The PROBLEM with Wayfair Furniture (DTC)
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- čas přidán 18. 04. 2023
- Through the wonders of VR, online payments, and modern delivery expectations we now see it as normal to order a dining room table and chairs to your front door. Direct to consumer furniture is here and with it come the good, and the bad.
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For further reading, check out the sources for this video here:
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Script: Holly Maley
Editor: Matthew Veal
Lead Editor: Kirsten Stanley
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand
Want to work with Future Proof? Suggestions? Hate mail? Get in touch with the project manager, Lu: contact@befutureproof.ca
It's really weird how the roles reversed and going to the charity shop is what you do when you want quality furniture while new stuff uses cheap MDF in the best of cases
So true! Even a lot of higher end modern furniture isn't that well made either. Charity shops and second hand dealers have been my go-to for getting furniture for my flat, much to the amusement of friends and family. Much better quality for the same or lower price.
In my opinion, the quality of furniture (and a lot of other manufactured goods) has steadily declined over the last century, but especially in the last 20 years. Growing up, I remember my grandparents' pre-war furniture was much better quality than things they'd bought in the late 1950s-1970s. Even today, I have several 'identical' IKEA bookcases purchased over a span of about 10 years where newer versions of the same item are of noticeably poorer quality.
If you have the ability to pick it up and get it home without knocking it apart, sometimes you can get that MDF furniture for like five bucks at a second hand store instead of paying 50 or 75 at a retail store. A few extra Tac nails to stick that back cardboard on very securely and you're done!
They expect people to move and not care about the stuff they bought.
I see very good furniture at Salvation Army, et al.
@@NoZenith Also moving sales. And estate sales.
As someone who was in the market for a new table recently, the ones I found in stores are just as bad as the ones online. Even my dad, a furniture salesman, said that everything coming out right now is very low quality.
I've found that you almost have to find an estate sale or a local furniture maker in order to get the kind of quality our parents had.
I walked through a furniture store recently for a new dining table and everything was MASSIVE. Huge sectional couches, long tables that fit 8 people, etc. I told the sales guy initially that I live in a small apartment and he told me he had nothing for me. What's even the point if furniture stores are made for rich people with huge homes that are buying a $2000 dining table set to seat 10 people?
@@michaela9548 I don't even know 10 people in the same town I like enough to WANT to have dinner with. Can you even buy tables with leaves in them anymore? It's all just so frustrating. And this video was definitely right about a few things, most importantly that online shopping has conditioned us to have low expectations and just live with the BS we're delivered. It's working out beautifully for mainstream media and governments too. The resale shops know the industry and that's why you're paying a premium for anything hardwood now!
a "mahogany table" nowadays is just poplar (or other cheap soft wood) with heavy stains and lacquer or veneered, but their still actual mahogany prices,,,,,
@@michaela9548 Take a trip to North Carolina. I'm sure they still have nice furniture stores (High Point, Jamestown, etc).
Yes, I would love a video on fake reviews. I am a person that if I’m looking online for something I do read reviews and if I see too many that are questionable then I won’t bother with it.
As for ordering furniture items or even clothes…I still would prefer to see it in person especially the furniture. I would see nice items but I would rather have a chance to sit on a couch, get to see the color etc.
I don’t shop at Wayfair..I’ll look but the prices are way too high for the what they are selling. I bought a room divider from Overstock and it looked like someone put their foot through the box, they didn’t wrap it to protect it and it was broken…I immediately told them I wanted a refund and they told me to keep the screen. I was going to throw it out but I’m a diy person, so I patched it up and will work with it to make it look like a brand new piece.
As for IKEA…lol I do love their items. I have a closet and a dresser from them and love it. So I’m no opposed to shopping there. Plus you could always hack it which I love too.
Yeah it's practically impossible to be 100% sure of what you're getting when buying off sites like these, because picture quality and available information always varies. The thing with IKEA is at least you can go to their brick and mortars and check out what you're planning on purchasing in advance to make a more informed decision. Thanks for adding to the conversation here!
I look at the mid range reviews, but I'm just never sure which comes from a real purchase and which is a computer riffing on capitalism
@@sarahwatts7152 very true..I always like reviews with pictures so I could at least see what a person is telling me. But I’m always good about leaving reviews for items too
i like to look at the bad reviews. if *someone* isn't unhappy, i don't trust it 😂
@@vaguelyweirdI do that too, but even that can be rigged. Sellers can pay for their competitors to get bad reviews, so their own listing looks better.
Minor note, west elm isn’t a traditional online retailer, they are a brick and mortar store with online shopping available. And their quality generally better than the DTC online brands. Most couches at west elm for example are solid wood or solid engineered hardwood frame, which lasts much longer and is refurbish-able. It’s totally worth reupholstering a solid frame couch.
David,
You are on point. My first low quality couch. I desired to reupholstered it. Because I thought it Wouk’s be cheaper. The couch was still in pretty good shape, but I wanted a different material. The upholstered judging how young I was at the time. 18 years old at the time that I bought the couch. But I was about 21 years old at the time. She ask me do my couch have a solid wood frame. If not it would not be worth the money to reupholstered. Of course I did not know the answer. So she gave me the secret to determine if it was solid wood. She advised me to go the bottom edge of the couch where the wood is. And press your fingernail into the wood. If it leave an impression on the wood. It is not solid wood.🤔
It's expensive tho
@@daediaz186 not all of it is. There are a few pieces that are solid wood that are under $1000, some close to $600-$700.
