With the rise of online shopping, the purchasing process became faster and more enjoyable… There is nothing more appealing from ordering your basic needs at your leisure and from the comfort of your home or wherever you might be …its effortless!.. .It saves time, money and a lot of hassle…. I am a big advocate of simplifying life through technology …it’s the future … But I also believe that not everything can be purchased online( at least not yet)…A good example is your sofa… Below I outline few reasons why:
Comfort .. The sofa is the largest furniture piece of your home .It defines your living room and it is also the one piece that you use the most ( after your bed) ….It needs to be comfortable …and it also needs to be well made …Comfortable because while watching TV or lounging you need something soft and embracing… Well made because if you get the wrong piece it will get saggy in 6 months …it will look terrible …Many of the sofa options available online (especially the less expensive ) use inferior foam and along with bad construction they can deform within weeks…
Quality …since the sofa is such a large piece, imperfections such as bad stitching, deformed cushions , even incorrect color are hard to identify online …most of the images online are renderings that makes the products appear impeccable …And just because it is such a large piece, if is not well made it could sabotage your entire home aesthetics
Measurements …. from experience, many customers just purchase thinking, it fits, comes to find out when the item is delivered that it doesn’t? The sofa; unlike chairs ,lounge chairs ,coffee tables etc… is a massive and a heavy item which makes it hard to return easily … it is also hard to be combined in other parts of the home
Returns …In the case when the sofa does not fit or you don’t like it and you need to return it…. it’s when the bigger problems start …What you don’t know is …the price of the shipping of the sofa to get to your home is included in the purchase price (especially when is free shipping ). To ship a sofa back; the cost is substantial …For the business owner to get a sofa returned at his warehouse is not worth bringing back…He is losing a lot of money to ship the item back;… sometimes much more than the actual cost of the item. He will either try to convince you to keep it with a discount or he will make it very hard for you to return it with disclosures…On the meantime you have the sofa seating in your living room(while negotiations take place) …for weeks …At the same time returning a sofa curbside –this is the service you paid online- you will have to bring the item down and out of your home and away from your front your door for the shipping company to be able to receive and take back …
Lesson learned? … purchasing a sofa the good old fashion way is still your best bet… Going to a brick and mortar store , testing and purchasing your favorite item will save you money, time and a lot of headache … ask as many questions as you need for you to have a piece of mind and see exactly what you are getting …Local delivery is much easier and most of the times, furniture stores own their own delivery services with complimentary setup and removal of carton and debris