Sofa buying advice from people in the know

carlazai · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:37

In the next month i move out into my own place, no more housemates annoying me now

I need some new furniture. I have £1,300 to buy seating and table-chairs. I've seen a sofa in DFS i like the looks of for £1,000 but after all the adverts i reckon i can get some discount or i will shop around a bit.

Has anyone worked in a furniture shop? Whats the best way to get discount? How much discount should i aim for? What shops to avoid? Any ideas on what i is hot?

Morba · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:41

I would never buy from DFS again personally. The build quality is poor and the cushions are crap after a small period of time.

singist · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:41

Dunno where to get the best deal but ........ make sure that they will fit through the doorways to where they will go ..... it can be expensive sending 'em back.

carlazai · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:42

Which shops do people recommend for furniture?

Morba · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:43

singist said:
Dunno where to get the best deal but ........ make sure that they will fit through the doorways to where they will go ..... it can be expensive sending 'em back.

Its rare that a normal mass seller (say dfs) will make sofas that will not fit through doors. there are some, but not many.

singist · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:49

Morba said:
Its rare that a normal mass seller (say dfs) will make sofas that will not fit through doors. there are some, but not many.

http://www.dfsonline.co.uk/sofas/leather/catania/159/2605/0

random 3 seater .... hope you can get it through your doors.

Windle · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:56

Morba said:
Its rare that a normal mass seller (say dfs) will make sofas that will not fit through doors. there are some, but not many.

I didn't even consider door size when I bought my Corner couch from DFS. Luckily with the door taken off the hinges it could be squeezed through but it was close.

Cosimo · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:57

carlazai said:
Which shops do people recommend for furniture?

Good department stores like Bentalls, Selfridges, John Lewis, Heals.

Doohickey · 2 Apr 2008 at 15:59

Morba said:
I would never buy from DFS again personally.

Same here. I managed to miss out on their sale

rolleyes

and only ended up with half a sofa. Looked like someone had put a chainsaw to it as well.

caff · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:15

Yep John Lewis is high quality, but could be a bit pricey.

Ikea is good, some of their sofas have washable covers.

carlazai · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:37

simulatorman said:
Good department stores like Bentalls, Selfridges, John Lewis, Heals.

Just had a quickk gander at John Lewis, is a little more than i wanted to pay but its not out of the question. I would need to find an extra few £ but if the quality is there then i will struggle without a new hifi

the neighbours wont mind

platypus · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:39

Habitat sofa's are awesome.

iv-tecman · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:42

I purchased a sofa from DFS and no matter how hard I tried, the salesman wouldn’t accept payment by card or cash… it was hard sale for their own credit plans, which I’m lead to believe is either banked by GE Money or Black horse finance..

Its meant to be 0% for the entire loan period, but they slap on a very expensive payment protection plan….. nothing to pay for the first 12 months, then 36 equal payments after that. I’m told the payment protection is none cancellable and is adjusted to have 48 months of interest all in one lump sum added to final purchase price…

Hmm…. Anyhow, I paid for my DFS sofa with my debit card after I read through all the papers in front of the sales guy and ripped him a new one for not telling me upfront before I signed the paperwork – wish I’d not bothered reading the paperwork or entering the store TBH. The quality is shocking. It’s a leather sofa, three seat and two chairs. The delivery guys were rough handling it and were days late, the feet are poor and snag the carpet if moved, the leather is not wearing well, and its now sagging… This is after three years, no wonder its four years interest free (yeah right) payment plans, after the forth you’ll need a new sofa…

So, any recommendations on where to get my next leather sofa, I’m all ears..!!

Scarecrow · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:45

I moved into a place and got a great sofa from scs.
I got two 3 seaters for £1000, that includes the delivery and a fabric guard that was £240.

Dr House · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:46

Have a look on ebay, I have seen 3000 pound natuzzi sofa's go for under 800 pounds (they where new)

shine · 2 Apr 2008 at 16:49

Scarecrow said:
I moved into a place and got a great sofa from scs.
I got two 3 seaters for £1000, that includes the delivery and a fabric guard that was £240.

Another vote for SCS. I bought my 3 seater leather sofa from them in 2004 and its still going strong.

carlazai · 2 Apr 2008 at 17:01

platypus said:
Habitat sofa's are awesome.

Liking the habitat ones, not too expensive either considering what you pay elsewhere.

carlazai · 2 Apr 2008 at 17:01

Paras said:
Have a look on ebay, I have seen 3000 pound natuzzi sofa's go for under 800 pounds (they where new)

Will look at ebay, renting a van is quite cheap i found recently.

Edit: People are giving them away virtually.

Dr House · 2 Apr 2008 at 17:16

carlazai said:
Will look at ebay, renting a van is quite cheap i found recently.

Edit: People are giving them away virtually.

Yep I bought a very nice rolf benz sofa on the german ebay for my place in Prague, I got a HUGE discount on the RRP

You cant go wrong with B&B Italia, Cassina, COR, De Sede, FLOS, Giorgetti, Hulsta, Interlubke, Rolf Benz, Tisettanta, Zanotta

W.schillig and E.schillig are also very good and a bit cheaper