@@daediaz186quality furniture is worth paying for
It’s all a lie
A major problem with quality furniture and one reason it will not be as common as in the past is that moving 50 year furniture every few years when you change apartments is a pain. Quality furniture is mainly compatible with a relatively permanent residence and a lot of younger folk simply do not live that way any more. They are not buying houses and staying in the same place for a decade or more.
I bought a rug from Wayfair that was delivered early when I was on vacation and it got stolen off my building’s porch, and Wayfair sent me a new one no questions asked which is wild considering it’s a $300 dollar rug and i’ve had customer service departments give me the runaround over an order of like $70 shoes. It’s a great rug, FWIW
It's not worth $300 then. Was probably made for very little, hence why they're willing to eat the cost.
I have found a lot of joy in learning to tailor my clothes and refurbishing old furniture items. I can't make the stuff I want, but I can take old things and make them look like they fit me perfectly. It has also been really good for my mental health to have projects like this that let me be creative and learn new skills, and definitely good for my wallet!
Fast furniture is probably a reflection on how people live. Our grandparents got houses in their early 20's and only switch houses maybe three times in their lifetime. Large heavy furniture that'd last a lifetime was the economical choice. Now many are finding themselves moving every one or two years from the time they leave their parents up into their late 30's. Heavy furniture is very costly to transport, store, and may not fit your next place. Much better to get cheaper and lighter furniture you can sell at a heavy discount or trash before move to your next place and get all new furniture that matches the space.
So true! There is furniture in grandparents house that seems like it would be impossible to move. Huge wardrobes from the 1800s and those roll top desks. My dad inherited their house and doesn't even want the furniture but it would be so hard to move and people don't want to buy heavy antique furniture these days. They are beautiful pieces but don't really match the house.
I moved into my own place last year and bought cheap Flatpack furniture. I love what I bought. It looks modern and it's so light weight.
Exactly, when I need to move every year, I want my furniture cheap, simple, light, and easy to disassemble (Ikea)
40 dollar stool from the local carpenter? 😂 I wish. It is at least 800 per stool from the local carpenter (white oak stool), produced in small batches. This is like the buy local/organic thing again but for furniture.
Then steal it from him and then it’s free!
no one makes shit to last anymore sadly. my grandmother had the same furniture for almost 60 years and even though it's dated compared to today's trends, all her pieces are SOLID and still look like new. i'm very fortunate that my parents gave their blessing for me to keep a few pieces of hers after she passed. you just can't find new things being manufactured today by big retailers that are of comparable quality vintage pieces.
You absolutely can. It will just cost you more and you will need to know where to look. There are still furniture companies out there offering lifetime warranties, or at least 20 years.
I have kept some furniture from my childhood bedroom. The finishes need some touching up, but they are very well-constructed.
@@juliebrocklehurst-woods5247 I agreed. Older furniture holds up longer than the crap being sold these days.. I have my maple (real maple) bed frame and dresser from my childhood, which was 60 years ago.
Wayfair is like the online IKEA with free delivery. But at least with IKEA the assembling manuals work well on most occasions and the level of quality is consistent. With Wayfair, you'll never know how it goes.
And IKEA has real stores!
I’m one of those people who knows exactly what they want before they even start shopping, and I can tell you it’s actually a nightmare. This is because I have to spend days or weeks trying to find the website or store that makes precisely what I’m looking for. For example, when it came to buying a couch, I couldn’t just go to a store and pick a comfy one. I needed to find a cranberry Chesterton couch with a pull out bed or storage. It doesn’t exist, and I’ve been unsatisfied with what I got instead ever since. Be happy that you don’t know exactly what you want, trust me you’re better off that way.
This thooo!!! Literally the reason I learned how to sew because I had an exact idea of how I wanted my clothes to look and I could not find them in the style, material or design I wanted.
Exactly why i learned to sew and why i want to learn how to make basic furniture too. Like, I saw a great murphy-bed-style cabinet, perfect for my 3 fold mattress, but 1, it's 2k USD and I'm canadian (so it would probably go up to 3k CAD 🤷♀️), 2, is it truly great quality, or is it just expensive? And 3, it's not even in the look i want, but where would there even be the exact style i want for this exact product? Better make it myself then
I’m also a cursed “aware” shopper
IM WITH YOU ON THAT. I DONT IMPULSE BUY
Don’t teach people that, that’s a ridiculous lesson for so many reasons I wouldn’t even know where to start
I try so hard to buy second-hand quality furniture, but as someone who does not drive it greatly increases the difficulty. Most people don't offer delivery. If I only did that I wouldn't have much in my home. But one day, my home will be full of nice items that last my lifetime.
Not driving does make it a lot more difficult 😢
There are often pick up truck owners on Craigslist or at Home Depot looking for $$$ to move furniture
I also wish I could buy used but I'm blind and don't drive and it's hard even to get to look at things. I can't afford posh stuff. And how the heck do I buy furniture online when I can't even see the pictures? Thanks for bringing this subject up. Being disabled and shopping has really changed.
