learn me some furniture buying knowledge

[CJ]

I'm looking to buy a newer sectional for the living room. What are your experiences with local retailers? Any particular brands I should look for? How flexible are retailers on their prices?

[LS1Goat]

Not an expert on brands, but wife and I got killer deals on 7 ft. couch and matching coffee table going to Rooms to Go on Labor Day. Keep an eye out for Black Friday ads.

[bcoop]

Just know that markup on furniture, on average, is 300ish%. Or it was about 10 years ago, anyways. There is ALWAYS room for negotiation.

[Broncojohnny]

Mark up on furniture is huge, that is one thing.

[GrayStangGT]

Go to Havertys in Arlington behind best buy and talk to Al, he is the only non-dipshit furniture sales person I met when I was looking for my stuff. So far I've been happy with the things I got there and they delivered it to Midland.

[dville_gt]

I cant find it online, but we bought this sectional and it is BEAUTIFUL. You need a large room for it, but our living room is 600+sq/ft so we needed something large. It is a Cindy Crawford brand from Rooms to Go. It is very we built and the leather has stood up great to our pups.

[STANGGT40]

if you're buying leather, find out what you're buying...there are different grades of leather, and don't buy "bonded leather". call this guy; i bought a setup from him that sells for a lot more in stores. it's almost identical to the type of leather in the pic, but not a sectional. (couch, loveseat, chair, ottoman, etc). he has them built and actually sells to several furniture stores, which put other name brands on his stuff. he has a fairly large warehouse and showroom in carrollton, and i'm sure he can send you some pics and meet you there to look at everything.

john
214-662-7936

I cant find it online, but we bought this sectional and it is BEAUTIFUL. You need a large room for it, but our living room is 600+sq/ft so we needed something large. It is a Cindy Crawford brand from Rooms to Go. It is very we built and the leather has stood up great to our pups.

[mustangguy289]

Rooms to go has an offer for free financing and a free 50" hdtv with their living room sets.

[STANGGT40]

Rooms to go has an offer for free financing and a free 50" hdtv with their living room sets.

overpriced low-quality furniture with a free outdated tv.

[LS1Goat]

overpriced low-quality furniture with a free outdated tv.

I have to disagree on the low-quality furniture comment.

[mustangguy289]

overpriced low-quality furniture with a free outdated tv.

I was just offering it up. Jeeesh

[CJ]

Would you think its reasonable to try and work a retailer down to half the asking price? I'm going to stop by havertys and have a look around. I'm sure it'll take a week of looking. I want a large wide sectional for a lot of people to watch my projector.

[CJ]

I cant find it online, but we bought this sectional and it is BEAUTIFUL. You need a large room for it, but our living room is 600+sq/ft so we needed something large. It is a Cindy Crawford brand from Rooms to Go. It is very we built and the leather has stood up great to our pups.

I really like this one, color isn't bad too. Do any of the seats recline?

[Sean88gt]

Buy domestic, check the framing (hardwood vs softwood), negotiate like crazy.

[CJ]

Alright, well. I'm back again and more learned after visiting countless retailers and bitching and bickering.

What I've learned so far:

finding real leather isn't easy.
bonded leather sucks, and it's everywhere.
most retailers don't negotiate.
this shit is expensive.

First place I stopped by was unclaimed freight in Arlington. They did not have a very good selection, but their prices were great. I found one leather sectional without any motion which was $999. It was basic, not very flashy, but it looked like good quality. I decided to look around more and come back to it. I came back a few days later about to pull the trigger and found out it was actually bonded leather (give me a break!$@!!).

Then, I took GrayStangGT's advice and stopped by Haverty's and asked for Al. Out of all the furniture we've looked at the best piece is at Haverty's. It's top grain leather, a sectional with cup holders and 4 recliners - 2 are electric (not really a fan of that, but whatever). It looks like a quality piece of furniture. However it's also $3,100 and that made me really consider if I even want to buy furniture, haha. I read several reviews and opinions - and one really stuck in my head. "Buying leather furniture at Haverty's is like ordering a sirloin steak at Denny's."

Next I visited Ashley furniture, and found a really nice sectional that both me and my wife loved. And, they were willing to negotiate ($2100 to $1900) (the only retailer I found) just before I walked out thinking I found the sectional I wanted, I turned around and asked what kind of leather that was. He told me it was bonded leather. They did have another sectional which apparently was leather, but I didn't care for it.

I checked out rooms to go, and found one sectional I did like, I turned it over and took a look inside and it looked pretty good as well, however the salesman told me what you see here, and what you end up with after purchasing can be two completely different things. That didn't fill me with confidence, and for the price ($2,100) I wouldn't be completely satisfied. I went to the outlet store and saw some of the turn back bonded leather and real leather furniture rooms to go sells, and it's really an eye opener for the kind of quality to expect. The salesman basically told me the leather furniture we sell is terrible. Sometimes they get in quality pieces, but even then he doesn't trust them. Needless to say I wasn't really that impressed.

Now, given all of this - I'm back where I started with a little better knowledge of what I'm looking for. I'd like to get full grain leather seating surfaces, not necessarily full grain leather top to bottom. My current couch is Italian full grain leather and it looks better now than the day I bought it, and is almost indestructible. I'm looking for this kind of quality now, however it seems I'm going to have to really throw down some serious scrilla to get that.

So, now I want to see what real quality furniture is all about. The higher end manufacturers like Smith Brothers, Hancock&Moore, Henredon, Sherril. Just as a learning experience and to see what money can get you, basically to see if it's worth the investment. When I'm seriously considering spending $3k+ I'm going to do my homework.

Does anyone have any suggestions or maybe some insight that would guide me in the right direction?