I was at my wife’s office and sat in her chair and realized she has got the best chair I have ever sat in for office work.
She found it on a website for me, ready to order–for $698. http://store.steelcase.com/seating/all/amia
Anybody here able to address the question, what’s a good chair in roughly this style that I’ll be able to live with for a few years that costs something more like maybe $250 at the very most?
Spend the money. I have a Herman Miller Embody, which cost rather more than that and it’s worth every penny. And it will last a lot longer than a few years.
I bought a similar used Steelcase model via craigslist and am very happy with it. I think it was about $150.
I used a Herman Miller before I went to standing full time.
If ya spend a lot of time in the chair, this isn’t the place to cut corners.
Pony up, and enjoy!
I just bought another cheap chair yesterday. Every time I replace one I consider buying one of the quality ones but the price always stops me. If I was working in an office 8 hours a day I’d have no trouble justifying it. As it stands I’m rarely at my desk more than a few hours at a time so I’ll continue my pattern of buying hundred dollar chairs every 3-4 years.
I just go into Staples and try out the chairs and pick one that works. For budget chairs this one comes up all the time in forum recommendations. I’ve never gone to IKEA to try one out.
$700 USD for a fucking chair! Are you kidding me?
No, not at all – it’s $689.
And yes, if you’re sitting in it all day and can customize all the settings to get an ergonomically correct setup for yourself, it is worth it. My head is turned, except I would get it without arms.
This appears to be a pretty new model, but in most metro areas there are used office equipment places where good quality Steelcase, Haworth, and similar “contract furnishings” chairs can be had for under $400.
If they fit your body right, they’re well worth the money as they will outlast three of those things made from potmetal and vinyl from Office Depot or Walmart.
I’ve never worked anywhere where office chairs were nothing more than an appliance. I just looked at our supplier on line and $60 to $100 seems to be the price range.
That’s like $40 to $70 USD. That’s what we get here.
$700 is like $1,000 CDN for an office chair? Are you fucking kidding me?
No. I have a $50 chair at home and if I had to sit in it all day I’d be bent over with a cane after a few hours. I mean, we don’t get expensive chairs like that at my job either, but I can see it would be worth it. And we’d get a nice discount off that list price.
You’ve never heard of a Herman Miller “Aeron” chair? Those start at $500 American and go way, way up. I think most office workers beyond a certain pay grade would just expect to have an Aeron chair or better if they’re going to be sitting at a desk all day. Some companies make you buy your own but I wouldn’t expect someone making a decent salary to sit on a $50 garbage chair.
There are a lot of people who don’t consider the actual cost of things, not just in terms of money. For instance the last time I bought a pillow, it was on sale at $150, regularly $300 (yeah, sure pal), and I had some friends who thought that was expensive. But my head is on this pillow 8 hours a night (or 6 hours, okay), more than 300 nights per year, and it’s going to last at least two years, and I don’t wake up in the morning with a stiff neck. So the cost per use is like 12 cents a night, with the added value that I sleep easier and wake up feeling better, things you can’t put a price on.
There are cheaper pillows. They have to be replaced more often, and I might wake up in the morning with a stiff neck.
It’s kind of the same with a chair. I had a job where I got a backache a couple of hours into the workday, every single day, because of the chair. Being a cheap chair, it eventually just got so cockeyed it didn’t work at all. I got a much better chair–I think maybe it was a $300 chair but probably less, because we bought a whole bunch of them, on the recommendation of some ergonomics expert–and amazingly enough, no backache.
So let’s say you have a chair you have to sit in 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. How much does that chair cost per use? How long will it last? How will you feel? What is its true value? It might actually be a great deal at $650.
I have a Herman Miller Aeron. Only cost me about £250 from a used office furniture dealer. Luckily I have one of these within walking distance so I’m able to just pass by occasionally looking for bargains. They’d just got a batch in from a company that set themselves up in a new office with all new kit, then immediately went bust.
Had it 5 years now and it’s showing absolutely no signs of wear despite it being sat on 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I wouldn’t be surprised if it lasts at least another 5 years. So £25 a year for comfortable seating? Fuck yeah, I’ll spend that.
I would quite happily spend that kind of money, or more, again. To me it’s a piece of equipment every bit as, if not more, important than my PC, tablet or phone.
So, I say look for second-hand, if you can. Spend the extra, if you can.
I work at home and have four kids. That’s why I’m having to buy my own chair–and also why I’m doubtful the chair would last long enough to make it worth 689.
If $200 is more in your range, the MARKUS chair from IKEA is $179 usually, and it has very good ratings for being as inexpensive as it is. Husband and I finally bought his/and/hers - his for his gaming set-up, and me for my sewing table. Very nice support, and very stable.
There are some very serious disconnects between office chairs in the US and office chairs in Canada, and I wonder if it has something to do with who ultimately foots the bill if employees complain about back or other ergonomic issues.
Every place I’ve worked for 30 years provides a standard $60 chair. You don’t like it? Prove that you need a more expensive one.
ETA: I make six figures; I sit in a $60 chair and always have.
I am not sure if you’re saying Canada chairs are cheapo or US chairs are cheapo, because I don’t know where you live.
Frylock - Sit4Life.com has the Amia starting at $569.
Smart companies with well developed ergonomic plans invest in good chairs. I don’t know why it varies from one building to another, but my employer has replaced tens of thousands of chairs with Herman Miller Aerons or Steelcase Leaps as the default chair. If people sit better, they feel better and they work better.
I live in Canada and there’s no fucking way ANYONE gets a $1,000 chair.
You know the ones in the conference rooms? Well, those are the same as our office chairs. In some cases the conference room chairs might be more up to date.