I have a ninety-dollar table (I don't remember what I paid for the four chairs and the bench) that I bought almost 20 years ago from World Market. That table is solid hardwood through and through and it's there to say. I also have some furniture that I bought more than 20 years ago in North Carolina. You wouldn't know it looking at the pieces.
This is my problem too. I just found kaiyo that sells consignment pieces with affordable white glove shipping and that solved it for the key pieces. They ship to the tri-state area if you are there. I then took advantage of affirm to buy the remaining pieces from high quality websites: casper, schoolhouse.
Yes, definitely an episode about review farms. I just joined Amazon VINE and am debating the economic and environmental impacts of my significant leap in online/shipped orders just for some free stuff, most of which comes from China. I take my reviewing seriously but not everybody does, and now people say how untrustworthy the program is.
I quit Vine Voice. I kept collecting no name pieces of junk, spending time taking photos of each thing, and writing a detailed review like an idiot. None of those reviews got favorited or really looked at. And it is why I did it in the first place, in order to prove myself as a decent reviewer for furthering my side projects. But I have to be honest; it was the worst thing I did this year. And the fact I couldn't review the stuff on my own website while accruing things I never wanted in the first place made it enough for me to quit.
I’m that weird person that managed to buy furniture online and it was exactly what I wanted and fit exactly where we wanted it in the home.
That said, my partner and I spent months looking for the furniture we wanted online and started with small individual pieces to the bedroom set before getting the more expensive pieces (the dressers) to ensure that we really did like the style and quality.
That's a sound way to go about it! Measuring spaces, comparing with similar products, and researching materials and build quality are some really great ways to ensure you'll be happy with whatever's sent to your door
Doesn't really make you weird lol
I’m shopping for a sectional right now , I just have not figured out what manufacturer makes a well built one
I’m also one of those that has loved every piece (except one tbh) of furniture I’ve bought from online
Same. I bought my first piece of furniture online in 2008. I still have it & it’s in great condition.
You just have to know your brands. I do research and look for quality manufacturers.
Wayfair isn’t really a brand it’s more of an online marketplace for a lot of different brands. It’s kind of similar to Amazon.
I stopped shopping at IKEA cause I was sick of their furniture and I do think wayfair does have some good stuff, it’s just hit or miss
You really have to read all the descriptions and every bit of words on the product page! I've bought a few things from them and was able to make them much better by just using upgraded screws and wood glue.
Wayfair sells children
@@angieemm yep. You can also look up the actual product. You will find your way to the manufacturers
@@htsunmiku that's how I found the headboard I wanted at a better price! Saw it on wayfair but searched the manufacturer.
@@htsunmikuhow do you know which is the manufacturer name ? I am trying to purchase
YES, please! We need the fake review exposed! That also touches on CZcams reviewers… I’ve been duped a few times...
I have a wardrobe that was flat-packed and brought over to the US from Germany on a boat by my ancestors in the 1840s. It has been moved to 5 houses in my lifetime. It's still gorgeous and solid. I'm in the middle of moving and a rep came to evaluate the job. He said even the particle board bookcases I got secondhand in the early 90s are built better than the cube storage unit the movers won't take because they're so cheaply made now. Buying online may be more convenient (the place I'm moving has 2 furniture stores and they're horrible quality, and no thrift/resales) but it's certainly not easier due to the amount of research you have to do.
I recently bought a mattress from a local store that I found very uncomfortable. I could have received a total refund if purchased online, but the store only offered store credit and I did not like any other mattress at the same price point and did not want some other random furniture. I ended up giving the mattress to my son and purchasing my replacement online so I could get a refund if I hated it. It worked out great. I love the 2nd mattress. I have purchased several pieces of furniture from Joybird and I like them all. Going on 4 years now.
I bought several pieces from Wayfair. I have been scoping out many possibilities. I was in no hurry as I would not be relocating for a while. I checked out weight capacity and material as well as dimensions. In other words, I did my homework and took my time. I am very happy that I could find what I was looking for and be happy with the price. Patience paid off.
we resorted to buying furniture online because there aren't any decent furniture stores around. its either junk furniture being sold for $$$ or super high-end furniture we can't afford.
Oh, if only this video had come out a few weeks sooner! I just recently had to furnish a new home, and bought a LOT of stuff from wayfair thinking it was a nicer option than say amazon. (And after a truly HORRIFIC experience with Ashley Furniture scared me off options like that.) Well, turns out I paid 900$ for a couch that /crinkled/ when you sat on it for how cheap the materials were, and it was so small and low to the ground it was more like pet or child furniture! It was so unlivable I sent it back, which meant I had to somehow compact it back into the VERY beat up box it came in, and then I had to forego part of my refund to cover the return shipping! Which was, somehow, 200$! I basically paid wayfair 200$ to ship me cheap, imported flatpack furniture with nothing to show for it now. The dresser and other things I ordered from them have also all proven to be cheap, made to look better on the site than they really are, and are basically all just amazon flatpack for double the cost!
I’d rather sit/ sleep on the floor than buy from Ashley ever again.
WAYFAIR IS ALSO WOKE
Woke?? Such an original word! 🙄
So sorry. What a bitter ripoff.
One problem with furniture is that houses/flats are progressively becoming smaller (unless you've got big, big bucks).
This means that you cannot use your granma's wardrobe because either it doesn't fit in your bedroom or it does but it leaves a lot of space unused on a wall that is the only place available to you to store your clothes.
