It’s January - and you know what that means? Costco has their furniture out. The grey sectional has been calling my name every single time that we walk by it on our weekly Costco trip. But, it’s fabric, and I’ve cleaned everything from sharpie and nail polish, to pee and sticky jam hands off of our bonded leather couch that we received from Wholesale Furniture Brokers last year.
Note: Like everything I share here, I like to be up front. If something is fantastic - I am going to share it with you. If something is an incredible mom hack, you can bet I am sharing. If I had an experience that did not live up to what I thought it would be, I share that too - and this is just that, my experience, take it for what you will.
The service provided from Wholesale Furniture Brokers was great. The delivery was within days, the communication was as expected and going through the whole ordering process to get a feel for how it works before working together, was simple. The prices were lower than the local ones we were comparing, and on screen, the couches looked great.
It’s been just over a year that we’ve been using the couch. I’ve got two rambunctious little people, playdates, movie nights and girls nights in - we’ve been really using the couch. A year later, the couch has not fared well - one of the reasons that I wouldn’t buy a couch online.
You Don’t Know the Quality
The Sacramento Sofa from Urban Cali is one that I didn’t research thoroughly to determine the quality. Within a month, the first part of thin cotton batting on the back of the detachable cushions that velcro into place had ripped. Removing the couch cushions, you would find frequent holes within the same material of backing within the month. Long two year old toenails? They would knick the bonded leather immediately.
If you have no children that are jumping on your couch, have no toenails and are going to use it in a sitting room instead of a family, everyday, hard used couch - then you may have had a better experience. For me, the quality just did not impress. At the time I shared our experience buying the couch online, in October 2013, the idea seemed fantastic, easy and I shared that experience. Now, I have got a bit of a different point of view when asked if I would shop for a couch online again.
You Get What You Pay For
full disclosure: Wholesale Furniture brokers provided us with the couch, as I mentioned before but before even approached to work together, it was one of my top choices when it came to couch shopping, because of the price. We’re talking $900 for a bonded leather sectional, in white, like I wanted. The price was double, at least, at every other local store. Though the prices are low at Costco, the quality of the furniture never fails.
It’s a Year Later - and We Need a New Couch
There are a few things on our running ‘things that we need to buy list’ and one of those things in a couch. The couch is functionally okay, a year later, if you don’t move the cushions (kind of) but a vacation to the ocean is higher up on that list so it’s likely that we’re not going to replace the couch just yet. Had we have shopped local, sat on the couch, or purchased the couch from Somewhere like Costco (where you’ve got a year to bring it back if the backing goes horribly wrong), it would have been easier to send it back, replace it, and get something that was going to last.
These three reasons combined mean that I probably won’t buy a couch online again. Like I said above, the service from Wholesale Furniture Brokers was just fine, but the Urban Cali couch? No bueno. Though it looks good (if you don’t look too closely) it’s not as durable as a couch should be.
There are many other brands available through WFB, and other pieces of furniture that we’ve ordered (and paid for) have been lovely (wooden accent units) - but next time around? I think I’ll be sticking to ordering kids clothes and toothpaste, instead of a couch online.
