Furniture Salesman = Pointless

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by this thread.

What is the point of a furniture salesman? Seriously. Furniture is one of the highest mark-up items in all the retail world and I have to pay some guy a comission on top of that? Why? The couch/chair/bed is right there. He’s never been in my house, so he has no idea what would look good in there. He has no clue how my ass will feel when I’m sitting in it. He doesn’t know what suits my tastes. I don’t want to pay him 10% (or whatever) of the price of the item just to walk around and make stupid small talk with me while I shop.

2

To be clear, you are not paying a commission on top of the mark-up. The commission is part of the mark-up.

3

I know. It still adds to the cost of the item.

4

So does the salary for an hourly employee. So does the rent. It’s all overhead. My only advice is to find what you like wherever and shop around for a discount store or a deal online, if the pricing structure there seems wrong to you.

5

Furniture is high mark up but it is also very low volume. People buy a bed or couch and never buy another one for 5-10 years. Thus repeat business becomes kinda sparse. There is also a certain amount of “Price = quality” mindset that would make people suspicious if you were half the price of everything else in town.

6

You’re under the mistaken impression that the furniture salesman is there for you.

7

During the past two years I’ve been redecorating my house, and I’ve had to buy a lot of furniture.

I browse on line furniture catalogs from brands I already know I like. If I’m positive that the piece is right, and that it can be brought in through the doors, around the corners, clear the landings and will fit the room (in addition to “fitting in” with the room), then I’ll order it from one of the deep discount houses in North Carolina or Colorado. Those places offer 30-80% off retail, so the savings are substantial. Also, at the beginning of the year (and sometimes in early autumn) they run sales where they will pay the shipping and/or sales tax. You just pick out what you want, call in with the catalog number and they will give you a quote. You can call 2-3 and go with the lowest bidder.

However, if I’m not sure how the piece will look or if it will work, then I’ll shop in a furniture store. (What the heck is a cognac finish? Is more like maple or mahogany? Is it going to look all right with the furniture I already have in that room?) Stores are always having sales, and usually they will often match prices if you have a lower quote, especially now that home sales are down.

My favorite places to analog shop are a couple of local family owned high end furniture stores; I also like the Henredon and Drexel-Heritage stores. When I’ve been shopping in a good store and still can’t decide, even though I’m looking right at the piece, sales reps have voluntarily set up appointments to come out to my house with their books of swatches, rings of wood finish samples, lamps, etc. Once in my home, they’ve even rolled up their sleeves when necessary and helped me measure and rearrange things. More than once they’ve advised me NOT to get rid of something I was going to replace or suggested something that worked just as well for less money.

So, my take on furniture shopping is that there *are *sales reps out there who can be very helpful, and they certainly do earn their commissions. If you’re positive that you know what you want and don’t need anyone to help, then you can do self service on line and over the phone.

8

I just bought a bunch of furniture, and the two saleswomen I worked with saved me boatloads of time. First, I told them what I was looking for in terms of quality, and they were able to tell me what brands would meet my needs. Then, when I was going to pick out the fabrics for upholstery, I told them what I was looking for, and they found it for me in about two minutes. In every case, they were spot on.

Sure, I could’ve done the research myself, but the time I saved is worth much, much more than what I paid in commission.

9

A good salesman can be a great help. He will know his product and will be able to advise you on various aspects of it so that you can choose what suits you best. Q.N. Jones has given one example of a good salesman. If all you’re getting is stupid small talk, you’re dealing with a lousy salesman.

10

The difference, I think, is the experience of going into a “furniture store” that only sells low-end prefabricated stuff (Art Van is a big one in Michigan), or into a furniture store that may or may not sell pre-fab, but definitely arranges for custom work. The former only wants to move stock, and the latter is definitely focused on getting you what you want and what works for you. No cite, just personal experience.

11

I’m not sure what your point is, but if the OP doesn’t like the mark-up he he can either go somewhere else, suck it up and pay their price, or not buy furniture.

12

When we moved to a nicer home, we started filling it with nicer things. Back when we were buying whatever was on sale at big box stores and hauling it home tied to the roof of our car - I agree, the salesmen were not very useful. But since we began buying nicer things, including custom upholstery, it has been very nice to have a relationship with one particular salesperson who has a good eye, a sense of our personal preferences, and recollections of what else we have bought in the past.

She has been to our home, and we have never felt as if she has pressured us to buy anything in particular.

I guess in at least some ways she functions as a poor-man’s decorator might.

13

By my read, he seems to be aware of these things, and is simply stating that he’d like a fourth option. I can see his point – he feels the same way about furniture that I do about restaurants.

With restaurants, my beef is that your only options are either to pay for service, or eat subpar food. There’s no logical reason why this should be so; it just seems that every place that cooks up quality fare has adopted the full-service seating model, to the point that there’s an automatic association between the two. There are plenty of nights when I feel like eating a well-prepared meal, but don’t feel the need to be waited on hand-and-foot (and pay a premium for same), yet the latter condition pretty much limits my choices to carryout or fast food* (or eating out anyway and screwing over the server, but, yeah, no).

The same thing can be seen in the responses to the OP. He’s basically saying that when it comes to furniture, he knows what he wants (or can figure it out unaided), and doesn’t want to pay a premium for sales help he has no intention of using. The responses he’s getting – eg, “go to a discount store,” or “you’ll appreciate the salesman once you start buying nice enough furniture” – are the equivalent of “go to McDonald’s if you don’t want to tip”. Why should his options be relegated to inferior products just because he’s willing to do the legwork himself?

Bottom line, the service and the product are two separate things, and being forced to buy one to receive the other is nonsensical. This mentality of “shut up and pay for service or go buy utter crap” may accurately reflect the status quo, but then, that’s pretty much the entire point of the complaint.

