Vitra Side Tables Resale Value

Vitra side tables: price by condition

Seller-declared grades, sterling with an approximate US dollar equivalent at £1 ≈ $1.33 (July 2026). What each grade means.

What holds its value across Vitra

• Licensed Eames pieces — the Lounge Chair, the plastic side chairs and the aluminium group — which are the designs the company is built on
• The Panton Chair, the first single-piece moulded plastic chair, which is collected as a design object rather than simply used
• Nelson clocks and the smaller accessories, which are inexpensive enough to sell quickly and are widely searched by name
• Pieces retaining the moulded or stamped Vitra mark underneath, which is what separates a licensed chair from the copies that flood the market

What pulls Vitra resale value down

• Unmarked replicas, which are everywhere at this price point and are worth a small fraction of the licensed article regardless of how similar they look
• Perished shock mounts on Eames fibreglass and plastic chairs, where the rubber discs bonding the shell to the base fail and the seat detaches
• Faded and chalky plastic shells, where sunlight has taken the colour out unevenly and no cleaning restores it
• Cracked fibreglass around the mounting points on vintage shells, which is structural and is where these chairs eventually fail

Identifying and dating yours

1. The Vitra mark is moulded or stamped into the underside of a seat or the base of an object — photograph it, because it is the difference between the two markets
2. Licensed Eames chairs carry a label giving the design and production details; a chair with no marking at all should be described as unbranded
3. Turn a shell chair over and photograph the shock mounts: intact discs bonded flat to the shell are what a buyer is checking for

What lifts any side table, whatever the label

Side tables are small, easy to move and cheap new, so design and material are what lift one above nominal value.

• Solid wood and recognised design pieces
• Stable, tight joints
• Original finish in good condition
• Matching pairs sold together

And what pulls one down

• Water rings and heat marks
• Wobbling legs
• Veneer lifting at the edges
• Generic flat-pack tables

Working out what yours is worth

1. Press each corner to test for wobble
2. Photograph the top in daylight
3. Measure height, width and depth

What to state in the listing

• Height, and top length and width or diameter
• Material and finish
• Whether it has a shelf or drawer
• Top surface condition and any wobble or repair

Material, style and size: “Mid Century Teak Side Table, 45cm, Tapered Legs”. Height and top dimensions are the searches because buyers are matching a sofa arm. Era and maker carry the value on anything vintage.

Preparing and photographing it

1. Clean the top and check it across raking light for ring marks, heat damage and scratches.
2. Check for wobble on a flat floor and tighten the legs.
3. Look underneath for a maker’s label or stamp, which on mid-century pieces changes the price.

1. The whole table from a standing angle
2. The top surface across the light
3. The legs and their joints
4. The underside with any maker’s mark, plus every chip or scratch

When it sells best, and handing it over

Steady year round with lifts in January and late summer. Mid-century pieces sell within days when correctly identified.

Small enough for a car boot, which makes collection easy. Remove the legs if they unbolt and say so — it turns a van job into a hatchback one.

What buyers ask

How do I tell a real Vitra Eames chair from a replica?

Look underneath for the moulded Vitra mark and the production label. The designs are widely copied, so an unmarked chair should be listed honestly as a replica.

Can perished Eames shock mounts be replaced?

Yes, replacement mounts are available and it is a straightforward job. Doing it before selling is worthwhile, because a shell that detaches from its base looks like a broken chair.

How much is a Vitra side table worth?

Roughly £19 to £108 depending on condition, against £12 to £70 for side tables generally. The identification points above are what move a listing to the top of that range.

What the fees would take elsewhere

At the mid-range £63 for a Vitra side table, against what the commission marketplaces would deduct:

Seller-side rates verified 26 Jul 2026, percentages only — the per-order and processing charges those platforms add are excluded, so the real gap is wider.

Listing is free and there is no commission — read how to sell a side table for the title, handover and timing, or the general side table value guide if yours is not a Vitra.

See also: all Vitra value guides · value guides by brand · buying a side table · Furniture · condition grades.