Buying sofa from picture only

scarletjim

Has anyone ever done this?

I saw a sofa I really like online, but the company doesn't have any to view in stock, they are made in the Far East so would take 8 weeks from order to delivery.

I went to see their 'showroom' which is a big upstairs area on an industrial estate which is a bit messy, not like the more customer-facing showrooms of DFS etc, but is this necessarily a bad sign, presumably they keep costs down by not having a very public showroom. Quality of what was available did look and feel good, but what do I know?

But obviously I have numerous concerns (with the answers given by the company):

What if something happens to the company during the manufacturing stage? (Answer: Happy to do your deposit via Paypal so that you feel 'safe' about the transaction) (NB. What does that actually mean, how does it help?)

What if it takes a lot longer than 8 weeks? (Answer: It wouldn't, but as your deposit is on Paypal, you could cancel if there was unreasonable delay)

What if it doesn't look like the picture when it arrives? (Answer: It will, but if you think otherwise when it arrives, you can refuse it, we will refund your deposit and we believe we would easily sell it elsewhere). He also showed me several other seats which he said had similar foam density, so I can get a 'feel' for it.

Has anyone else done this? If it is standard practice (or common at least) to buy a sofa without being able to 'test drive' the actual model, then I might take the risk, but if this is something that no one does, then I'm not going to be the first...

Any thoughts, comments, pitfalls or advice would be most welcomed (will check tonight as got work now lol)

Meadows

I personally would never do it as you don't know how comfortable it would be until you sit on it.

I find the seat length and/or the height of the seat can be really uncomfortable for me and even when trying them out in store it still might not be right on purchase.

A few years ago we bought two new arm chairs and I just couldn't get comfortable in them so only used our old sofa, when our daughter moved I gave her the chairs and bought two recliners.

As far as buying from the Far East how can you be assured of the quality and safety standard, what if the sofa is faulty or develops a fault. Is the money back guarantee what it says it is, have you search for reviews from this seller?

scarletjim

Meadows wrote: »

As far as buying from the Far East how can you be assured of the quality and safety standard, what if the sofa is faulty or develops a fault. Is the money back guarantee what it says it is, have you search for reviews from this seller?

A couple of good points here that remind me of something else to mention:

On the one hand, I can't find any online reviews for he company, which obviously would make a massive difference. HOWEVER I have found 4 or 5 other companies who operate on a similar basis i.e. stock to be chosen online and made in Far East with 8 weeks delivery time, small showroom in UK etc, and none of them have any reviews online! All reviews online seem to be for the stock standard companies (who we all know are largely a rip off anyway) - I can't find anyone selling contemporary sofas at reasonable prices who have online reviews!

That's not to say it's not a good business model - if they can make them very cheap to order, with low UK overheads, then it makes sense that they can still be good quality for relatively cheap prices...

But ok that's one vote for 'don't buy it until you've sat on it for a while' from you clearly - thanks.

alinwales

i wouldn't buy unless I could test it out first, having said that though, in my one buying experience thus far, I'm sure the showroom furniture was firmer than what arrived.
If the prices are ridiculously cheap though, and are prepared to go through the hassle of reclaiming money if something does go wrong (using paypal or credit card if over £100), then it could be worth a punt. Though think about the bloke in the british furniture factory that won't be able to feed his kids this summer as he'll have lost his job, because of you!

Meadows

alinwales wrote: »

My one buying experience thus far, I'm sure the showroom furniture was firmer than what arrived.

When we got ours delivered they were firmer and narrower than the showroom (probably due to not being sat on loads of times) and I did think Oh No I hope I can get comfy in them, but within a few days I was used to them

nlj1520

I bought a sofa from an auction recently having only sat in it briefly and now find it's not terribly comfortable for longer periods. Try for a good time before you buy was the lesson I learnt.

alinwales

nlj1520 wrote: »

Try for a good time before you buy was the lesson I learnt.

So take a book with you when you go to DFS or SCS?
I like it

r32

I bought two sofas from an online company purely on picture alone. It was a bit of a gamble I suppose, but I'd done my research and the company had very good reviews.

In the end it worked out fine, sofas are excellent quality and service from the company has been excellent (and in total much cheaper than the highstreet brands).

FOREVER21

Don't do it!! I have never bought a sofa without seeing it , but I bought a bath from only seeing a photograph big mistake.The size of the bath was given and from the the details it looked ok. Fast forward to installation, my wife and myself were both at work and had left the workmen to get on with it.
On seeing the bath it looked great just what we wanted, but on first using it what a disappointment. The lengh was so short that when lying in it we both had to either bend our legs or have then up on the side of the bath.
And before you ask no neither of us are giants just reaching 5 foot 9". We checked the sizes and yes they agreed with the catalouge but apparently it is a designer bath whatever that is supposed to be.
On closer exam the problem was that unlike other baths we have had this had the taps in the centre and not at one end so instead of it having 1 straight end ,both ends sloped inwards.
and even though the overall lengh was as stated the actual sitting or lying area was greatly reduced.
As the floor tiling and wall tiling was almost finished we were stuck with it. We complained to the supplier and he sent a bloke out to inspect it, we could not do anything but laugh, he was well over 6 foot and actually tried to lie in it only to find his knees nearly touched his chin.
We managed to get a reduction for goodwill but bath times have never been the same since.:(

loracan1

I've only ever bought one sofa without trying first, but it was for a dining room so not intended to be used much. 14 years later I'm still using it (recovering it at present to match colour scheme) but don't think I'd risk it for a main sofa.

Re: trying out a bath first - absolutely essential, my bath even has little in-built ledges to rest your elbows on when you're reading!

scarletjim

Hmmm so 1 person with a positive experience, and 5 or 6 with negative ones... Probably what I expected I guess. So, how DO you all pick your sofas, and where from? Everyone says that the main big firms sell you overpriced rubbish, yet most of the small firms can't afford to have stock-heavy showrooms... So I'm not sure what the answer is...

To be honest in my case here it is a second sofa, not the main one and not in my main lounge, so I probably could tolerate the risk ofit not being quite perfect, but who is to say I will get anything at all? Or that it won't take 6 months?

Didn't realise sofa buying would be such a pain...