Buying furniture: how much room to negotiate?

[slugg]

This is my first time buying furniture, not counting cheap Walmart and Ikea stuff while I was a broke college student. The female home dictator and I have looked at hundreds of sofa sets and we finally found one that we like. I plan to buy a sofa, love seat, and an ottoman.

Searching the Googles on the interwebs shows that many people say "yes, negotiate!" Well unfortunately, unlike cars where there are ways to get regional average sales figures as reference points for negotiation, I have no idea just how much to haggle.

Observations:
0. The sofa is $900
1. The love seat is only $30 less than the sofa, $870. Obviously this is LOADED with margin.
2. The ottoman is obviously expensive, at just under half the price of the sofa, $400.
3. All the sales pitches revolve around "no interest for 2 years," which has no value to me since I'm in the position to pay cash, or on my rewards credit card, whichever gives me the best deal.
4. Delivery is about $150
5. Additional hazard warranty is available, but I didn't ask for the price. I probably won't buy this, though.

What do you guys think I should haggle to? The store is Ashley Furniture, if that helps.


Note: I am aware that this isn't bulletproof furniture that I can hand down for generations of my family. I don't expect that. Just want something decent.

 

[rudeguy]

lol So you get to decide how much margin there should be? You are going to set the price?


You are going to pay tag, maybe you get sales tax thrown in.

 

[DrPizza]

First of all, labor is the bigger factor in price between the sofa and love seat. The material cost is probably pretty insignificant.

we got a set for nearly 50% off - knew exactly what we wanted, went in on a busy night. Made sure the salesman knew we were ready to pay cash on the spot; just wanted to see what their best price was. I didn't let them know what the competing price was, splurge a if you beat it, yes, I'll order it right now.

 

[kranky]

I have had a difficult time haggling for furniture. They tend to claim no ability to negotiate on price. And in some cases that may be true, as we have had to walk out of places that knew I had cash in my pocket and I was trying to get $100 off a $1500 deal because they said it could not be done. Probably store specific.

Last time I did have some success. We went on the last day of the month, cash in pocket. We had scouted what we wanted earlier in the month. Asked the salesperson who had the authority to adjust prices - answer: "no one". So I asked to speak to the manager. Spoke off to the side so nobody else could overhear, and asked if we paid cash tonight for the two pieces we wanted ($2500), would he adjust the price by $200 and deliver free. He said no, he couldn't do that. I pulled out my cash, said I'm buying furniture tonight. Either we'll get it here, or at the place up the road, but I'm not coming back if we don't buy this furniture right now.

He tried to quiz me about the other furniture but I said I'm done, can you do it or not. Suddenly he was able to do it.

I'd try to negotiate for free delivery because surely some other store offers it, and that might be easier to get than a price discount.

 

[Leros]

I've always gotten free delivery, so I'd consider that the minimum you can get.

You can't really negotiate unless you have an alternative offer at another store. I've had this tactic work almost every time: "You're asking $900 for this sofa, but there is a sofa we like equally as much for $700 at xyz. We're already here so if you can give us this sofa for $700 and free delivery, then we have an agreement".

The alternative approach is "I love this $900 sofa but I've only got $700, so if you can give it to me for $700 out the door, then we have a deal". You have to prepared to walk out of the store if they say no or maybe talk to another salesperson.

You said that you found a sofa that you love, don't let the salesperson know that because it takes away a lot of your bargaining power.

No idea if I'm getting the best deals or not. Dr Pizza said he's gotten 50% off which seems insane to me.

Some of the deals I've gotten:
- $2500 mattress for $1500 with free delivery and about $300 of add-ons thrown in
- $1200 bed for $700 and free delivery
- $700 love seat for $500 and free delivery

 

[sciencewhiz]

I bought a bedroom set at Ashley Furniture. I was able to easily negotiate with the salesman to 50% off. On a few items, I did better then 50%, but he needed his manager to sign off.