I have perfectly functioning kitchen furniture bought by my parents when they married in the 1960s. It's astonishing quality, it's still perfect. But it's also quite small with not a lot of room in the cabinets. When I move from my current house, that furniture will have to be ditched in favour of custom furniture that will make a better use of space in my future kitchen.
It's sad and wasteful.
This is definitely an issue. We had to take out a window to get some of the furniture into my flat, but there was no way I was letting it go! One item is a wardrobe that's 130 years old and made of solid quatersawn oak. It should see me out and I'm sure it will still be giving good service to someone else in another 130 years!
Not to mention the hassle of moving such heavy and bulky furniture by ourselves to a new apartment every 12-14 months because rent went up. I wish I could have taken more hand-me-down furniture from the family, but it just doesn’t work with my lifestyle the same way a cheap, light, and easy to disassemble ikea piece does.
My uncle inherited his grandmother's old writing desk. The thing is absolutely tiny by modern standards so he passed it on to my cousin's daughter who is still small enough to make productive use of it.
Why not leave the furniture for whoever is moving in?
@@evelynsaungikar3553 as a habit, in my country, you receive an empty flat and you are contractually obligated to leave it just as empty
Many people of a certain age no longer have the strength or desire to unpack large pieces of furniture and assemble them. Especially when the parts don’t fit together properly. I’ve had that happen too many times! It’s actually hard to find fully assembled pieces - even when buying from a brick and mortar store.
This is making designers life so hard. So much junk polluting the planet. Vintage is flying out the door, while shortages on quality pieces and skyrocketing prices make the purchasing experience terrible. Great video.
I must be in that 1%. I bought all my living room, office, dining room, and bedroom furniture for my condo online (on Target's site) 15 years ago. Loved all the pieces. Still have them all today. They are all good quality and have served me well. I have been considering getting a new sofa bed, only because the old one is slightly discolored with age and use, so I've been tempted with all these new furniture sites. But I hate being wasteful and the old/current futon-sofa is still in fantastic shape. I'm glad to not have contributed to landfill waste in the past 15 years, but I feel like I can trust my instincts with choosing furniture online (with research).
In the 1990s I got a mahogany dining table, 8 chairs and 3 other matching pieces (manufactured in the 1890s) for 2K and spent 4K to have all upholstered and refinished (they had all been painted 😢). Still have all the pieces - 30 years and going strong. At that time a much inferior table would have cost 6k
I think this video hit the nail on the head, but failed to mention the world white labelling furniture in the fast furniture market.
As a first home mover, I’ve noticed the same tables, chairs, and a lot more products at a vastly different price point depending on the seller across websites like wayfair, walmart, canadian tire and others.
It’s not the white labelling doesn’t exist in other markets, and may be worth an entire video on it’s own.
Off topic but I am switching to a credit union because of your video. I appreciate how direct and easy to understand your videos are.
Lol, you're gonna hurt the airbnb host's feelings crapping on their ram lamp 😂
I have soo many issues with Wayfair. I work for a furniture company who tested the waters selling with Wayfair. Wayfair has such a markup initially because they love to clearance their items. "Double the price to mark it down a percentage" (Honestly, walk into a store- its most likely cheaper.) We got away from them for several reasons, one being they didn't pay us for product received.
I bought a sofa from Wayfair. When they delivered it, I sat on it and realized it was much too firm. I contacted Wayfair and they scheduled a pick up, no questions asked and gave a full refund. I ordered another sofa from them which I've had a long time and very happy with it.
Which sofa did you buy and liked?
This is very timely as I was sofa shopping. I was going to go with Article which is online only but based in Vancouver where I live. I ended up visiting a King Living showroom and picking a sofa with custom fabric there. It's tough to beat seeing what you want in person.
I moved into a house about half the size of my previous place last year and needed a new kitchen table that fit in the relatively specific dimensions of my kitchen. I ended up buying something on Wayfair because it allowed me to shop by size, but it was SO HARD to even find a table that was not particle board. I managed to find an actual wood table, but it was surprisingly difficult and about 2x as expensive. The difference is that I know I will continue to use this table even if I move again because it can be refinished/repainted/used as a desk/etc.
Yeah good furniture might have been good for my grandparents, also because they hardly ever moved.
I moved 4 countries in the past 10 years and even more apartments. It's just not feasible to move around and keep using the same furniture.
idk if this is unfortunate or not but i personally really like ikea and some of their products. one of the first things i bought for my house was a lamp from ikea and that thing has been the best for three years now. i know that people are buying trendy items but i just want things that look nice and are affordable. i find a lot of ikeas things do that for me without being trendy and wasteful.
I like Ikea too. I find many of their items are functional, utilitarian, and have good resale value on Facebook.
IKEA has a great mix of high to lower quality items, so it’s good for a variety of budgets. Even with their cheaper items, if you take care of them it can last a lifetime. Everything is simple, functional and matches any home. I think IKEA is also the most accessible furniture company for these reasons. The average consumer is not an interior decorator and going to an IKEA is fun, but higher end places can feel very intimidating and too expensive.
They have some great lamps! We are getting ready to move somewhere that has no ikea. I’m going to buy a lamp for our sunroom before we move.
