To ask why sofas are so expensive?

[IsThisIt2021]

Looking for a new sofa for a house move. Extremely worried that I’m not going to be able to afford one. I’ve looked in places like British heart foundation, it’s cheaper to buy new! Looked on marketplace and it’s full of scammers. Cheapest I can find is about £700 😬 when did they become so pricey?!

IKEA Ektorp and l love it.
Got the three seater chaise longue one.

We had our last ikea sofa ten years and it was taken apart and put back together twice during house moves. Replaced it with the another ikea one as it was great. New one also great.

I spent 20 seconds googling sofas and found brand new ones for £300

Maybe the exact one you want is £700 but you can get cheaper ones

DFS are doing 4 years interest free credit if you are struggling with the initial outlay.

Sofas are meant to last for years, so you may as well spend as much as you can to get a decent one..

They are on Facebook marketplace for £50, Argos has from £200

They last a long time. I got mine from Next 17 years ago, it was ex display so I got it for £1000 (should've been £1500) at the time. It's leather and is still in good condition apart from the stitching is now coming undone so I either need to recover or replace. Furniture should be an investment not another place where we turn to fast fashion.

unless you live in the back of beyond, I guarantee you'll find one in fb marketplace. Be very specific in your search terms i.e not just 3 seater sofa, but dfs blue 3 seater zinc etc and stretch your search area to a 30/40 mile radius. Don't bother looking at the " free" ads ( they are all scams) and check the profile to authenticate the seller ( it's easy to spot the genuine ones). If you have a " posh" area near you, look there first as it will be worth paying for a man with a van to collect a grand worth of furniture for 100/200. You will be amazed what you can find with a bit of tenacity and patience. And don't hesitate to make an offer - most sellers just want rid.

Yes, I paid under 100 for mine, though it was quite a few years ago.

Our local DFS has a reduced section - obviously it's completely dependent on what has been returned/damaged/end of line etc but worth a look.
But as another OP says - they are an occasional purchase, so price reflects that plus build/frame, fabrics etc.

TBH I'd think £700 was a steal! That said, I've just bought a leather sofa that cost me north of $4k. It's made to order and we are never getting rid of it!

There's usually a Next sale around September and they have some brilliant offers on their furniture in the sale. You will need to go to a large next with a furniture department early on the morning on day of the sale of try your luck online.

I got a lovely one from Homesense for £200 recently

Try outlet shops they have good prices I bought a lovely 4 seater and 3 seater for 899 from cousins.

I got mine from Facebook

One was £50 the other was free (but did need a serious clean and it’s come up beautifully)

Brand new they would have been over 2k each

You just have to search through the rubbish to find the good stuff

My last three sofas have been from gumtree, just keep your search distance fairly local and if you have means to collect it you can sometimes make an offer as people are usually keen to get rid as they have a new one coming. I could never have afforded the ones i have as new but they have been great quality with loads of years left in them.

I got the 4 seat drury sofa in navy from very as I had to spread payment over 4 months and I have to say I'm delighted with it. 3-4 years on and it's still lovely and firm, looks great and I've had loads of compliments on it. They have it on sale at the moment in various sizes, I know as I was looking for a smaller one yesterday!

Facebook marketplace. Sometimes people want to move fast and just want to shift it for next to nothing.

We do have a huge costly sofa which I'm too embarrassed to say how much I paid for it. It'll never be replaced.

However, we have just decorated our front room as another living area and we bought a really nice classic brown leather sofa and chair for £70 off fb marketplace. It was probably costly to buy as new. We luckily have access to a van so we were able to collect it the same day.

I spent £2k on a Collins & Hayes sofa in a sale 30 years ago and it's still going strong now - they're expensive because the good ones are labour intensive: the wooden structure, the springs, the padding, the cushions, the cushion covers. But they don't fall apart easily and you can get new covers to refresh them. I still love mine, and will keep it for as long as there's room in the house for it!

charity shops near me always have sofas from between £100-£300, and will deliver for a small charge - maybe widen your search?

Thank you all for the replies. Some fantastic ideas on where else I can look.

I bought my last 3 and 2 seater from marketplace 5 years ago. Someone just wanted rid of them and they cost £120 when you include the van. I didn’t expect to luck out like that again though! My area seems to be flooded with scam posts.

i’m looking either for a large corner or another 3 & 2.
BHF near by has matching 3&2 but they’re asking quite a significant amount for it. I’ll have to widen the search (I’m NE England) for other places.

I was just surprised at the prices of even the cheaper stuff. It’s been a long time since I’ve bought a new new sofa!

I'm loving "I bought a sofa in a sale 10 years ago and it was only £200" posts. Not very helpful to the OP!

Have a look at IKEA ones if you're able to- they are very good value for money. My DMs Ikea sofa has had a new cover, but I think she bought it over 30 years ago and structurally it's excellent. Admittedly she hasn't had DC jumping on it like mine. You tend to get what you pay for with sofas though - I've had mine for about 27 years and DH doesn't want to get a new one yet. I think he's still reeling from how much it cost him

Yes, there are some second hand bargains to be had if you don't have a sofa already, but if you do have one it might be worth holding on to that £200 until you afford something you really want.

Having said that, just use a throw over an old sofa get some nice cushions and pretend you're far too bougouis to buy a new sofa - you don't want to look nouveau riche

@LynetteScavo
🤣 I wish I could hold on to the ones I have. They’ve served me well for the price, especially as I have 3 DC. 1 of which is a bouncer! The 3 seater now has springs coming out the bottom.
i will look at IKEA, one of the places I didn’t even think of.

Facebook marketplace but filter to search for used items only, we've had all our sofas and furniture from there!

There are loads of sofas offered on our Freecycle site and FB selling groups - look there?

Oh god why is EVERYTHING expensive? !