 

[MadScientist]

Yes, there's a large markup on furniture and it's always on sale. We were just at the Knoxville Wholesale Furniture store in Knoxville, which is owned by the same person who owns the Ashley store in Knoxville. They were having a we pay your sales tax sale on top of a pre-BF sale, so the MSRPs were jacked up. We were looking for a recliner sofa for my man cave. They wanted $998. + $60. delivery for a Catnapper recliner sofa, which is made by Jackson Furniture in TN. Usually I can get them to knock another 5 or 10% off but the salesman would not go lower. We got the make, style and model number off the tag and walked; purchased the same exact sofa from a local store for $850. tax included, and no delivery charge since we are less than 10 miles from the store.

Ashley imports or purchases most of their furniture from other companies, and their stores are independently owned and operated, so the owners set the prices, not Ashley. Ashley has become a furniture distributor not a manufacturer.
It is almost impossible to find a dining room set made in the US, unless you go to furniture stores in the Amish communities, i.e., northeastern Ohio; or have something custom built. Almost all wooden furniture is imported from China or Viet Nam.

OP,
Get the make, model name and numbers for the sofa, love seat, and ottoman. They are on the attached tags. Go online to the manufacturer's website and find out what stores in your area carry their brands, i.e., Catnapper/Jackson Furniture. http://www.catnapper.com/
And $150. for delivery is way too much. This is very negotiable, $40 - $60. max., or better yet free.

 

[dullard]

Assemble yourself furniture: 0% discount.

Lowest end furniture (but not assemble yourself) at a discount store: 10% off if you ask for it.

The rest, you should be able to get at least 20% off if not far more (depending on how much you buy). But your mileage will vary.

 

[dullard]

You are going to set the price?

Of course. The buyer always sets the price for everything. If the shop is unwilling to come down to that price, then the buyer can go elsewhere or buy something different.

True, there are manufacturer's SUGGESTED retail prices. But they are only suggestions. Buyer always chooses to buy or not, so the buyer always has the last say on the price.

 

[MadScientist]

I bought a bedroom set at Ashley Furniture. I was able to easily negotiate with the salesman to 50% off. On a few items, I did better then 50%, but he needed his manager to sign off.

You may have gotten a great price, but 50% off what. Even at 50% off they are still making money or they would have never sold you the bedroom set.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Offer $1000 delivered and go from there. They have a huge margin on those items and somebody in the store has the authority to negotiate. If the salesperson you're dealing with claims they can't, move up the line. You should be able to get all three pieces for $1200-$1400. The store would still make money at that price.

 

[Eug]

You can almost always negotiate, unless it's a loss-leader sale or something, or already "50% off" or something. Yeah, 50% off an overpriced item still makes them money, but often a 50% off item ends up being decently priced.

BTW, interestingly, there are two furniture chains here that sell somewhat different products and at different price levels, although there are overlaps. However, they are owned by the same parent company.

I came across one manager at a store from the lower end one of the two chains, and he told me that although they sell different products, the lower end chain managers have access to the same catalogue as the higher end chain. I guess he was interested in a sale because he offered me the products from the higher end chain for much lower prices, after I had mentioned to him there was a couch I was interested in at that other store. The catch is that I couldn't see the products in his store. They were only on display at the higher end chain's stores.

So, I'd go to the higher end store, look at the stuff, and note the price. Then I'd jaunt over to the lower end store and order it for about 25% off plus free shipping.

The other thing is to look for scratch and dents. Sometimes they're really scratched and dented and not worth paying for. But often the blemishes are quite minor, and you can add another 10-15% discount off the price.

---

P.S. Not furniture, but in Canada, both Future Shop and Best Buy are owned by Best Buy Canada. Except that Best Buy will price match Future Shop (and vice versa). So every once in a while Future Shop will sell an item for something 50% off, which means I'll walk over to Best Buy and get it for 50% off plus another 10% of the difference, which works out to 55% off.

I guess they sometimes maintain price differences between the two stores sometimes to give the illusion of competition.

 

[Puppies04]

Furniture has massive margins on it, mainly because people don't go out and buy a new sofa every week so they have to make their profit where they can.

If you shop at a store that claims they can't move on the price then tell them you will go shop somewhere else.

