BUYERS, BEWARE!
Furniture shoppers can get duped by untrained sales clerks and retailers who use hidden practices to sell furniture. That, according to Sotheby’s-trained, home furnishings consumer expert and author, Jennifer Litwin, who spent a year “undercover” visiting more than 500 furniture stores. She found that most furniture salespeople know very little about the products they sell, which creates confusion for shoppers.
The results of her undercover work can be found in her new book, Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever!, recently published by Random House. Litwin concentrated her research on some of the best-known furniture retailers in the country, including: Thomasville, Ethan Allen, Bloomingdale’s, Marshall Field’s, Crate & Barrel and Furnitureland South.
The confusion is a result of retailers who really don’t know or understand their products. Litwin asked retailers questions such as: What makes a sofa expensive? Why is an expensive dresser more valuable than a cheaper model? Why should I pay more? Some sales clerk responses included these misconceptions:
- “Name brands are better than little-known brands”
- “Expensive sofas are always larger”
- “Expensive sofas have lots of arm padding and are heavy”
- “The deeper the drawer, the more expensive the dresser”
- “If it’s expensive, it will last longer”
“I don’t fault all salespeople for their lack of knowledge or helpfulness when it comes to pricing, because many of them are simply following the leads of management,” says Litwin. “I do, however, think managers can do a better job of educating their sales staff about basic construction and key features of the furniture they sell.”
Litwin points out that sales people don’t explain to customers that there is more to the construction of furnishings than meets the eye. For example, “cherry finish” is often veneer, not solid wood; and glued drawers are not as sturdy as dovetailed ones. Also, Litwin says most shoppers don’t know how to decode furniture prices. When a sticker price is lower, consumers don’t understand that they could be charged more for shipping, delivering and assembly.
Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever! simplifies the entire shopping experience and is packed with various strategies to use, including how to begin, where to shop, and what to avoid. This easily portable guidebook reveals how to do homework, ask the right questions and negotiate prices and billing.
Utilizing years of knowledge and research, Litwin gives readers a thorough education on furniture styles from antiques to modern, and affordable to expensive. She even entertains with amusing historical anecdotes from various furniture periods.
Best Furniture Buying Tips Ever! is for every type of consumer. Whether a bargain hunter or a shopper with an unlimited budget, this book provides savvy, practical advice on how to get the best quality for the best price. With Litwin’s expert techniques, buyers can become well-educated, confident shoppers when purchasing furniture. It will help shoppers to find that “one of a kind” piece and know they got the best deal possible!
About the Author: Jennifer Litwin is the nation’s leading home furnishings and accessories expert. Trained at Sotheby’s, with an MBA from the University of Chicago, she is a contributing writer for Consumers Digest (awards Furniture Best Buys). Litwin is also the author of Furniture Hot Spots: The Best Furniture Stores and Websites Coast to Coast, in which she uses her trademark “chair rating system” to rank furniture stores nationwide according to price, personnel, ambiance and quality.
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