Following many (way too many) disappointing online furniture purchases and the resulting hassle no-hassle returns, I now have a hard rule. It is " ignore the picture". Retailers have gotten so adept at producing beautiful images that we may forget that, just like clothing, fit is king. This means measure, and measure again. Find out if the company offers fabric swatches and take advantage before buying. Many offer virtual room try-ons, which are a quick way to visualize the item in your space. Think through whether you really need velvet (not with pets!) or can live for years with all that tufting. In other words, don't just click cuz the pic is pretty! Hope this helps someone ❤
Furniture goes fast fashion. My friend bought a Wayfair sofa recently. It was so light, one guy was able to carry it up three flights. It replaced one she bought two years before that had already broken. I bought a Burrow sectional which is okay, but not great. It was much more difficult to assemble than advertised, and the cushions not as supportive as they should be.
Love the cameo shot with your dad and you in his shop. ❤ I was blessed to grow up with DIY parents who could fix up and refinish anything and taught my to do the same. I’m currently shopping for used furniture on Marketplace/Craigslist and will get a better quality product for my money because of it. Thank you, Mom and Dad!
So I bought two recliners from Amazon. The price was lower than any retail store and it's amazing comfortable. I will definitely buy again from Amazon. Never dealt with Wayfair.
We have bought most of our furniture at house/estate sales. We have been able to get great quality at very fair prices.
My grandmothers house was purchased by her grandparents in the 1850s and sold in 1974. My grandmother got more money from the sale of the furniture then from the house.
Side note, that ram lamp is hilarious!! And so random 😂😂 Also I would love to see a a video about fake reviews!!! I feel like I’ve been seeing more of them recently when I go to buy beauty products. All of the good reviews seem to be incentivized by the reviewers stating they were “gifted” the product. Love your videos, I need to check out your other channels! 💜💜
Mom and Dad downsized their empty nest into a smaller place that needed a small sideboard next to the kitchen table. They found what they thought would be a good fit and ordered it online, paying for concierge service to have it assembled after delivery. The box came quick, as did the assembly guy. I hope he made what it was worth, because he struggled with it over three visits failing to get both the doors and one problematic shelf to fit or function correctly. But they said he was a very nice man. Finally, customer service gave up after a couple of weeks messing with it, refunded their money and told them to keep the sideboard. They still use it, though the shelf is still collapsed and only Dad can open one of the doors. When the company's jingle comes on tv, Dad has new lyrics. It's "(Company name) it's shit but it's free."
I used to work for a service Wayfair offered to go build the furniture and I learned to always look at the build instructions before committing and when it arrives carefully inspect your new junk before building
Cozey is actually a pretty good DTC furniture brand! I was enticed by the lego-ness of their couches, so i bought it. And it's actually a really comfy thing to sit on. I'm really glad I never bought anything from Wayfair. I recently stayed at an Airbnb that had a wayfair couch and oof could I feel the wood beams in it.
My wife bought some massive bookshelves for our living room through them. One piece came slightly dinged and they refunded 25 percent of the whole order! We easily fixed it and now have beautiful shelves that look built in.
My parents literally now have the grandparents' table. It's _dad's_ grandparents' table. The chairs are upholstered in awful orange vinyl, my parents want to change it, my sister and I _won't allow it._ I friggin love that table. I will face my sister in hand-to-hand combat when it needs a new home.
We paid 6k on a couch from Bo Concept back in january and it finally arrived this month! We love it! We spent several weekends going around to furniture warehouses and furniture showrooms before pulling the trigger on what felt like was our only option and as the other stores used particle board or cheap fabrics or fillers.
I bought a cabinet designed for vinyl records. With a few extra thrifted pieces from a used building materials store, I made it a solid piece. People complained online because one screw was missing, dented corner or too flimsy. None of which affected me because I knew how to solve those problems with a tiny bit of DIY.
OK I love Wayfair and IKEA, but evidently I fall into a mythical minority I didn't know existed. For little siblings wandering through here like I did, here's what I've learned in the past decade:
1. IKEA is for housewares, textiles, KALLAX units (those cube shelves), storage, desks, and solid wood furniture. Do not waste $500 on their fake upmarket coffee tables or whatever. We started with a bureau from the HEMNES line and have been able to add matching pieces for years now. KALLAX shelves will add a ton of storage to smaller spaces, but will not come with you when you move. RIP the shelves from our old apartment.
2. Wayfair is not for impulse purchases. Its selection is great for people who aren't interested in the contents of the big furniture chains, but don't let the flashy sales distract you. They have them all the time, and the markdowns are often exaggerated relative to the normal Wayfair price. For reviews, look for reviews with pictures and highly specific anecdotes. Filter by star rating and look at the full range.
3. Be wary of brick and mortar stores, too. Every regret I have about buying expensive furniture comes from something I bought in person from a Trusted Retailer✨.
4. Find local charity thrift shops that sell furniture and learn to love antiques, but make sure they have delivery or you have a strong friend with a big car. Our house is an even mix of Wayfair, IKEA, and antique wooden furniture from a charity shop.
