5 Secrets You Should Know Before
Buying
Your Next Piece of Wood Furniture
Secret
#1. How
to Shop For a Good Price
Don’t
waste your time searching the Internet to find wholesale costs on new
furniture.
If
you are really looking for a great value, you need to consider ALL the
different elements of your purchase.
Unfortunately, price is not a very good indicator of the quality or
value you get when buying furniture. You
can pay too much for a low quality item if you shop in the wrong store. And you may overlook a quality item for a
good price because you don’t like the way the store looks from the outside.
The
important thing to remember when shopping for furniture is to identify what you
really want and then go get it.
Also
don’t be fooled by the “same” piece of furniture being offered at different
stores at drastically different prices.
There
are three possible reasons you might see this.
The
first, and obvious, answer is that one store simply charges higher prices for
its merchandise.
The
second reason is that one store’s selling price includes services, like free
design services and free delivery, that are not included in the first store’s
price.
The
third possible reason is the scariest.
Furniture manufacturers often copy each other’s best selling styles. When they do, they sometimes remove a few of
the unseen quality construction features built into the original.
Worse
yet, the best quality and poorest quality piece may both be offered at the same
price! (That means more profit for the
retailer.) Unless you know how to tell
the difference, you could easily pay the high quality price for the poor
quality piece.
Secret
#2. Does Buying a Brand Name Equal Quality?
Just
buying a brand name you know is no guarantee you’re getting the best
quality. For example, Let’s
say XYZ furniture manufacturer makes bedroom furniture. In order to sell as wide a range of furniture
retailers as possible, they will make some of their bedroom patterns…
in
GOOD quality…
some in
BETTER quality…
and
some in their BEST quality.
Unless
you know how to spot the differences, you could be fooled into paying too much
quality you’re getting just because you bought a recognized brand name.
Secret
#3. Ask the Right Questions
67
percent of those who bought wood furniture- and more than 80 percent of those
who bought sofas- had no idea what kind of quality they were buying, says Ron Bartkowski, president of Furniture Rep’s Warehouse in
“What
they seem to do is to buy for look, not for quality,” he says. “It’s the third most expensive purchase
[people] make and yet they have little knowledge about it.”
Since
they don’t know what they’re getting, how can they know if they are paying a
fair price for it?
It’s
nearly impossible to find information on the track record of a furniture
manufacturer, there are over 450 furniture manufacturers alone.
The
consumers have to rely on the credibility of the retailer.
To
avoid overpaying for furniture, ask the right questions and brush up on some
furniture knowledge. Here’s what to look
for:
Check the drawers
With
bedroom sets, dining room sets, and occasional, look at how all the pieces are
proportioned in relation to each other.
If you’re spending more than $200, look underneath to see the quality of
the wood.
On
pieces with drawers, notice how they are hung.
If they are tilted, that indicates the poor quality of the manufacturer
very quickly. Feel the weight of the
drawers. High quality furniture has a
sense of weight, scale, and solidity to it.
Drawers should work smoothly and not bind when extended.
Take
out the top drawer and check to see if the inside feels rough. Rough drawer interiors indicate a lower
quality. Is the inside of the drawer
finished as smoothly as the outside of the cabinet? Upper end furniture will not
substitute a lesser species of wood for the drawers.
On
high quality bedroom and dining items, drawers will be mounted with heavy duty,
full extension, soft close drawer glides.
Lesser quality furniture may use only center glides that combine wood
with metal.
Even
brand-name manufacturers sometimes use fiberboard and cover it with paper which
is printed with a photograph of a real wood finish. If you don’t know what
you’re looking for you can easily be fooled.
Find out who’s backing the
warranty
Many
lower end manufacturer’s warranties on wood furniture only cover splitting and
cracking for one year. Better
manufacturers may offer up to a five year warranty. Only the best manufacturers will offer you a
lifetime guarantee, providing you with great peace of mind!
