I have a few pieces of furniture that I've considered selling, including a hope chest with Murphy 4250 stamped on the back. I'm hoping someone knows what it might be worth? Any information / history about the brand in general and/or the model # specifically would really be appreciated!
Murphy is a good name brand for furniture and also for hope chests. Today young girls no longer are interested in buying a hope chest for the future and starting to save for the day they get married. That seems to be a long past tradition and not one that was carried on after the 1980s or so. I know my mom was into this when I was growing up and thought it was necessary to have one but I disagreed with her on this one.
People are still interested in buying these but not for hope chest but to store blankets in or other items. On average the basics sales price a person gets when selling one of these is $135 to $150 tops. I know people say you can get more for these but when you look at the ones that have sold most people are only making $135 and still need to pay the PayPal fees.
You're correct about there being a lot of confusion about the numbers on the Murphy Cedar chests as they may or may not relate to the year of manufacture.
Cedar chests are slow sellers but usually sell for several hundred dollars when they sell.
Here is a copy of a comment made in 2018 in answer to someone about a particular chest. This listing had been posted for a while before this comment was made and this is 2 years later and the chest has not sold.
"Here is a nice chest that has been listed (and relisted) for some time but you may want to place a watch on it to see if it sells.
There is a lot of information in some of the past postings:
www.thriftyfun.com/
www.thriftyfun.com/
www.thriftyfun.com/
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a cedar chest that has Murphy 20 on the back and it has a drop down shelf in it. What is it worth?
There is one on eBay going for $200. Also on chairish.com Murphy chest are offered at $300 to $600. Its a lovely piece!
Just keep in mind the asking price is not the price that people sell these for. Most cedar chest asking price is quite high and can range anywhere from $200-600.
It is in very good condition. I am hoping to find out what it is worth.
All cedar chests have a serial number that doubles as the manufacturing date. If you see a number such as 04140 inside the chest this would mean it was manufactured on April 1, 1940. This will help you to determine how old the chest is and give you a better idea as to the value of your chest. Furthermore, the condition and style of the chest play an important factor in determining the actual price of your chest.
My wife has a Murphy cedar chest that I am fixing to redo. On the back it just has Murphy and #19. I haven't taken out everything from inside yet.
I am trying not to. The inside is in great shape.
On eBay this chest ranges from $175 to $450. Also this consignment link has one- www.chairish.com/
Cedar chests are not fast moving items as very few people are interested in owning one anymore. The most popular time for cedar chests was when they were known as 'hope chests' and that term no longer means anything to most people.
ThriftyFun receives a lot of questions about cedar chests so maybe you can find some of the answers from previous postings helpful in your search.
I hope you are just interested in the age (curious) and plan to redo the outside for your wife to keep in your family.
"There is a statement from a family member of the Murphy Cedar Chest company on a Thrifty fun site that states the following:
"Hi; My name is Lawson Murphy. My family manufactured cedar chests from 1946-2004. We shut down manufacturing due to Chinese competition. "
www.thriftyfun.com/
www.ebth.com/
Here is a link to a chest like yours that sold for $72 in 2017.
Looks very nice.
www.ebth.com/
There are very few Murphy chests listed for sale right now and I have not seen any evidence of any being sold in several months so I do not feel there is any way to state what the value would be.
Recently my sister in law passed away and we are trying to settle her estate, as well as her mother's. Could someone help us with an estimated value for this 4045 Murphy Chest?
It is in really good condition and I am just trying to help my brother out as much as I can. Thank you.
This Murphy cedar chest is listed for $450.
www.ebay.com/
This will give you an idea of different chests for sale on ebay:
www.ebay.com/
In 2018 this chest was auctioned and sold for $35:
www.liveauctioneers.com/
I have a very pretty Murphy cedar chest model # 4032 how much is it worth?
I have done research on some of my old furniture on the net - Google the name - you get pieces of information that you can put together to get some sort of picture of the item - works for a lot of stuff....