Personally I would go for 10% off for cash of 5% off and free delivery.

 

[alkemyst]

First of all, labor is the bigger factor in price between the sofa and love seat. The material cost is probably pretty insignificant.

we got a set for nearly 50% off - knew exactly what we wanted, went in on a busy night. Made sure the salesman new we were ready to pay cash on the spot; just wanted to see what their best price was. I didn't let them know what the competing price was, splurge a if you beat it, yes, I'll order it right now.

Usually the best price comes from taking their financing and just paying it off later at no interest usually.

They get both credit for the sale and credit for the 'loan'.

Sometimes service plans can be a card in the hand if you can get a better discount vs what the plan costs (and some are refundable if never used as they know people just tend to forget they have them).

Some places you cannot negotiate, others you can.

If you live in a higher end area there are something furniture stores that specialize in consignment with much of the items never even being used.

 

[Jumpem]

I have paid the listed price a few times, and most recently on a dining room set they took off about ten percent when we asked.

 

[slugg]

So it turns out that after shopping at all these places, I mixed up the prices. The set we wanted was actually $2800 after their "sale" price (don't know or care what the "normal" price was). I ended up paying $2050 with delivery and their 5 year insurance/warranty included. So for perspective, they ended up beating their own Black Friday sale by a bit. I'm fine with that.

 

[mikeford]

The cheap furniture joints have huge markups and can discount, many major chains selling name brands have firm prices and nobody of the floor can offer a discount.

Its MUCH more of a find a deal, than negotiate a deal.

 

[jaedaliu]

Are there any furniture warehouses near you that don't negotiate? no discount for large purchases?

I would go to a couple of those to find the items you like, and then go to the inflated price stores and use what you've learned as a basis for your target price. I think we got ~$200 off for 2 sofas delivered compared to the warehouse store for similar items. (cheap leather, metal frame, power recline end seats)

 

[AViking]

Furniture is marked up CRAZY amounts. You have tons of room to negotiate. Depends on the store though. Better yet go to South East Asia where they are buying the furniture, buy it yourself, and load it into a 20' container.

 

[waggy]

i have got furniture about 3 times. All 3 i have got roughly 30% off. You just gotta be able to walk and know how to haggle.

biggest deal i got was on a bed set (crazy fucking markup on them). the bed itself was marked at $1200 I mentioned i seen it for $700 on sale so they matched it. the headbaord and table were $800 i got for 500

i now just need to get my son a new bedroom set and noticed my love seat is getting tore.

long as my recliner is ok i don't care. it will be a sad day when ti brakes

 

[SheHateMe]

Furniture is SUPER expensive. My mother paid $1500 just for a couch and a loveseat. They were very nice but still......

Probably could have furnished half the room with that money at Ikea.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Awesome thread OP. I was just in Rooms to Go the other day, finally found a chaise that we wanted. The price was $550. After taxes and fee's for delivery it was $700. I basically told them to waive that delivery fee or I'm walking.... and I did. And she didn't give the slightest hint of "wait!". This isn't fucking Ikea, this is a furniture store, much like a car sale - part of the car sale is from paying employee's to sit there and babble.

Lady was a sales moron, If I did actually buy it for that amount I would have rather walked in, gotten a different sales person - then completed it so someone else gets the comish.


One thing I can say: I am deadset on buying real furniture. I'm sick of the Ikea shit and cheap furniture stores that fall apart in < 5 years. I want something 20 years later that is still standing tall that you can hand-off to your kids.

 

[richardycc]

markup is roughly 300%...so that sofa probably cost them $300 or so...Ashley furniture are not that good, maybe a step above Bob's discount furniture, if you can afford something better, get something from a better brand.

 

[Puppies04]

Furniture is SUPER expensive. My mother paid $1500 just for a couch and a loveseat. They were very nice but still......

Probably could have furnished half the room with that money at Ikea.

You can furnish the room with some broken bricks and a dead moose for even less, I suppose it depends where you draw the line.....

 

[Imp]

100%? Dumpster dive at the end of a school year around college dorms.