Furniture Buying Myths

Part 4

This is the fourth 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 4

“A Going Out Of Business Sale Is The Best Time To Buy Furniture”

In the furniture business, the two sales events where a retailer generates the most business are typically a store grand opening and a going out of business sale. Consumers respond to these events and feel like this is where the best prices will be available.

Most grand opening sales usually do provide good prices. This is not always the case but usually is. Retailers who are opening a store and holding an event of this type want to impress their new shoppers with good values. Their goal is to make lots of sales and build a customer base that will return to their store to make future purchases.

The opposite is true with “Going Out Of Business” (GOB) sales. In most cases, stores hire outside services (GOB companies) that specialize in maximizing the profits of these types of events. These GOB companies will sell off the retailer's inventory and then will bring in their own inventories to sell.

Most GOB companies utilize a strategy of posting a fictitious and very high “Regular Retail” price and then show a hugely discounted “Sale Price”. Unfortunately the “Regular Retail” price has no basis in reality. It is done this way in order to show a large discount which is not real. The fact is that the “Sale Price” is frequently much higher than the price that was charged for that item before the sale started. It is much higher than what can be found in other retail stores or over the Internet from Web-based furniture retailers. The customer is fooled by the amount of the discount from the false “Regular Retail” price which results in paying a price much higher than one that can be obtained elsewhere.

If the consumer is going to shop a GOB sale, the best way to avoid paying too much is to make a comparison on the same or similar items from other stores and Internet furniture retailers. Careful shopping is the key.

GOB sales companies utilize salespeople who are highly trained on what is known as “The Urgency Close”. This means they will use high pressure sales tactics such “This is the last one…you'd better buy it now or it will be gone”. In order to obtain the best values possible, consumers must not be tricked by these sales techniques. Take the time to shop carefully to avoid paying too much for the purchase of furniture.

In addition, when the GOB sale is finished, who will be there to handle any service or warranty issues? In general, it's a “buyer beware” situation. The safest course of action is to purchase from a store or Internet furniture retailer that has a good business history and will continue to be in business.