Consumers
should look to see if they have a manufacturer’s warranty or a retailer’s
warranty. If it says, “Only to the
original address” in very small print at the bottom of the sales contract, your
warranty will be void if you move. This
can be very deceiving. Be careful!
Secret
#4: 13 Quick Tips to Quality Control
1.
Drawer
interiors should be smooth to the touch, sanded, and sealed.
2.
Glass
shelves should be at least 1/4 inches thick and have plate
grooves.
3.
Better-end
display and china cabinets should have halogen or fluorescent lighting, line switches, and rheostats.
4.
Upper-end manufacturers use heavier,
more substantial, more decorative hardware.
5.
Inspect hinges to determine if they are solidly
secure and can handle the load of the door.
6.
The back panel will be wood on the best
items, cardboard or fiberboard on a lower quality item. Check also to see if the back panel is inset and
screwed into the case, instead of simply nailed to the back edges, because this
technique contributes a lot to overall stability.
7.
You want the piece to have a deep, clear
finish, not necessarily a high gloss.
The degree of sheen has nothing to do with the quality of the
finish. Ask if the finish is resistant
to “water rings” and most household chemicals.
8.
Check to see if legs of chairs, tables
or occasionals have glides on the
base. They aid the consumer with ease of
movement and protection of your hardwood and carpets.
9.
When you look at a dining table, put
your hands on the corner and try to move it.
If you get lots of wiggle, watch out.
Either the legs are not properly secured or the leg assembly is poorly
engineered.
10. Glass table tops
should be made of tempered glass and should be between ½ to
5/8 inch thick. Glass inserts
should be 3/8 inch thick on cocktail tables, etc.
11. When
you look at a bed, stand at the footboard and try to rock the bed. High quality beds will remain solid and
resist rocking.
12. Look
for dining table leaves that are
between 12 and 18 inches in width and that are fully aproned or have an apron
option. (This is a panel extending down
on both sides.) This will give your
table a more finished look when it is fully extended.
13. Ask
what kind of table slide is used on
extendable dining tables. Dovetailed, rock
maple wood extension slides or geared equalizer slides are the best; that’s
especially important on tables that extend to 24 inches or longer.
Secret
#5. Do
Business With a Person – Not a Nameless, Faceless
Institution
Build
a relationship with a retailer you can trust and who always backs up his products.
There is nothing more frustrating than buying an expensive piece of
furniture, having problems with it, and then getting the run around when you
call the retailer back.
I
don’t believe in that kind of customer treatment. I realize that you work hard for your
money. You deserve to get the best value
for you dollar. Part of that value is
being taken care of on the warranty or any other issues you might have.
Please
don’t misunderstand me. Our furniture is
top quality. We don’t have many customers
that ever have problems with anything. No one is perfect. I’ll be the first to admit it. So if there is anything that you have a
question about we’ll take care of it promptly and properly.
I’d
like to tell you about our 110% Make You Happy Promise.
I promise that you’ll have
the most enjoyable experience shopping for furniture that you’ve ever had. What
you’ll experience when you walk in our door here is a cheerful, friendly
greeting from sales associates who are not pushy. If you want, you can set up an appointment
before you come in, and we’ll have some things picked out to show you. That way you’re in and out quickly. No wasted time walking the show room floor.
In
addition, you’ll have a furniture consultant specifically for you (it might even
be me) to help you get all of your questions answered and to find out what
you’re looking for. And don’t
worry. We never try to ‘hard sell’
anything. We understand that once you’re
ready to buy, you’ll buy from us if we’ve done a good job for you. Family is important to us, we consider our
clients family, and we want you to feel the same way.
That
promise is from me to you. As the owner
of this store, that’s why I can say this.
If
you aren’t blown away with our personal touch, expertise, and family atmosphere
when you come in the store, just let me know. I care about your positive
experience!
Hope to see you soon!
Your
friend,