# Product prices on furniture: outrageous or reasonable? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302 "2021-10-27T11:58:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/21 "2021-10-28T15:28:19Z")
Mrs. L and I have an “eclectic” style, which is to say if we like it and can afford it and it doesn’t clash too badly with what we have… If you hit estate sales you can often find older, well made furniture for a very reasonable price. I got two pieces of bedroom furniture (tall chest, wide chest) for $200 and it was built by Lane in 1950 or something. Dovetail joints, real plywood… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/22 "2021-10-28T15:44:42Z")
What’s fake plywood? ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/23 "2021-10-28T16:40:40Z")
I don’t contemplate paying that either. But I like their style, the quality of the designs, the quality of the lumber selected, etc. What I can contemplate is comparing building my own furniture and realizing that I am saving money. A hobbiest can’t compete with IKEA, or even lower to mid range pricing. However, I can make a comparable dresser to a Thomas Moser for 1 to 2K CAD (WAG, it’s been a while since I priced out a comparison product) and have the joy of building something myself. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/24 "2021-10-28T16:47:57Z")
I’ve bought most of my second hand furniture off of craigslist, but what site people use is going to depend on your local area and market. One nice thing about craigslist is it lets you set up search alerts that will send you an email whenever an ad with specific keywords is posted. One thing I have learned on craigslist is that the only way to get _good_ stuff is to have a stored search that alerts you when things with specific keywords are posted and be ready to buy it _immediately_. The good stuff (priced to move) goes _fast_. We’ve gotten $2000 leather armchairs for $200, a $1500 solid cherry media console for $125, and just recently a handmade (by a local woodworking shop) solid alder credenza for $150. All of those I saw the ad, immediately picked up my phone and called the person and said “I can come pick it up right now, or at your convenience”. I only manage to buy about 20% of the stuff that I do that for. The rest is already gone/spoken for in the 30-60 minutes that the email takes to come or that I take to notice the email. If you peruse the stuff currently listed on craigslist or facebook marketplace, it’s the stuff that’s not good or overpriced that nobody wants to buy. The other thing you’ll learn if you set up a craigslist search is that no one has any idea what a “credenza” is. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/25 "2021-10-28T17:23:16Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > The other thing you’ll learn if you set up a craigslist search The Walrus is right on all counts. The Nextdoor app for your neighborhood might be another place you find good furniture for sale but you have to move just as fast. Have cash stashed at your house to seal the deal. And agree, I wouldn’t buy upholstered furniture or mattresses, etc used in this age of ubiquitous bedbugs. Bite the bullet and buy new/online. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/26 "2021-10-28T17:29:17Z")
> [@notadoctorshh](#): > > $6k for a four-drawer cabinet. My grandchildren are not getting any hand-me-down furniture that’s for sure 😭 Makes me curious as to how much those workers get paid. Surely, considering how much more valuable the store thinks their items are, the workers must be getting paid _at least_ twice as much as other crafters, right? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/27 "2021-10-28T17:35:50Z")
The Iron Triangle of “Fast, Cheap, Good, pick two” really applies in the furniture case. You can get high quality furniture for cheap if you hunt for 2nd hand stuff but be prepared to wait months or even years for the right piece to pop up at the right price. You can get cheap ikea furniture immediately but it won’t be the highest quality. You can get really high quality furniture that you want new but it’ll cost you and has almost no resale value. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/28 "2021-10-28T17:35:55Z")
I would hope so. But part of the cost goes to the details, take a look at the legs in this picture: [![](https://www.thosmoser.com/wp-content/uploads/moser_con_Harvard-Spangler-Lounge_small-NYPL_DEC19_det1.jpg) ](https://www.thosmoser.com/wp-content/uploads/moser_con_Harvard-Spangler-Lounge_small-NYPL_DEC19_det1.jpg) They are both made of rift sawn lumber. Similar to quartersawn where the grain runs vertically but at a 45 degree angle so that it looks quartered on all four sides. That is the desired orientation for legs both aesthetically and structurally. Most low to mid range furniture makers don’t care enough to get that right. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/29 "2021-10-28T17:39:38Z")
Though they are in Maine, so they could well pay the craftspeople well above the local salaries while keeping the salaries low compared to the rest of the country. Plus I’ll bet that some people would just enjoy the work of making quality furniture in a well-equipped shop. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/30 "2021-10-28T17:47:42Z")
@FordPrefect, so how much would I have to bribe you with to build me a Greene & Greene inspired desk like this one? 🙂 [https://furnituremaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Pedestal-Desk.jpg](https://furnituremaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Pedestal-Desk.jpg) Desk designed and built from a woodworking idol of mine, [Darrell Peart](https://furnituremaker.com/). I’ve been drooling over it for years now, but $20K is just too rich for my blood, even though it is probably warranted. If I could actually afford to buy the Gamble House, I could probably afford this furniture to put in it. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/31 "2021-10-28T17:51:38Z")
$20,001 and that price you should go with the expert instead of the hobbiest like me 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/32 "2021-10-28T19:30:03Z")
I would guess people are referring to MDF or particle board of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Ranch\_Dip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranch_dip/32/5238_2.png) [@Ranch\_Dip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranch_Dip)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/33 "2021-10-28T23:39:14Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > you can often buy very nice used furniture for a small fraction of what it costs new. We recently bought a new house, the previous owner was having a garage sale. They had a really nice dresser set. I bought all four pieces for $80, and it was in the house when we moved in. It came with a night stand, a dresser / mirror and another dresser. Older, but very solid. And I didn’t have to move it. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/34 "2021-10-29T01:02:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What’s fake plywood? As @wguy123 said, particle board. ---
**Author:** ![notadoctorshh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/notadoctorshh/32/9286_2.png) [@notadoctorshh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notadoctorshh)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2021, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302/35 "2021-10-29T08:12:23Z")
I’ve never thought of email alerts before definitely going to try this. I’m generally skeptical of craigslist because of sketchy transactions I had there when I was a teen lol, but might be worth the shot! Feels like an adrenaline-inducing technique though, might cause me to impulse buy even more. @BippityBoppityBoo I’m not biting the bullet _yet_, but I just might if I don’t find anything good within the next 2 weeks. @Czarcasm I would hope so lol. Might be “artisan” furniture pieces? So I’d like to think these are expert wood crafters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/product-prices-on-furniture-outrageous-or-reasonable/953302.md?page=1)