To think buying furniture brand new is a waste of money?

[maklenehan]

Sure some items are a lot better new than used, like sofas or mattresses.

But I don’t understand why people spend so much money on brand new furniture, when in 6 months time it’ll be worth about half what paid.

I went to a furniture shop recently and saw some MDF furniture that might last 10 years before looking scruffy/dated for over £1000 for a chest of drawers (West elm). When you can get a solid oak piece that looks timeless for £500. Looks a lot more solid and won’t break easily.

I also get that modern house owners want modern furniture, but there’s loaaads of 1960s furniture available cheap that is solid Teak, and the equivalent modern copies are vastly more expensive and worse quality.

Some people haven't got the time to look around for the second hand piece they like, some people don't keep furniture ten years anyway. I have a mixture my dresser and bureau are old and lovingly restored by me pre-DS, coffee table is an old very heavy and solid chest I found on gumtree. Dining table was new because I wanted a specific style, size and ability to extend without having a piece I needed to store. My first flat was mainly IKEA because it was the cheapest I could find, side tables £5 coffee tables £10 etc were cheaper than buying second hand

I brought my furniture new because the price includes delivery. If I buy second hand I have to pick up the furniture myself and i'm not physically capable of doing that.

But in six months very few people are looking to sell their furniture, generally they keep it for a very long time.

There won't be any second hand furniture if everyone stops buying new stuff.

We have a mixture of both but some of the reasons for not picking second-hand is:

• we live very rurally so the second-hand market is very limited, and what does appear is snapped up very quickly.
• we have a tiny house with narrow doors and many larger items won't fit inside or suit our needs.
• we don't have a van, so buying second-hand involves paying for/arranging transport, whereas buying new means you get delivery (and sometimes set-up) included in the price.
• I like to support our small, local businesses - they go above and beyond. Our local bed shop, for example, will have your item at your house within the hour. The same goes for our local electric appliance shop - I ordered a washing machine once and it was set-up and in my house before I'd finished the Tesco shop!
• I don't want to buy stuff that's been in a household with smokers.
• I'd rather pay a bit more and get exactly what I want.

Second hand sofas are often vile.

I got a JL chest of drawers second hand from Gumtree for my DC. No way are they getting brand new as they'd trash it.

Also bought a sideboard for living room second hand. Same reasons. No point spending a fortune as I would be upset if it got scratched. This one has some imperfections on it but that's why I chose it.

We buy from Oak furniture land. It literally goes with every thing and will last a lot longer than 10years. They're all good quality stuff.

People don't regularly sell on a range of good quality, timelessly styled furniture, so that there's always exactly what you are looking for 2nd hand when you are looking to purchase furniture.

Id rather spend an extra £500 to get what I want in something I will use for 10/20 years than make a saving to have something that's not quite right.

In my experience, buying something that's 'not quite right' tends to lead to people replacing it sooner than they would do otherwise.

I dont think people bother about furniture depreciating in value. It's not like cars where you're possibly going to sell it on

I bought some new furniture a number of years ago. It was all hand made to order and expensive. But its gorgeous. Its solid, beautifully made and looks lovely. It was worth every penny. Its also.timeless so it's not going to need replaced

I don't care about the resale value. I buy furniture because I like it and because I generally want to use it for a number of years. I don't really want 1960s teak furniture because that's not my taste and I like my house to look the way I want it to.

I think also if you live in a flat above the ground floor or need to get a large piece of furniture up the stairs then new, flat pack furniture in pieces which requires assembly is easier to transport. I know you can dissemble flat pack again but it’s never quite the same is it.

I get quite a lot of furniture from Facebook marketplace etc as it’s cheaper and I’m properly rubbish at assembly!!

Do you not understand or do you want to brag about how much better you are than lots of people?

I but loads second hand btw I just completely understand why people don't.

I’ve never actually met anyone who buys furniture fo their home based on resale value, generally those things are bought to keep for a very long time. Oak furniture is nice, but I really don’t like the 60s teak stuff and would rather buy what I want than have my house filled with that stuff.

