Selling Brand New Sofas

easyqueenie

Hi all, looking for some advice on whether it’s even worth trying to sell my brand new (less than a week old) sofas. We ordered the things a few months ago in SCS. I felt incredibly pressured by the sales guy and my husband but we’d been looking for ages so I ended up going along with it and they were delivered Thursday last week. Both leather, regular two seater and and three-seater fully electric recliner - we have them on finance and are paying the best part of £2k. By the end of the first day I was suffering with back pain and by Sunday was barely able to walk, prior to the new sofas I was perfectly fine and am only in my 30s. I’ve avoided sitting on them since (I was literally sat reading on the old one in the garage under blankets yesterday) and I’m slowly recovering but any time I try sitting on one for more than ten minutes, I feel the pain seeping back in. I’m booking in to see a chiropractor this weekend. I also think they don’t suit the room at all and are way too big for both me (I can barely reach the buttons) and the room but that’s neither here nor there. Suffice to say I cannot stand them and it seems the feeling is mutual. It honestly feels like we’ve bought a pile of leather covered bricks. 

I want the things out of my house seeing as I can’t even use my living room now without bringing in one of the garden chairs or being in pain, but we obviously can’t take a £2k hit. Are there any sites out there good for selling brand new things and getting at least most of your money back? I’ve spent most of the last week in tears over this because I’d just like to sit in my living room and watch TV but can’t without suffering for it so I’m spending every night lay in bed alone. I honestly don’t know what to do. If it wasn’t for the money my old one would be back inside by now and these awful things sitting in a charity shop, but obviously that can’t happen. Any suggestions?

sgun

First of all, sorry that you are feeling in pain from your new sofas. Do you think there might be an element of stress going on in your life that would be contributing to your back pain? I had terrible back pain after moving house and lots of other stuff that was going on that I didn't want to confront at the time, it was much easier to focus on the new sofa being the cause. I did see a sports injury therapist who straight away diagnosed a hunching of shoulders due to stress as the cause. Hunching and sleeping badly is one of the biggest causes of back pain. Your post doesn't sound happy. Apologies if this is overstepping the mark/completely wrong.

ashe

Realistically you will take a massive hit on the cost. No one will offer you anywhere near £2k for them and warranty probably isn’t transferable 

LindsayT

You said you felt incredibly pressured by the sales guy and your husband, so it sounds like you had made up your mind not to like them anyway but having said that, I do feel for you. This might be a very long shot but it might be worth a go, contacting SCS, telling them the problem and ask nicely if it's possible to change them for something else.

tacpot12

I would speak to SCS about why your sofas are so much less comfortable that the display models you tried. They may send out an inspector who can determine if there is a manufacturing fault, or who can suggest if changes can be made to the internals; although difficult once the upholstery has been applied, it might be possible to move a frame member that is causing you back pain. If the design of the frame has changes since you tried the sofa out, so that there is a frame member in a new position and it is this that is causing you pain, you should reject the sofas - Section 14 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you the right to reject sofas that are not built as per the display models you had the opportunity to try out (unless they told you at the time that the design was changing). 

That they don't fit the room is down to your choice. You chose the style and the size, so any hit on selling them prematurely will be yours to absorb. 

kdotdotdotdot

It sounds as though you're incredibly emotional at the moment.  I think anyone can tell you that sitting on a sofa for a day just doesn't cause excruciating back pain, so it's not the sofas doing it.

I feel for you but the news isn't good about selling the things and getting most of your money back.  You could try eBay or FaceBook Market place, but beware that with both you're going to be dealing with a lot of numpties who can't make their minds up or make you a offer then drop it when they come to pick it up.  I think it sounds like you're in a fragile emotional state and probably not really in the right frame of mind to deal with the foibles of the general public right now.

Why not try SCS and see if they'll do a credit to swap to another sofa set you prefer?

One other thing: please DON'T go to a chiropractor.  They're charlatans who'll take as much of your money as possible and can do some serious spinal damage - it's a business, not a medical practice.  Get a phone consultation from your GP and a referral to a physiotherapist or osteopath (both trained medical professionals).  In the meantime, take pain killers; go for gentle walks or a swim if you can (it may not feel like it, but getting the back moving often helps more than lying still); hot baths and if you can, maybe find a good spa for gentle massage (but again, be careful that they know what they're doing).  

Nobody thinks well when in deep pain, so once  you've got your back sorted, then you can look at your sofas more objectively and see if you still hate them.

TELLIT01

The reality is that you will be lucky to recover more than half of what you paid for them.  There are groups on Facebook for selling in your area.  A bigger problem may be explaining to potential purchasers why you want to sell two brand new sofas, although you do say they are too big for the room so may be able to avoid the actual reason.

Grenage

Our last suite was bought second hand, only a couple of months old.  If I recall we paid approximately 1/4 of the new price.

theoretica

I find many sofas and chairs uncomfortable - they seem to be designed to fit 90% or so of the population, and I am too often in the 10%.  And things which can seem comfortable for a few minutes can be a problem for longer use.  If you can identify what about them is the problem you might be able to get it changed or add cushions.  Worth talking to SCS - they may have something to offer.

If your husband likes them you could halve the financial pain by keeping one so you each have somewhere to sit.

theoretica

Have you asked them about returns? 

Paully28

I would also reiterate that, as with most items, as soon as they are second hand, you will be lucky to get 1/2 of what you paid for it. With a sofa, for some reason, all that I see are ones for sale where the seller says they are quite new, and looks like they are willing to take 1/3-1/4 of the price.
Unfortunately, you will not be getting anything near what you paid for it, unless you can persuade SCS to take it back/swap it for another.