Furniture Buying Myths

Part 6

This is the sixth 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 6
"When Buying Furniture You Should Buy Brand Name Items- Part 2"

In a previous article, the value of purchasing brand name furniture was compared to the option of purchasing non-brand name items. A general overview is that the advertising costs required to build a national brand name are enormous. These costs must be built into a company’s cost of doing business and therefore brand name products are often more expensive and do not necessarily offer the best value available to the consumer.

In this article, additional issues related to the purchase of brand name furniture will be analyzed.

The effects and values of brand names vary somewhat by specific furniture category. For example, in the case of wood furniture (bedroom, dining, wall units, tables) much of the manufacturing of these items has been moved to China, Viet Nam and other Far East countries. Unfortunately, furniture is similar to many other product categories whereby the items can be built at a lesser cost outside of the U.S. due to much lower labor expenses and those jobs have been moved offshore. In some instances, brand name wood furniture is now being manufactured in the same overseas factories as non-brand name furniture. The only difference between the two is that the brand name furniture has the additional cost of national advertising which then requires a higher selling price to cover these costs..

One reason some consumers feel they must purchase brand name furniture is they feel “safer” in that if any problems are experienced with their furniture, they can get it taken care of . The fact is that non-brand name companies usually provide the same warranties as brand name manufacturers. Another important aspect of this situation is that the local furniture retailer or Internet furniture retailer (that the furniture is purchased from) generally take responsibility for the handling of warranty issues. So there is no warranty advantage in buying from a brand name manufacturer’s product.

Another home furnishings category where brand names play an important role is the mattress business. The three largest mattress manufacturers have utilized the strategy of building national brand names as a key component of their businesses. These companies are Sealy (Posturepedic), Simmons (Beautyrest) and Serta (Perfect Sleeper). These companies as well as some lesser known brands have invested large amounts of money in building their brand names. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The consumer just needs to be aware that the cost (and selling prices) of these brand name mattresses have substantial advertising and marketing expenses built in. When shopping for a mattress, the consumer should make a thorough and detailed comparison of the brand name mattresses with non-brand name mattresses.

Non-brand name mattresses are often manufactured by local and regional companies that specialize in producing good quality products at the lowest cost possible and therefore they do not spend money on national advertising. This means that the consumer in all probability will not have heard of the brand but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good quality product and usually less expensive than a similar brand name mattress. Many of these companies have been in business for decades. The key is to shop carefully and do a thorough comparison of the construction of the mattresses under comparison. The other factors are to compare the comfort of the mattresses that are being considered. This is obviously critically important as most consumers spend six to ten hours per night on their mattress.

Also, the retailer is the “first-line” in ensuring the happiness of the consumer with their product so the consumer should make sure they are dealing with a local retailer or Internet furniture site with a good reputation. Check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure any claims are settled on a timely basis.

Brand names do not equal best value or best consumer satisfaction in the purchase of furniture. In order to make the best long term decision, non-brand name furnishings should be considered as a viable option.