5. Don't buy rugs on Amazon.
Your videos are amazing and I love how in most of them you always have some local, small, often Canadian company offering an alternative to the big wasteful brands. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for being here! 🥰🙋🏻♂️
i wasn't ready for levi to call my autisticly decisive self "sexy pants", but i'll take it. this episode had me laughing (thank you, blurred out golden horned ram lamp facing the wall). as someone who oddly knows a lot of woodworkers and furniture makers, the industry suffers from fast furniture in the same manner as fast fashion: quality pieces aren't cheap, both the material and fair labor costs add up. when people are buying, they often get sticker shock because they don't have the luxury of buying for three generations. and regarding thrifting, while some items, like tables and desks, age well (my desk is a used herman miller i got for a steal), cushioned seating often needs refurbishing, and it's especially difficult if you don't have sufficient transport. it makes sense that these "fast" industries find a market. like everything else, it's systemic.
Hahaha so glad that you jived with the episode. It sounds like you have a solid grasp on the subject matter already. The world is getting cheaper and faster and personally we feel like it should be the opposite. 😬
Fun fact: in French, DTC stands for "In your 🍑"...
Oop- 👀
I bought two very nice leather couches from Wayfair ( real leather at $1600 apiece ) as well as four glass and metal end tables and one glass and metal coffee table. Have had them for 8 years. All in perfect condition and at a way better price and quality than the local furniture stores when I purchased them. My home theater recliner I purchased a year ago at a local furniture retailer pales in comparison to the Wayfair couches.
Gotta say I got a used Poly and Bark couch locally and it's the nicest piece of furniture I own. Shockingly high quality leather and construction, it'll last. But the ubiquity of these type of brands is how I knew I could find one used in my city (with some patience). The wait also helped me decide it was what I really wanted.
thanks for the very insightful video!
Idk about their couches, but Wayfair has amazing desks. I use them for all my gaming setups. They're deep, long enough, solid, and inexpensive. All the "ikea hack" desks between the extra drawers, the extra legs end up costing a lot more than they appear, and since they're just cheap cardboard on the inside end up sagging from just a couple monitors in a few months. I've had 3 27" monitors, my PC, and a CRT monitor on one of my desks for ages and it has no sag or give.
The whole video I was thinking about the fully desk I just got. Happy it turns out there was positive feedback on that company. I’m very happy with mine.
Funny to watch considering what my husband and I endure every time we opt for a new piece of furniture we literally go to every local store see what’s available and decide after a lot of discussion, very time consuming but worth the effort. As far as quality it just doesn’t exist like it used to. I still have a couple of tables owned by our grand parents that with a little refinishing are still usable and attractive. My parents likewise had furniture that was easily 40 years young when they finally downsized and sold a lot of it.
I purchased an upholstered chair for my living room from Wayfair and it is just as shown and described. I paid under $200 for it and it is beautiful. I have had it for about 4 or 5 years now and use it every day and still looks like the day I got it.
I have been incredibly happy with my online, delivered-to-my-door purchase of my Sabai couch. Women of color owned and they think about the full life cycle of their products, making it super easy to replace pieces if need be. (Promise I'm not a shill or fake reviewer, just really love my couch and the company)
I had an AMAZING online experience while shopping for new furniture. On Amazon, they are so detailed with product information. The prices were not any more or less than retail stores. Free shipping too.
Nice video. I have one comment. Near the end you talked about “built by exploited people”. I’ve heard this argument many times, but no one ever thinks about how much worse off these people would be without these jobs.
The thing is what constitutes as exploitation. The main thing I see is labor conditions, wages,and age of employees. The labor conditions few people will say are actually better than some local conditions for workers but that will be case by case. The problem is that it doesn't look or follow western idea of work conditions. A lot of times cramped areas, long hours, and much more. The wages are very low what you would think of as pocket change. The thing is that for similar work they get even better pay most of the time it's just low because a lot of the work is not technical that have requirements of some kind of schooling. Now age also because a lot of times they employ children but people fail to understand that children earning money is for such places good as they help support their family. Also some times adults in some areas can be 12 to 17 years of age and marriage and even having children so what western ideology called children really in their culture are adults.
If people are not being forced to work at a particular company, then we have to realize that these jobs are their best option. And without these jobs, they would be worse off.
That’s because western people want cheap prices and companies want huge profits.
Probably for me is not the job itself or pay, but the work condition they are force to work in.
Also everyone thinks only happens in poorer Countries but even in advance economies this happens , in my country Indian, nepalis people in the agriculture sector were being rob by their traffickers counterparts and made to live in a house with ten people, there’s being reports from the Uk,nyc and heard also in Italy with leather.
A lot people also say to by high quality or expensive items but that type of brands also use cheap labor.
I think it also has to do with housing becoming so unaffordable. The more people have to move (due to rising costs) the cheaper it can be to just 'buy new stuff' so I feel like we're living in a trap.
The dresser I bought from Wayfair had drill holes that didn't align with the handles and was flimsy. When I called to complain, I was immediately offered a refund but just wanted the correct handles. I was sent a 50% refund and new handles. When the second batch didn't fit, I was told the manufacturer stopped making the dresser and I was sent the rest of my money.
I had to tear down the subpar furniture cart it out and buy another one from a more reputable store for $1,000 more.
Long story short, you get what you pay for.
Small correction AR is augmented reality which is what Levi is talking about "adding virtual things to reality" and VR is a complete virtual experience which requires a headset
I love the transition away from clips that interrupt the flow of the video. Nice job!
Thanks for the love, Tyler!