*I’m sure someone will be along shortly with a counterexample of some Manhattan gourmet over-the-counter eatery, but the general principle still stands.

14

You left out the most important option: negotiation. Nearly everything is negotiable, but most people are too timid to try. We rarely pay ticket price for higher-cost item.

15

Is there some certain way to tell (short of asking - which I have done) whether your saleperson is paid strictly on the clock or paid commission? Are prices higher or lower depending on which it is?

I’ve received a wide range of service/assistance from staff who are compensated in a wide variety of manners. I don’t necessarily have a huge issue with someone getting commission. I figure someone on commission will be interested in making me happy in the hopes of repeat sales.

16

“So tell me… what’s it gonna take to put you in this leopard-print beanbag today?”

17

There are a lot of littles places around here (Piedmont NC) that serve high quality take out food. And even the larger sit down restaurants are glad to make you an order to go. It’s not a particularly “big city” kind of area. Where do you live?

When I said discount store, I meant a store selling the same product at a discount. Stores that sell cheap products cheaply are not what I think of when I think of discounts. What is being discounted if the product is inferior?

Who exactly is forcing you to buy anything at all? That seems a bit rude. Perhaps they are breaking some kind of law. Extortion?

18

(Bolding added.) With carryout, I can buy quality food, take it home, and either reheat it or eat it cold after it’s been sitting in a box for twenty minutes. Not the same, and not what I’m looking for. The food thing was just an analogy anyhow.

While I don’t think it’s likely, I have to acknowledge I may have put my foot in it here. Having all the interior decorating talent of a mid-20s bachelor living alone (which I am), I’m not all that familiar with furniture shopping, and if there are actually an abundance of furniture stores that sell exactly the same products as their competitors at significantly lower prices, then I withdraw my comment. I made the assumption based on context that the “discount stores” being referred to were places like Wal-Mart or Big Lots – the McDonaldses of retail, if you will – where there’s no real help, but there’s also generally nothing for sale but crap.

That said, it makes no rational sense that that sort of competitive setup (cheap store = carbon copy of expensive store, only cheaper) could exist for longer than about a week, but in a world where people pay $5,000 for speaker wire, I’m willing to be proven wrong.

Seriously?

(Bolding added.) “Forced” here is used in the same sense that, if you want to buy a hot dog, 7-11 “forces” you to give them a dollar: if you want the higher-quality product, then you must pay for the service. Yes, I know your comment was sarcastic, but even then the only way it makes sense is if you missed my intent altogether.

19

Now I’m confused. Why isn’t it the same thing? You order the food, take it home, and do with it what you will.

I wouldn’t say there is an abundance, but they exist. It may take a little legwork, or some driving, or a willingness to purchase last year’s models.

Who said anything about a carbon copy? Now, admittedly I live in an area with a lot of outlet malls, but the concept is hardly groundbreaking.

As far as I can tell, the OP is complaining about the method a store uses to pay its employees, but as I pointed out above, any employee salary will come out of the mark-up. How can it not?

A retail store without a sales staff is a pretty bizarre idea. Have you ever worked retail? Why don’t you get some investors together and pitch your idea? Maybe someone will take a flyer.

Well, I’m still confused. Go to a fancy restaurant. Order something to go. Wait in the lobby. Get your food, pay for it, and go home. Where have you had to pay for service?

20

Ok, I don’t want this to turn into a hijack, but since your confusion seems genuine rather than sarcastic: food eaten at home after sitting in a box for 20+ minutes is not as good as food that you receive and eat immediately. What I’m after is basically a fast-food restaurant that serves real food and perhaps has a more pleasant sitting atmosphere than your local Mickey D’s.

Now, back to the retail problem…if you meant that it’s possible to pick a given specific item and find it cheaper elsewhere, well, yes, but I suspect we’re talking about different things…and the fact that you think I’m proposing a salesman-free retail outlet pretty much confirms it. Adding to the problem is that there are actually two different issues at play here, which I wasn’t too clear about originally.

Let me start over. Instead of food and furniture (an imprecise analogy and a subject I don’t know well, respectively), I’ll use electronics, which I’m more familiar with.

Issue #1: If I go to a specialty stereo shop and buy a sound system for my car, the salesman giving it to me knows his stuff, and will be able to intelligently guide me toward a purchase based on various factors. If I buy the same stereo at Best Buy, I receive I’m paying more than I would for the same system at Best Buy toward a purchase based on various factors. If I buy a stereo at Best Buy, the salesman doesn’t necessarily know anything more than how to ring up my selection and submit the installation request. Because of this, the salesman at the specialty shop makes more money (probably commission-based) than the salesman at Best Buy, and in turn, I’m paying more there than I would pay for the same system at Best Buy. This price difference is not a function of HOW they pay their employees, but WHAT they pay them (which is a function “how” when it comes to commission), and the difference in that is due at least in part to the levels of expertise of each. That’s what I mean when I say that, at the specialty shop, I’m paying for service.

Which would be fine, except for Issue #2, which comprised my original point: outside of the mid-range models, I can’t get the same systems at Best Buy that I can at the specialty shop. If I want the high-end product, I have to go to the specialty shop, where I’m paying for an expert salesman whose expertise, or service, I don’t need.

The ideal solution to this would combine the product selection of the higher-end business with the service model (or lack thereof) of the el-cheapo, with the modest decrease from the high-end store’s prices that the latter condition would engender. There’s no reason such a thing couldn’t exist, but by and large it doesn’t; high-end product and high-end service are tied together in such a way that you can’t find one without the other.

This is the essence of my complaint about restaurants, and it’s what I took to be the crux of the OP’s complaint regarding furniture stores. Does that make more sense?