To get a sofa on finance

[hoomallow]

We have my parents’ old leather sofa currently but it’s very mismatched in the house. Nothing wrong with it but it looks very tired. I want a new one, but balking at the prices! Next, Dunelm, DFS - all extortionate. Can’t find any good second hand ones on marketplace as marketplace is seemingly full of those fake ads from scammers

Do people usually pay outright for such big ticket items or is it quite normal and reasonable to pay monthly, what do you do? Obviously whatever we buy I want to last, I don’t want to be too precious about the sofa either as we’re hoping to add a little one to the family soon.

Ours were 0% from Next, wouldn't think twice about doing it again

keep your couch, theres nothing wrong with it, put a throw over it, but dont buy something you cant afford

Using 0% finance doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t afford something.

I could afford my sofa but my way of earning my wage had changed so didn’t really want to pay the cash up front

i had my mortgage but not much else on my credit record so wasn’t sure if it would go through

it did and my credit record soared. Yes I know it’s not the only factor but does make a difference

@BIossomtoes
It does or you would just buy it outright.
What happens if you lose your job, or get ill and can't work. It's not good just to assume you're always going to be able to pay the instalments and certain not worth it for something as needless as a brand new sofa. Just go and get one second hand. Mine were less then £500 designer, worth £5k brand new, delivered in less than 24 hours from a second hand furniture shop.

We have three sofas- two were a tenner each from eBay second hand the other was free from a friend. There are so many people who get rid of sofas at the drop of a hat it really isn’t worth getting into debt over. Look on eBay, Facebook, freecycle and local auction places. Get new covers if necessary.

I bought mine from DFS at 4 years interest free. I pay 30 a month. It will be cleared by March next year and the sofa itself still looks brand new even though its heavily used (with 2 primary aged kids in the house).

Got mine from eBay. Love it.

In general over the years I have decided I don't buy something until I have the money for it. 0% finance isn't free money - they will have factored in them not getting the money up front . BUT if it works for anyone - not saying it should not be done.

IMO you’re far better getting used but higher end sofa off eBay. High street ones will barely last a few years before starting to looking tatty. My lovely second hand Italian sofa I bought for £800 over 10 years ago is still going strong. It’s survived sticky mitts and being regularly used as a toddlers trampoline. I’ve recently had it reupholstered and it looks brand new, hoping it lasts me another 10 years at least!

If you can afford the repayments interest free credit from Dfs or somewhere x

The problem with new sofas is that they are really expensive, not particularly well made in most cases and will be worth nothing in a few years, I’ll never buy brand new for those reasons, if you check eBay and change the criteria to ‘used’ you may find more genuine sellers come up.

I bought a leather sofa for £80 off eBay when I had my first house, it was the best comfiest sofa I’ve ever sat/slept on and I was so sad to see it go (wouldn’t fit In next house), it moved with me three times before that though, I had it for at least 10 years! I wish I still had it!

We bought livingroom funiture years ago on a "buy now pay no interest for × months. I firget how many months but at least 6. We paid it off before the interest started. This was in the '80's. Anyways, good luck shopping.

*forget

I've lived off 0% credit cards over the last couple of years for house renovations/ a new car replacing my very worn one.
I've paid all of my credit card off now (it did seem annoying paying a big chunk off monthly though, thats the only thing).
0% deals are really useful if used properly and you know you can repay.