£410 for a second (or third) hand, badly stained sofa

[Silence0000]

I'm on the hunt for a cheapish sofa to replace my current one which is old and falling apart. I popped into my local BHF charity shop thinking there might be one or two for £200 or under.

£410 for an old, worn and badly stained corner sofa. You'd need to spend about £50 on throws to cover the stains!

AIBU to think that is just ridiculous?

£80 to deliver it 4.5 miles???? That's a joke! Find a man with a van who will charge you 20-30 quid x

I'm not sure it is.

Man in van doesn't live 4.5 miles away. MiV has to travel to sofa, carry sofa, load sofa, drive sofa to op house, unload sofa, carry sofa in house, drive home.

That could quite easily take 90 mins, plus fuel, plus insurance etc.

My local BHF is fab.

One sofa I bought from there is still going strong after 8 years and the two huge leather sofas we recently bought for the front reception room (for £180 each) are amazing, probably the comfiest sofas I’ve owned. They only charge £20 delivery and that’s for as many items as you can fit on the van (whereas my local cancer research charge £15 per item and the Air Ambulance charges £20 per item).

We bought two sofas from bhf
£400 for two,almost new black sofas-one a sofa bed
‘bargain!’ We thought-was a bit shocked at the £30 delivery cost but paid it as we couldn’t fit it in the car and didn’t think to hire a van for the mile and a half drive home
it arrived,they dumped it in my front garden and walked off
It lasted 5 months before it started to fall to bits-they claimed it was 3 months old
either someone lied or sofas don’t last a year before they fall apart

I bought 2 identical M&S sofas privately on Gumtree , £175 for both, plus they threw in an almost matching chair. Had to pay £150 for a man and van to bring them from about 30 miles away. Bargain. V clean and comfortable - dog not included.

Try this one 😂

Be careful. I think that Facebook sofa may be a scam. Suspicious that it hasn’t sold after a week, suspicious of the photo, suspicious he wants so much to deliver. Don’t part with any money up front and make sure you view the sofa before agreeing to buy it.

I did wonder myself initially.

I've seen a few would-be scammers trying their luck on places like gumtree. The giveaways were things like offering "free delivery" but claiming to need half of the cost upfront as they're using a man with a van to send it.

This lady 'checks out' as being genuine from what I can tell, she's selling from her own personal Facebook account with pictures of her kids etc going back years. The sofa was initially on for £250 with a matching chair (which I've explained I don't need or have space for so she's selling the sofa separately)

The van man I've arranged to collect it also seems legitimate. I got his number from the paper a while ago to collect another item which fell through and he asked me to bare him in mind if anything else comes up.

My partner will be meeting him at the pick up location so no room for any funny business from either of them.

I donated my 9 year old Ektorp sofa. I think they were selling it for about £200.

My man and van for a similar job last year was £50 (in the midlands) and was a friend of a friend. I also had a different man and van charge me £80 for a further away job last summer. With fuel costs etc I think £80 is reasonable.

@Silence0000 It’s the Ana Sofa Bed from Oak Village Superstore. I don’t think it is very good quality. Former sofa sales person here. Check out the quality before you buy it and possibly find some online reviews. The person selling is asking to much for it in my opinion. Anything half decent on Marketplace sells straight away.

Check the app tiptapp or Addison Lee delivery, I used to use both when in London - absolutely brilliant. Where I’ve moved to getting a man and van is impossible 🤦🏼‍♀️

Not all BHF shops are like that.ours is very reasonable and most of the suites get steam cleaned before being sold

I gave ours away last month on FB. The reason it was replaced was I wanted a recliner as I have some back issues. There were still many years left in our old sofa and it was in excellent condition. The charity shop would not take it as the fire label was damaged.

Hope your new sofa is comfy and it goes ok. We gave ours to a nice young couple just setting up in their first home.

I would definitely go to the auctions! I've seen sofas go for ridiculously low prices; some were tatty, but others looking newish and well-kept. They go for buttons!

Most auction houses put their catalogue online so you don't even have to physically go there, just check through the lots online and if they have something that has potential, then check it out in person. You don't have to attend the auction either, you can either leave a maximum bid with them, or bid online.

Same here. A relative tried to donate a nearly new one that he decided was too big but there was tiny pull in the fabric down the side where you wouldn't see it anyway and they wouldn't take it.

I think he sold it instead for about £50 on FB marketplace.

I saw this thread shortly before I spotted a sofa for £30 on Facebook. It was one of the click clack ones, that fit nicely into the back of a Picasso. A back foot had come off, but we managed to fix it. But if we hadn't, I would have stuck a stack of charity shop paperbacks under that corner and been plenty happy with it.

Fir future reference I think £80 is fine for a man and a van. They aren't cheap. Also try searching for particular brands on Facebook or eBay e.g. Loaf or Sofa.com. I have bought and then sold a sofa.com sofa (originally very expensive) for about £200. They are good quality sofas at least.

Thanks be for a three seater brown leather one in immaculate condition. Selling it for 450 but would let it go for less so would negotiate with someone that contacted me on marketplace always!

Ah crap, I've only just come back to the thread and seen your comment. If I'd seen it prior I may have second guessed buying it.

So I have the sofa now and it looks very nice but is nowhere near half as comfortable as the battered old one I've just paid the council to remove and dispose of.

It doesn't feel very practical for a family of 5, you can't even lounge on it.