. They then present you with comps based on demand, market saturation, and whether you want to make a profit, recoup your cost, or just get the pieces “gone.”
“Our model allows the seller to dictate the price,” explains Collins. “We will give you a pricing proposal, but ultimately you determine what you want to do.”
Once a selling price is agreed upon, the GoneGirl team goes to work marketing, promoting, and listing your items on their website, Instagram, Chairish (where they have “Super Seller” status), and other niche selling platforms. The items remain in your home until they have sold, at which time the GoneGirl gals handle the pickup of sold items, manage the payments, and give you 60% of the final sale price.
“We always meet potential buyers or the shippers at your home or storage unit,” assures Carlisle, who says that clients appreciate the peace of mind that comes from not having to deal with strangers on mass online selling platforms.
“There are a lot of resale options out there,” she adds. “We fill the gap between Facebook Marketplace and high-end consignment stores and estate sales.”
Quality over Quantity
When it comes to how they fill that gap, GoneGirl is selective with the pieces they choose. In other words, this is not the place to list that IKEA couch you’ve had since college. “This is a curated consignment process, so the items must be of good quality and in good condition,” explains Carlisle. “Our clients aren’t looking for something they can find all over Craigslist. They want items that are unique or new in the box.”
In addition to furniture, those items include rugs, art, fabrics, and wallpaper. Collins says that dining tables with leaves are current big sellers, along with upholstered sofas and chairs from high-end manufacturers like Hickory or Century Furniture. “People like to find upholstered pieces that have good bones and then recover them,” she says.
What you won’t find listed are pianos, pool tables, or silver and china. For those and other items, GoneGirl can connect sellers with various nonprofits.
“We want to set everyone up for success, so we are very upfront about what will sell and what won’t,” says Collins. “At the end of the day, most people really want their stuff to go to a good home, and if they can connect with a charity that’s helping someone get on their feet, that feels good to them.”
A Perfect Partnership
GoneGirl Home started in 2017 in Washington, DC, when Carlisle’s sister-in-law (and Collins’ best friend), Kate Wassiliew, successfully sold her old furniture on Facebook Marketplace. Inspired by her knack for knowing what to sell and how to price it, Kate’s friends began asking her to list their items too. Suddenly, GoneGirl Home was a thriving business. Since then, the concept has expanded to include Bethesda, Richmond, and, of course, Nashville.
“Kate got into this right before the concept of high-end consignment stores really took off,” Carlisle notes. “We watched her do it right for about eight years before we jumped in.”
Both Collins, a former attorney, and Carlisle are busy moms with hectic schedules. Starting a Nashville branch of GoneGirl Homes appealed to them because it allowed them to do something they loved while setting their own schedules. They launched in September 2024 and haven’t looked back.
“Kate really encouraged us,” says Carlisle. “She saw how this was the perfect job to fit into our lifestyles.”
Although both women share the responsibilities of running GoneGirl Home, they have each found their individual strengths. Collins keeps her focus on the creative side of the business, photographing items and handling social media listings. Carlisle primarily handles the bookkeeping and billing.
“We each bring something different to the table,” says Collins.
Their skill sets may differ, but the two women share a love for beautiful, well-crafted furniture. Collins grew up with a mother whom she calls “a frustrated decorator,” and a grandmother who took her antiquing. She credits them for her appreciation of quality pieces. “Furniture, decor, and the way a room should look come naturally to me,” she admits.
Even more than the furniture itself, both women are drawn to the item’s history and how it came into the owner’s possession. “We enjoy going into houses and seeing so many beautiful things that are out there,” says Carlisle. “We are both ‘people’ people, and we love meeting our clients and hearing the stories behind their pieces.”
Where is GoneGirl going next?
With one year of business under their belts, where do the women of GoneGirl Home Nashville see the company going next? The short answer is: don’t expect a brick-and-mortar shop anytime soon.
“We probably won’t ever do a storefront,” says Carlisle. “Our current model allows our customers to make more money because we don’t have to recoup any overhead.”
Instead, these women will continue to focus on doing what they love: working together to bring fabulous furniture finds to their clientele. They love what they do, in no small part because they have mastered the art of balancing a lifelong friendship with a healthy business partnership.
“We couldn’t do this alone,” Collins is quick to point out. “Being a team really helps because we are both very busy with our families and children, and being able to tag in and out works well for us.” Based on their success in just one year, it’s also working well for their clients!
Be sure to follow GoneGirl Nashville on Instagram: @gonegirlnash
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Bonny Osterhage
Bonny Osterhage is a professional journalist with more than 25 years of experience in both print and digital media. An avid fitness fanatic, when she isn't exploring the next trending topic, Bonny can be found cycling, running, and leading classes at SolidCore. Find more of her work at Mind Body Green, The List, Business Insider, and more.