I've found the big thing with ordering off Wayfair is to double check all the dimensions. I see so many review that complain about how small something is. I've never had something not be the size it says - I live in a small house so I'm generally looking for small furniture items. If you take care of even the cheap furniture, it will last for a while. I have an ikea dresser that is almost 15 years old and still in perfect condition.
Imagine tuning into a CZcams video and seeing the guy you rented your AirBnB to putting your lamp on blast 🤣
I furnished my entire apartment with online or thrifted items. I only purchase furniture people showing the furniture and their homes. For way you get a much better idea of how it will look in your home. I also made sure to look for designer reviews on sites like this. A good example is i saw a sofa on Amazon but was unsure if the actual height and weight capacity. Well wouldn't you know it, i few months later i happen to see the same show on a designer's channel on CZcams. She was tall like me, so when she sat down on it, i knew I had come across a winner. Next, I found the actual manufacturer and contacted them directly for a much better deal. 😊
As I get older with aching hips, having more things being able to be delivered is great for me and other older or disabled people.
yes, please have an episode bout "review farmming". heard you mention it before & will be interested in knowing more from you. also, this is the main reason why i enjoy shopping inside physical stores than on-line...
thanks for another great & informative episode.
eeeeeh i mean...if i want furniture, i will go to used markets. especially because of the landfill problem, but also...if a piece of furniture already endured a user and its still looking fine, then i can be sure of its quality. got a very nice desk for very little last time, for example. i bought a used electric bike too. i do visit second hand clothes shops too...tho my height and width can be a real problem in those shops.
I grew up in a home with expensive high-quality "brown furniture," so I was spoiled. I inherited a few pieces, but over the past 10 years I've furnished my home with nothing but high-end solid wood furniture that I purchased for almost nothing at GoodWill, Habitat ReStore, and Salvation Army. Add in estate sales and antique malls, and you have a smorgasbord of weekly choices that literally never ends. The new stuff offered online is overpriced crap imported from China that falls apart in a couple of years. This video only served to reinforce how I acquire things... now and in the future. Many thanks!
I'd really like to see a video looking into Consumer Reports - a bit of a companion to the B Corp video. Does consumer reports provide true, unbiased information? What do they prioritize when recommending products? How have they changed the way people shop?
I made the mistake of buying an Ikea couch 3 years ago. I remembered it being "sturdy enough" when a roommate had one a decade ago.
Well, 3 years later and the arm has literally broken off. I pulled up the upholstery to try and DIY a fix and found it was particle board held together by staples. Tried metal brackets to reattach, and a week later the wood broke off around said brackets.
What a waste of natural resources, I will never buy an Ikea couch again.
I went to an actual furniture store and spent about 4x more this weekend to get what I hope is a real couch that will last. But I have my lingering fears that even this couch will turn out to be a poorly made mass manufactured piece of junk. I am having a harder and harder time trusting any manufactured products with how many times I have been burned at this point.
You mentioned West Elm. While they’re terribly overpriced for the low quality of their pieces, at least they do have physical stores here in Chicago and the suburbs, to actually see and touch some of things they offer online.
One of my neighbors tore down a 30 year old deck on his house. Making shelves, and several other pieces of furniture out of it. Nothing goes to waste at my house. My Broyhill couch i got from Habitat restore for 65 bucks 14 years ago still looks nice.
I ordered something from wayfair and they delivered it to an apartment in New Jersey. I live in Illinois...
WTF 🤦♂
As a young professional moving into their first (unfurnished) apartment, I needed this reminder. Still, it's so hard to afford better quality/longlasting upfront - and without a car, thrifting furniture is almost impossible. Still, gonna delete all my wayfair bookmarks lol
I watch interior design channels to understand what I like, what my budget will work with, and the channels I watch are the least subversive about sponsorships. I learned so much from them and I take my time before I make a purchase. It takes time, but it's worth it. I mean, it's an investment so treat it like it.
About the price of direct vs store: I worked at a wholesale shoe company and the stores sold everything about 60% higher than they bought it from us. So even if there is a half price sale they make a few bucks.
I lived in a super nice neighborhood in Alpine, Utah. I owned an Ethan Allen dining set in maple …which I LOVE …..can’t tell you how many times I got told how I should get rid of it because that color wasn’t in. I didn’t get I’d of it! But I did buy a desk Tom Wayfair BECAUSE when I tried to buy from a furniture store they had NOTHING but particle board to choose from and even that was limited. The desk was damaged in shipping …someone dropped on the “This Side Up” side which happened to be the middle drawers…one was jammed shut and was pretty much beyond repair. Wayfair gave me 60% of my money back to keep it. I did NOT want t to end up in a landfill so I kept it …especially for that price. And it is a nicer piece of furniture than anything I could find in mid-range stores or wasn’t $3,000+ in a higher end furniture store like Thomasville.
As an electrician. I hate Amazon and Wayfair because a lot of the electrical products they sell especially on Wayfair either are 100% not safe or not compatible with North American electrical systems or they are not UL listed or the mounting hardware is for European electrical boxes. So I have to fabricate my own mounting bracket's and I never guarantee the product after it's installed. And 80% of the time when those two companies are involved, the product doesn't even get installed because it's either so unsafe or it just will not work with North American voltages
This makes me think about all the stuff I have. I haven't purchased anything new and I've had most of my furniture for at least a decade. The only reason I would change something out is if it didn't fit my space when I move into the place I'm renovating. I'd definitely give it away on Facebook not throw it away though. There's a cheap and free Facebook group in my town and I've given a lot of things away like extra desk chairs when roommate moved out and end tables when my neighbor lady gifted me hers and my first couch when my cousin gave me hers when she moved away and I helped her pack up in her truck. I love upgrading without buying new.
