Furniture Buying Myths

Part 5

This is the fifth of a series of articles written by a furniture industry insider that will provide guidance on how to obtain the best value possible on the purchase of home furnishings and will provide an insight into commonly held misconceptions on this important big-ticket purchase.

There are a number of myths and incorrect assumptions made by consumers concerning the purchasing of furniture. Frequently these situations result in consumers paying much more than they should for their purchase of home furnishings. At the very least, some of these incorrect and widely held beliefs result in a great deal of wasted time and a substantial amount of aggravation.

The purpose of this article is to provide some insight on how to avoid some common furniture purchasing “pitfalls”.

Myth 5
“When Buying Furniture You Should Buy Brand Name Items- Part 1”

In many cases, the purchase of brand name furniture does not provide the best value to the customer. The term “value” is defined as a combination of price, quality and features provided by the item. The best brand name manufacturers produce good quality furnishings but usually at a price higher than similar items from non-brand name companies.. Some of the better known of the home furnishings brand names are La-Z-Boy, Sealy (Posturepedic) and Thomasville. In some cases, similar or sometimes better items can be purchased from non-brand name companies for lower prices.

There are a number of reasons why brand name furniture purchases do not always represent the best value available. First off, there are huge marketing and advertising costs required to develop a national brand name. In order to become a brand name, a company must impact the consumer’s  awareness through advertising and the only way this is accomplished is through a lengthy and large investment in national advertising. This typically requires millions of dollars to accomplish this objective. The cost of an advertising and marketing program to build brand name awareness must be built into the cost of the product. There is no other way that this expense can be handled.

The primary  strategy that “non-brand name” manufacturers use to compete against brand name companies is to not spend the money on national advertising and therefore be able to provide a better price to the retail store which then in turn can sell the item for less to the consumer. It’s simple math. If the manufacturer does not have the national advertising cost built into their product, they can sell it for less. Or the non-brand name manufacturer can offer more features for the same cost.

Oftentimes, consumers feel that the purchase of brand name furniture is “safer” and that they are purchasing a better quality item. Again, this is not always the case. In fact in some cases the companies with national brand names do not upgrade their technology and products as frequently as the non- brand name companies. Although this is not always the case, it sometimes is. A good example is the La-Z-Boy rocker recliner. La-Z-Boy is the most well recognized brand name in the furniture business. It has become synonymous with the generic term “recliner” like the brand name “Kleenex” has become the same as the generic term “tissue”. 

Many knowledgeable furniture people have the opinion that La-Z-Boy’s mechanism to operate their chair as well as their seat and base construction are not the state of the art. For example, La-Z-Boy’s chair base is constructed from wood. Many companies use steel for the chair base which clearly is stronger and superior to wood. In addition, the La-Z-Boy seat box is constructed from wood whereas many manufacturers utilize a steel seat box which is much stronger and will last longer.

Why would the brand name companies not always offer the state of the art in their products? Quite simply, they don’t have to. The power of their brand names will often “sell” the product without it having the best features and value possible. In this case, their costs are going into national advertising instead of the construction of the product. The result is that the consumer is not necessarily obtaining the best value available when purchasing brand name furniture.

As always, the key is careful shopping where the features, construction and price are carefully studied and considered. Furniture is a product that will be utilized by the consumer for an extended period of time so the time taken beforehand for shopping is well worth it. Visits to retail stores and shopping Internet furniture sites are both recommended in order to ensure obtaining the best value possible.

In the next installment of this series additional information on the purchase of brand name furniture will be provided.