How do you pay for large pieces of furniture?

[Mybobowler]

Incredibly boring topic, but just canvassing opinions.

Desperately need to buy a new sofa and armchair. We were given incredibly shabby old ones when we moved house 18 months ago, and I absolutely hate them. Also want to redecorate the living room, but don't see the point when the furniture is so manky. We have a small amount of savings (£1000ish), and almost no unsecured debt (£160 on a credit card). Should we use our savings, buy cheap but brand new on credit through the retailer (looking at IKEA), or buy decent quality, second hand on a credit card? However we do it, I don't want to spend more than £600-700

I would absolutely never put something like furniture on a credit card, by the way - we don't have any debt except the mortgage and student loans and it would have to be something much more serious than a sofa to make me take debt on. Which I guess is what I mean by 'we can't afford new' - loads of people on our incomes would buy new, and we have £20k savings so we could use them, so I don't so much mean 'we can't' as 'we don't want to use our money that way'.

I agree with the others- second hand all the way.

I bought two M&S sofas that were in a like new condition for £100 each. Still avalable on the M&S website for £1800 each.

You will get much better quality by buying second hand and a decent manufacturer.

I have a few of second hand warehouses near me, they operate as charities, helping homeless people furnish their new houses.
They also sell furniture to the public.

Be cautious when buying- always lift the cusions and look underneath for soiling etc, and ALWAYS smell them.
Used sofas can sometimes smell of cigarettes dogs etc.

Second hand, or try a discount place like Sofa King (“Our prices are Sofa King low!”). We got a small Habitat sofa from them that cost £50 instead of £500 a few years ago. Second hand sofas are generally good value.

Thanks everyone, some really helpful advice. I've decided to give it a month or so to find decent second-hand, but if nothing turns up I'll try to find a 0% finance option.

I'm definitely guilty of buying used furniture that I wouldn't have chosen to buy new, just because it's cheap. I'm slowly trying to replace this stuff, and it feels a bit daft not to buy something I actually like! I had totally forgotten about British Heart Foundation furniture, so I'll take a look this weekend.

I'm definitely guilty of buying used furniture that I wouldn't have chosen to buy new, just because it's cheap.

I think the key to avoiding this is to think of buying second hand furniture not as the cheapest way, but the best value way, and so not to go for the absolute cheapest option. For instance, unless you're very lucky you're not going to get a nice sofa for £50 however you buy it - it might have been nice once but it'll be a wreck. But if you spend £300 you can get a lovely second hand sofa. I think a lot of people wouldn't buy that 'because I can get new for £300' - which is true, but a new £300 sofa will be properly crap

had totally forgotten about British Heart Foundation furniture, so I'll take a look this weekend

Cheaper to buy new than from that place...

safe and pay in full.
usually on credit card which is paid off in full each month.

btw, ikea furniture is great quality usually (apart from the really cheap stuff)

I save until I can afford what I want. Never buy cheap because it's a false economy and never take debt because it costs more (or even if it doesn't commits you to monthly payments) and means it's longer before you can save for the next purchase.

In our first house our living room furniture was initially deckchairs my parents lent us.

Save a specific search on eBay for what you want and it'll alert you when something is listed, see if you can find a local man with a van to collect it for you, I have had some amazing bargains recently, a really expensive leather sofa and chair that I could never afford brand new, exactly what I was looking for. I did 0% for a sofa years ago and had to wait 14 weeks for it to be delivered and it was quite worn by the time it was paid off 4 years later which was a bit galling

I did interest free over 3 years. They are still good 10 years on so worth the £1500 for 2 sofas

@cosycatsocks

I've never missed a payment in my life, most people I suspect are like me. It's a direct debit, not like you can forget.

I bought our sofa on a 0% credit card and pay it off- usually within a year/ 18 months. I prefer to have debt on a credit card than an agreement through these companies, I can move it around when the 0% ends and change how much I pay off each month more easily.

Anything over a couple of hundred pound I get on interest free credit
It’s done by direct debit so I’m not going to forget to pay it

Weve got a heals sofa that DH bought before we were married and his income was considerably better!! The only person that sits on it regularly is the cat, and the rest of us squeeze on to a 2nd hand sofa that we bought for £75 about 5 years ago!

@okiedokieme thats fine, but I wanted to make sure people are aware of what they are signing up for with these 0% deals.
It is usually those who can least afford it who get hit. If a payment is missed and interest is applied the rates are extortionate. The terms are buried in the small print and several large retailers make more money from these finance agreements than they do from the product itself.

I’ve got Ikea sofas and armchairs and they’re brill. Our sitting room sofas are over 10 years old and haven’t lost their shape at all. They also have removable covers that we pop into the washing machine and they basically look immaculate.