Online shopping can be tricky, and online furniture shopping is no exception. In fact, it might be riskier because the investment is larger and you likely intend the furniture to be fairly-permanent. It’s a big decision.
That’s why we’ve created the following tips to guide you through the online furniture shopping experience.
The beauty of online furniture shopping is that you aren’t limited to the local offerings. That principle extends beyond just access to different styles of furniture. When you shop for furniture online, you have access to deals you might not have access to otherwise.
Because of this, avoiding impulse buys is one of the most helpful steps you can take in making the online furniture shopping process pleasurable.
Shop around a bit and don’t set tight deadlines for yourself. Once you find a deal on that couch you had been eyeing for months, you’ll thank yourself for your patience.
This goes along with the need to avoid impulse buying – make sure you’re ordering the furniture you really want.
One great way to make sure you’re getting what you expect is to order swatches of fabric from the furniture manufacturer. This will help you get a better feel for the true color of the fabric and the quality of the material. If you’re planning your interior around specific shades or hues, this can make a world of difference. There’s nothing worse than a living room that is 50 shades of … well, any color.
There are tons of different sources for online furniture shopping, but not all of them can be trusted. As with any online purchase, you need to be selective about who you are buying from to avoid scams. Doing a little research might save you big time in the long run.
Check out online furniture shopping retailers on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. See if there are any reviews. The Better Business Bureau offers another database of consumer review information for most online stores.
It's generally safe to trust online retailers that also have brick and mortar locations.
You wouldn’t take a couch home from the store without knowing whether it’d fit in your living room or buy a mattress without measuring the dimensions of your bedroom, right? Then, why would you go online furniture shopping without first taking some measurements of your space?
Take the precaution of knowing your “space budget” before setting out on your online furniture shopping journey.
Timothy Harris is a freelance writer based in Albuquerque. He brings a professional background in event marketing, residential real estate and journalism to the table to provide useful and relevant content for the modern renter. Timothy has previously written content for Karsten & Associates in New Mexico and Up 'til Dawn, a philanthropic fundraiser that benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.