You spend hours looking around, website after website looking for that perfect reception desk for your business lobby. It’s important to you because you want to make a good first impression when customers come to visit. After all your sweat, indecision and questions, you finally find one that you like. You plop down your credit card and have it shipped. You receive it finally! It’s in a million pieces but you don’t care because you had nothing to do all day Saturday anyway. You put it together after much trial and error. You’re set. On Monday your receptionist tells you it looks great, but she needs a scouch more room, so you pull it away from the wall a few more inches and the side panel pops off. YOU WANT TO DIE!
Don’t die! With a bit more information you could have had a better understanding about what you were buying in the first place and how that furniture, material and construction is going to respond to your environment, use, look, feel and longevity.
Office furniture manufactures know many people buy office furniture online, so they have to pass the visual test, the price test and a bonus if they can get past the FREE SHIPPING test.
Few online buyers want to know what their furniture is made out of, how it’s constructed and how all of that is relevant to what their needs are. For the most part, even if they had the answers to those questions most would not understand the bridge between what is, and what they really need. Everyday at 90 Degree Office Concepts, we take clients by the proverbial hand and explain the details they need to know before spending a dime.
For the benefit of those that we don’t get to speak with, there are things you need to know before you invest in office furniture.
One of the most important things you need to know is how to compare value. This gets a little tricky because you have to look beneath the information handed to you online. The devil is in the details. Here are some examples of what I mean…
A product description could state that it a maple reception desk. Maple happens to be a color and a wood species. The difference in price and value between something that is the color maple and the wood itself can be huge. One can be heat pressed on whatever core they choose, and the other is a natural stronger product that require hours of preparation and finishing.
Another product description may state it has aluminum accents. Well are they aluminum painted or are they aluminum metal? The different between the cost of metal and the labor to apply it as opposed to simple paint will affect the cost and quality of your furniture.
There are durability factors also associated with the choice of materials as well. This begs the question how much time do I have before I will need to replace it, or possibly a better question is; how much time do I have before the furniture no longer represents my company in a fashion that’s suitable to my needs?
One of the primary areas of importance is material core. Why is this important? Because if your furniture uses any kind of fasteners, the strength of your furniture is only going to be a good as the core material that it goes into. Here’s an example; if the intended office funiture you plan on buying has a paper or pressboard core, that’s what is really holding your furniture together. Although it may look great on the outside, in most cases the lifespan and general appearance will be shorter than solid wood, let’s say.
Rule of thumb: If your furniture core is made up of small pieces of anything, expect to pay less and buy more often.
Now, everyone does not need, want, or find wood core furniture affordable. At least you need to have information as to how to evaluate your furniture.
Free shipping is another insentive office furniture resellers use to attract buyers. The problem is, there is no free shipping, there is only where you place the cost; on the furniture or on the shipping. What weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of steel? Dah!
There are many important things to consider before opening your wallet to buy office furniture. Feel free to call us for information about material evaluation.
