I move a lot of old wood furniture. Sometimes it seems like every piece of furniture you find in a storage locker is broken, chipped, scratched or missing parts.
You can probably make about 90% of your wood furniture look good enough to sell with just a few items.
1. Get some wood glue......eventually you'll find some in a locker, but until then, just get a small bottle. There's all kinds, I use Elmers wood glue.....mainly because I've found lot's of it along with a gallon refill bottle in lockers. Notice: WOOD GLUE...not the crap your kid is gluing together construction paper in kindergarten!
2. Clamps, to kind of go along with the wood glue. Again, you'll probably find some in lockers. Keep a couple, don't sell them all. I almost always have some on the shelf, so I just go grab a couple and use them when I need them.
3. Blue tape.......use it to help hold some stuff together like chips and stuff that clamps don't really work on......and it's a lot easier to get off then regular tape and hopefully won't damage the finish like other tapes have a tendency to do. Also, you will find this in lockers, but usually it is old and doesn't stick for crap, so spend a couple bucks and get this at the store, this stuff is best when it's fresh.
4. 00 and/or 000 steel wool. I have had chairs with original finish made in the 30's and I did nothing but carefully follow the grain with some 00 steel wool and it made them look awesome and they still had the original finish without all the gunk on them. Just be careful and don't use anything courser, or you'll start getting lot's of scratches. This also works to take out some small scratches.
5. Murphy's oil soap.......this stuff is awesome......slop it on a rag liberally and wipe down your wood finishes......makes most stuff look pretty good and will help hide some smaller scratches.
6. Pledge......even just spraying this on and wiping it down will make a big difference in most wood finishes. Remember, you need to clean this stuff before you sell it.......get the dust out of the crevices and at least make it look clean......a nice clean piece with some scratches and a few chips will sell a lot faster than a dirty one.
7. Some spray clear. This stuff will hide so many scratches it's unreal. Give the piece a quick clean up with Windex or soap and water or a vinegar and water mix, and tape it off and give it a quick run over with the steel wool. Clean it again and make sure it's dry and then spray on a few light coats. It will amaze you.
These will take care of the basics. You have to make your own judgement on how much the piece is worth and how much time you want to spend on it. You will find all these items in storage lockers over time, so eventually, you will never have to buy any of this stuff except maybe the blue tape. If you really want to get into it, you will start accumulating different shades of stains, furniture restore, paints, brushes, sandpaper, special clamps, shop space, etc. The sky's the limit! Just remember, the idea is to make money, and in my book, if you spend 3 hours on a $25.00 piece of furniture, you are NOT making money!