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Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

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Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#21

Post by rdtwo »

ydhddhtchgvbdc wrote: post #20

First you go everywhere local that does not sell new furniture. Does not . New furniture is the pits. It's like a new car. You spend years worrying about the damage you're doing to it, the money you've lost, the depreciation, the interest you're paying on that depreciation, etc. New furniture tortures you like anything that's new. Then you set a budget and start selectively buying used furniture. I give you a 100% gu…

Pro tip, Craigslist man with van service is probably the cheapest way to move used furniture

Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#22

Post by rdtwo »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #17
numerik_meister wrote: post #14

I buy used furniture. There is an insane amount of good quality used furniture that is sold or even given away for free. What you have to look out for is that it is made of good quality wood i.e. not particle board or other engineered woods. Everything else is then up to your taste. I do not do it because I am cheap. You literally cannot find the same quality as new. I know because my uncle is a carpenter. The only w…

Things to try and identify better quality: * Look for signs of veneers. A veneer is a very thin piece of wood glued to the surface of particle board or plywood. If a piece of used furniture has some wear spots it should be easy to see if the wood beneath the wear is the same (fibers/grain of wood follow the top) or different. * Another sign of veneers is large spans width wise that are the same grain pattern. Grain p…

Even modern high end furniture is often veneer. The reason for this is manufactured lumber (plywood) is dimensionaly stable and won’t shrink/expand with the seasons. That can allow for more unusual shapes better finish with fewer gaps. Also you can have finish with more exotic wood like teak that’s simply not available in quantity anymore.

Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#24

Post by gaws »

batiudrami wrote: post #8

Genuinely, used. People selling nice furniture are usually moving and it doesn’t fit/suit your new place and they want it gone quickly so it’s cheap. You will occasionally get a disappointment or a dud, but in return you pay a third or even less sticker price, putting premium beautiful furniture in the same price range as budget stuff. I haven’t got a single piece of furniture in my house I bought new, after graduall…

> Genuinely, used.

Where?

Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#25

Post by gaws »

Gustomaximus wrote: post #9
batiudrami wrote: post #8

Genuinely, used. People selling nice furniture are usually moving and it doesn’t fit/suit your new place and they want it gone quickly so it’s cheap. You will occasionally get a disappointment or a dud, but in return you pay a third or even less sticker price, putting premium beautiful furniture in the same price range as budget stuff. I haven’t got a single piece of furniture in my house I bought new, after graduall…

I do similar and put searches with an alert around wealthier suburbs. Generally gets the best quality and cheaply as many people in these areas want stuff gone and value quick removal over best price. I have a ute and trailer which makes it much easier.

> I do similar and put searches with an alert around wealthier suburbs.

On what sites?

Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#26

Post by batiudrami »

gaws wrote: post #24
batiudrami wrote: post #8

Genuinely, used. People selling nice furniture are usually moving and it doesn’t fit/suit your new place and they want it gone quickly so it’s cheap. You will occasionally get a disappointment or a dud, but in return you pay a third or even less sticker price, putting premium beautiful furniture in the same price range as budget stuff. I haven’t got a single piece of furniture in my house I bought new, after graduall…

> Genuinely, used. Where?

It’ll depend on your country what sites are popular of course; I use gumtree and Facebook marketplace.

Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#27

Post by hnacct2001 »

I go used or Ikea, no in-between. Other commenters have detailed why used is the way to go. But occasionally it's too much effort, in which case I would rather get the simple Ikea version than pay a ridiculous markup for a shoddier ikea with a weird design (which is what a lot of the stores like pottery barn are).

Re: Ask HN: Where to buy good quality furniture?

#28

Post by Gustomaximus »

gaws wrote: post #25
Gustomaximus wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do similar and put searches with an alert around wealthier suburbs. Generally gets the best quality and cheaply as many people in these areas want stuff gone and value quick removal over best price. I have a ute and trailer which makes it much easier.

> I do similar and put searches with an alert around wealthier suburbs. On what sites?

I use Gumtree mostly. Its popular in Australia and UK only I believe.

I look at FB market place and Ebay occasionally.

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