Sofa from eBay

[AHungryCaterpillar]

Has anyone bought a sofa (new) off market place or eBay? Need a new sofa but can’t afford expensive places like dfs or scs, seen loads of new ones on market place that are half the price but they seem to good to be true! Has anyone bought one?

I've bought new furniture (not sofas but a footstool and a coffee table) off eBay; also bought two used sofas and two armchairs from business sellers and never had issues.

I can't stress this enough - check the seller's feedback - actually read it and make sure there is plenty of recent good seller feedback, and check the volume of feedback. The odd negative fb about a high volume seller shouldn't be an issue but if there's lots of negative feedback, or negatives within only a handful of sales - avoid.

Contacting the seller with a question about the item is a good way of gauging their responsiveness - if they come back quickly and are helpful and polite, it's likely you'll have a good experience.

As long as you follow eBay rules you will have buyer protection; also the back-up of protection offered by your chosen payment method (there are variations between Paypal/credit card/debit card so check which best fits your purchase).

Do not go 'off eBay' and do not pay by Faster Payment/bank transfer/Paypal 'friends and family' because you will have no protection.

If you are buying from a business seller you will have statutory cooling off rights and so on - check that the seller is registered as a business seller.

Finally, with furniture, make sure you are clear about delivery arrangements and costs - asking about this is a good way to check seller responsiveness, per above.

Try Freecycle and Freegle

Don’t want a second hand sofa as I don’t have access to a van and honestly buy the time I paid for one and arrange it all it isn’t worth it and it doesn’t work out as much cheaper.

Thank you ClariceQuiff Great advice I will do this

You aren't buying from ebay or facebook you're buying from a seller who uses those platforms, you need to look at the specific seller. They don't have the same characteristics just because they use ebay

As @ClariceQuiff says make sure you check them out as best you can

A 'man with a van' is about £50. The local freebie sites often have some lovely, new-looking sofas.by £££ brands

It’s too much headache for me to arrange I would rather just buy new where the delivery is included.

Yes we bought our corner sofa (Made.com Orson corner chaise) and bed (Made.com Eulia velvet upholstered bed) from eBay. The sofa was about a third of the original price and the bed was about a quarter I think. Pleased with both, delivery was great and easy and quick (no waiting 12-16 weeks like lots of furniture websites). I think they were both customer returns. Often if you know what you're looking for you can search for the shop name or more often the style name. I recommend eBay resellers to anyone looking to buy furniture, my parents got their new G Plan 3 piece suite from there also and are very happy with it. If you have anything you want taken away as well (like an old sofa that charity shops won't accept) you can often ask the seller and they'll collect and dispose of this for you for an extra fee of about £20-£30 which is convenient.

It's easy to arrange.

Thanks but I’ve arranged things before and it means me travelling to the person to pay them, then arranging a van, meaning I have to pay the person hundreds of Pounds leaving without my item which for a van to go and collect it, I’m not happy to do that, I can’t go at the same time as the van as I would need to be home to let them in on the other side (I don’t drive so won’t be home before them) I don’t have anyone else to let them in at home. I’m also not happy to give the man with a van the money to take it to the person to pay them for me as I don’t think that’s wise and wouldn’t hand over hundreds of pounds to a stranger to pay someone for me. If people were happy to accept payment online on eBay for collection only items then it would be a lot easier as I could just send a van but people aren’t willing to do that. They want cash on collection.

That sounds good hamsterchump didn’t know they could take it away as well that would be handy.

But @AHungryCaterpillar, the sofas on Freecycle and Freegle are free. They cost £0.00.

Some listed might be quality brands. I've seen things like Parker Knoll, Multiyork, Marks & Spencer, Designers Guild and Tetrad. They are saved from going into landfill.

You ask for it nicely, arrange a collection time and go and get it.

I live quite close to some well-off areas and am a 'save the planet type, and my house is furnished with second hand stuff.

You won't believe the things people give away, and sofas are not usually recyclable

You can also go to charity furniture showrooms. They will deliver for a small fee

I honestly can't see the problem with buying second hand from an eBay (or suchlike) seller and arranging collection, for example via Shiply.

I don't get why you would have to travel to the seller to pay them? You'd just do a bank transfer/pay by card, surely?

In my experience, some Shiply couriers require paying on delivery (after paying a small initial deposit).

Obviously there's an element of trust involved, but in almost twenty years of using eBay as a buying (and selling) platform, we've never had any issues.

We've bought new and second hand furniture - including sofas - on eBay with no issues. We don't have a van, so have needed to organise a courier and - imho - this is relatively straightforward, the only hassle being the number of quotes you end up getting!

Last year we purchased a second hand sofa (£500, retail price £2k) and had it delivered from Kent to Carmarthenshire for around £50. Very professional guys (three of them!) delivered it to us the same day it was collected. Ditto a chest of drawers last month - came all the way from Yorkshire for just £56 😀

In both cases the item was paid for by card and the delivery arranged separately by us. No issues with having to go and pay in person, although I appreciate you might be wanting to see the item first, in which case you'd most likely be buying locally, perhaps on facebook marketplace etc....

The new sofa we bought (Sweetpea & Willow) on eBay back in 2019 was new and delivery was included in the purchase price. Had to wait about a week for it to arrive, but again no probs.

Meant to add, although we have previously collected eBay items in person, paying cash, I've actually found that most sellers we've dealt with are happy to take online payment and for a courier to collect.

Like I said before, it's understandable you might want to check out a sofa (for example) in person before handing over the cash, but otherwise if buying long distance I can't see how/why they'd expect you to travel xxx miles to pay in person....

I've certainly never experienced a seller expecting a courier to take my cash to them....

No eBay sellers don’t accept online payments; they don’t as it leaves them open to scams and the buyer saying that they didn’t get the item then getting a refund the seller has no proof and the buyer can be refunded as not receiving the item, it’s a well known scam hence why most eBay sellers now only do cash on collection.

@FayCarew

But *@AHungryCaterpillar, the sofas on Freecycle and Freegle are free*. They cost £0.00.

Some listed might be quality brands. I've seen things like Parker Knoll, Multiyork, Marks & Spencer, Designers Guild and Tetrad. They are saved from going into landfill.

You ask for it nicely, arrange a collection time and go and get it.

I live quite close to some well-off areas and am a 'save the planet type, and my house is furnished with second hand stuff.

You won't believe the things people give away, and sofas are not usually recyclable

You can also go to charity furniture showrooms. They will deliver for a small fee

Oh sorry I totally missed that! I will check them out, I have heard of people getting some great stuff for free I didn’t even think to check thanks.

Have a look at neighbouring areas @AHungryCaterpillar. Where I live isn't great but within a 20 mile radius there are some very prosperous areas.

Having said that, I got something absolutely lovely from someone the other end of my street, and a double buggy for a friend that I collected on foot from just over half a mile away.

Some people will deliver either free or a small fee

Try your local auction house general sale - mine always has huge stocks of ex-show home furniture which has barely been used, and often from top quality manufacturers (Tetrad etc.). The auction house will deliver for a small fee, and you can bid online using the Saleroom (for a percentage) or EasyLive for a £3 flat fee. They are also a great source of ex-show home mirrors, lamps, bed frames, bedside furniture, accessories, all sorts!

Me again! Also check out individual retailer outlet shops - Cotswold Company, OKA etc. they are usually half price or less, will arrange delivery and sometimes have New Year or flash sales where you can save more 🙂

I bought mine on ebay and was very happy as it was a fraction of the cost of new. Just check dimensions carefully! Height of back, width, length etc.