The reason it’s so cheap and there’s so much of it about is because folks don’t want it,

I have secondhand pieces and IKEA furniture (it has lasted ten years so far), but I can't get myself to buy secondhand sofas or mattresses. My sofas are a decade old as well, though.

A lot of people treat furniture as disposable so don't need/want to pay for solid/well built new furniture and the 2nd hand stuff doesn't isn't fashionable enough.

It does mean that every time me and DH have needed anything we've had a load of choice of lovely dark wood, dovetail jointed stuff from 100yrs ago for very little £.

We have paid £1000 for a 2nd hand sofa; refurbished by the company that hand builds them (and charges £10k+ new) which is wearing very well and is much better quality than what we could have bought new.

I do wonder what people will do in another 100yrs though because I'm sure Ikea stuff won't last that long

I don't see furniture as an investment so doesn't matter that it loses value.
Tbh I don't also buy 1000 quid worth piece. Ikea girl through and through. If uou pick better pieces they last. My shelves moved with me 2 in last 6 years and are in REALLY great condition.
Mix of new and old is good balance

Mid century furniture is highly sought after and frequently more expensive than its modern equivalent. I inherited my Ercol, I couldn’t afford to buy it second hand, the prices are insane.

@User0ne

A lot of people treat furniture as disposable so don't need/want to pay for solid/well built new furniture and the 2nd hand stuff doesn't isn't fashionable enough.

It does mean that every time me and DH have needed anything we've had a load of choice of lovely dark wood, dovetail jointed stuff from 100yrs ago for very little £.

We have paid £1000 for a 2nd hand sofa; refurbished by the company that hand builds them (and charges £10k+ new) which is wearing very well and is much better quality than what we could have bought new.

I do wonder what people will do in another 100yrs though because I'm sure Ikea stuff won't last that long

But that’s really not what the op is really referring to, she’s talking about the sixties teak stuff that’s got no resale value and you can’t give away.

Antique furniture can be lovely but you’ve really got to have the style of house to carry it off. Not everyone has the room or can even get that stuff into their houses.

It depends what items it is though.

Oak furniture tends to be extremely heavy. Too heavy for me.

Teens tend to like ikea and as someone said if you have to get it around corners even ikea have started taking stuff back in a new scheme they have.

Preference I guess would be to get stuff off ebay, you sometimes get some lovely pieces but often need to pick it up.

Something like Ercol is timeless, expensive true but likely to be passed down in family anyway.

I want my furniture to last, I would want ten years out of a decent sofa
I have got a dining table and coffee table bought from new which are both 15+ years old ,60's furniture would look odd in my house due to its age.
I buy to use and not to resell after 6 months .

@Blossomtoes

Mid century furniture is highly sought after and frequently more expensive than its modern equivalent. I inherited my Ercol, I couldn’t afford to buy it second hand, the prices are insane.

Not the teak stuff, theirs an abundance of it and you can’t even give it away. Ercol is different.

she’s talking about the sixties teak stuff that’s got no resale value and you can’t give away

That’s completely untrue - check out mid century furniture, particularly Ercol and Danish makes on eBay, it goes for £££££.

People often need furniture to fit awkward spaces, or fulfil a certain objective, or match an aesthetic.
I wanted IKEA wardrobes to maximise space, no one seems to sell them 2nd hand as why would you, they're perfect and last forever.
My dining table had to be a compact one that extends, in a specific size.
People selling 2nd hand on Facebook are often fuckwits
I don't have a venue to transport stuff.
So, so may reasons people buy new furniture, surely you realise that?

I gave away solid teak bedroom furniture that I'd inherited, it didn't fit in what I needed to, the drawers on the dressing table were very shallow. I've kept a tall boy, but the drawers again aren't very deep. It was a time when people didn't have a lot. I've got vintage wardrobes in spare rooms but again they are bulkier than needed without holding a lot. A bit like vintage televisions are too big.
As said I buy new to get exactly what I want and will fit. Although my Mother's solid dining table that she gave away in the 70's and bought a Formica one instead, is still being passed around.