That's why I try and always go for antiques - a lot of solid wood furniture. Usually its just a little bit of scuffing but it will last longer than cheap online particle board things.
It's interesting you bring up the grandparents' kitchen table specifically. My grandmother just had a chair break on her over the weekend, and she tried to laugh it off as "well, it IS thirty-five years old!"
I still have the dining room table and chairs from my grandparents home... Lots of memories of holiday and special dinners😊
I have ordered a couple of items from Wayfair.. I was sent serving trays when I ordered a lamp. Then ordered a metal locker cabinet which arrived dented. Both times they refunded me told me to keep the item instead of shipping it back. It suspect it was because shipping cost, restocking, etc., would have costed more than the items.
I’ve been collecting vintage furniture to slowly make my home exactly what I want but it’s definitely hard to find the kind of stuff I want 😔
Most of my furniture is from Herman Miller. It's expensive, but of the few cases where something will still keep a ton of value and Will even go up in worth once it's vintage age.
This was your funniest video yet! Loved every second :D You are quite the comedic genius Levi!
Okay about the Ikea comment, while they aren't built like your traditional furnitures, they do last. Like some ikea pieces I know have been with my family for 10-20+ years. Like shelves, bookcase, and bedframes. It's just people who toss them out readily because they think it's cheap or maybe the moving cost is too high that they just rather repurchase. Sometimes it is just a people problem. Though I will say there are terrible, low quality fast furniture that are made *not* to last so companies have made it part of their business model to get consumers to keep on coming back and purchasing things again and again.
Part of it is that no one stays in 1 place anymore. , also the fact that even if you want to spend more money does not mean that the furniture is of quality. I've seen this myself. Ask for me I'm perfectly. Garage and a state sales to get me some pieces
The landfill bit is the biggest hit of the truth, not just online furniture, but furniture shopping at all.
I live in an apartment that is in a town that is now the 2nd biggest city in the state. (I didn't ask to be here, but my plant relocated, so I had to too.)
All around me are shops by the dozen, and a huge furniture mall, all going by the luxury theme.
My apartment doesn't have dumpsters like normal apartments are supposed to have, we just have one crushing machine that we all have to share (in the name of going green, as the office claims).
Every time I drive my trash out (yes, drive, too far to walk), I find LOADS of furniture piled up against the crusher. Not just the mega-cheap snap-apart furniture, but huge name-brand mattresses, quality furniture and antique furniture as well. Everyone around me are throwing whole decent stuff away.
Last Friday I found two lounge chairs, like what you'd see beside the pool but heavier with cusions, unstained and unbroken, each (without cushions) were worth $300. Then there was a 1970's coffee table, the kind that is very wide with compartments in the middle, I still have my great-grandma's.
But the one in the trash was more ornately carved, and had a glass pane over the top. The glass was broken and gone, but the table still looked functional, and beautiful.
Meanwhile there is a goodwill just across the block. You can drive across a parking lot to get there, and they're eagerly trying to stock back up after COVID. Now do the math on how stupid and straight-up lazy the public is. I want to steal and save the things I find at the crusher... FIX them if I can, because that's my job, and send them to the goodwill, but I live alone with no friends, family is 200 miles away, and my car is... just a little elantra.
Last note, I've never been to an Ikea, and never shopped online for furniture. All of mine are handmedowns from the family when they heard of my sudden move, or from antique shops and flea markets.... I wouldn't reccomend flea markets, but that old wall clock was crying to be rescued and repaired.
Wayfair has been a very positive experience for our family. We have made four purchases (Multi-media console, bookcase, kitchen chairs and a kitchen table) and have been very pleased with the quality and service.
That said, if you are looking for "can't miss," high quality furniture that you can pass along to future generations, seek a genuine Amish furniture source.
I've bought several large pieces of furniture online, and what I've received varies widely in structural quality. I'm a 'get what you pay for' kind of person, so I'm happy to save up to try to buy higher quality pieces. The problem really is with anything upholstered for me, since there's literally no way to know if something is comfortable until you sit on it yourself. I've decided I just don't need to own a couch until I can one day a) afford and b) find a more traditional brick and mortar sales experience.
Don’t know what happened..I bought 2 😮 Elizabethan gray loveseat from Wayfair about 10 years ago..stunning. I paid $735 total for both and SO comfortable. Even now..
A French pantry, a 42 inch round more casual, dining table, and 50 other items from Wayfair that I bought. Some of that return but not many. But it’s a different world now.
So true! Buy used , the quality is so much better. I hate online buying. Great video. Thanks!
When I was in my early 20s I bought some furniture online from west elm. It's really not cheap and is good quality. But now in my late 30s I either save up for something and go to a local family owned furniture store, or find it secondhand.
Im a furniture artist and flipper
I love solid older pieces and making them chic. And marketplace is cheaper. The only subsantial piece in our home we bought new is our solid wood scraped indian table. We did buy it at a box store but it is a beaut and will last...heavy and solid.