Can someone explain the appeal of buying furniture from Wayfair?

[Farro]

I've bought countless things from Overstock, which is basically same thing.
We bought our dining room set - it's modern, not cheap but not crazy money, and you had to assemble yourself, but so what? Get tons of compliments on it.

We've gotten benches, lamps, paintings, vases, rugs, our fake Christmas tree, awesome cat furniture...we've returned a couple things with no issues.

Love those sites!

 

[North of Mouse]

I was recommended by a friend to try Wayfair for my new home's furnishings. So I tried it about a month ago, and I am not impressed. Sure they have a great selection, but their prices aren’t great for an online store, in fact they’re often more expensive than comparable items at the brick and mortar stores. Many of their popular items are out of stock and have extremely long wait times, even longer than what you get at brick/mortar. Their prices and poor customer service just don’t justify buying something like furniture sight unseen. They don't even do promo codes like you’d expect from an online store. Oh they exist, but finding one is like winning the lottery. Even then it’s a code for maybe 10% off.

Their "free shipping" means they drop it off at your front door. In fact the first item I ordered with them (a loveseat) was left curbside next to my driveway, a good 25 feet from my front door. If you want them to actually bring it inside your house, you have to select that option where, for an extra fee, they'll carry it into your house's immediate entrance area, but that's as far as they'll go... unless of course you paid for the ridiculously expensive “set up” fee, which is exactly the same thing that many of the brick-and-mortar stores do for free. So you don't want to put together your new 5-piece bedroom set by yourself? No problem. For only $500 extra (sometimes more) they'll actually put it together. Again, this is something standard with brick/mortars.

But it gets worse. What if you don't like what you bought, or it doesn't fit like you thought? No problem, just pay to ship it back(!) I haven't checked FedEx to see what they charge to ship an entire living room, but I'm guessing it's a little pricey.

Not happy about all this? Well you can call their customer service number if you don't mind waiting on hold for an hour. Maybe if you call right at 8:00am when they open, you’ll get lucky and “only” wait for 20 minutes. They also seem to be one of those companies where you get "accidentally" disconnected. This company is absolutely maddening to deal with. I see literally nothing appealing about any of it. Please tell me what I'm missing here.

I agree wholeheartedly!!! Nothing worse than not being able to see your furniture, it not being what you thought, 'then' having to spend an arm and leg to return it - plus all the hassle of returning it. No, thank you, I like to see what I'm buying.

 

[tinatark]

Same as Ikea? And people wait for hours to shop there.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

If something is "wrong" and it's their fault, they (general they) will often send you a return label as well as ship you the right item. I've done it numerous times. It comes with online shopping, but it depends on the company and what the issue is. If it's a big item, UPS or FedEx will even come to the house.

 

[North of Mouse]

So....don't buy from them? I don't get it.

This. I’ve looked on their site and I don’t really get the hype. This post was a very long drawn out complaint. There are lots of other places and sites.

So, have either of you never vented on a post before? Actually, it happens quite a lot and seems to be perfectly acceptable!

 

[kimblebee]

Every time I’ve gone window shopping on their site I always end up shaking my head at the ridiculous prices.

 

[nene0182]

I buy all my area rugs from them. We don’t have anything comparable in price locally and I’ve been pleased with every one that I’ve bought. But I don’t think I’d buy actual furniture

 

[nile455]

I buy all my area rugs from them. We don’t have anything comparable in price locally and I’ve been pleased with every one that I’ve bought. But I don’t think I’d buy actual furniture

Yeah I'm not referring to the small things, rugs, lamps, picture frames, etc. Just actual furniture.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Same as Ikea? And people wait for hours to shop there.

Yeah it’s like an online IKEA but with much more quality furniture available. Although they definitely have cheap IKEA like items too. We love Wayfair but understand how it works. Sounds like the OP just doesn’t like online style shopping.

We actually DONT want strangers in our home in COVID times and we actively seek out places that will leave items outside. So no inside delivery is fine for us.

 

[Christine]

I've bought a few things and I'm so-so on Wayfair.

The first thing I bought was a chaise (indoor) for a corner area of my living room. It was the only place that really had a lot of them and had a fabric I wanted. I ordered fabric samples and then had it made so it did take a couple of week. I didn't pay the extra fee but the delivery people actually brought it right into my house and set it in the living room. They then asked if I wanted them to unbox it and put the legs on. I told them "no, I didn't pay for that." They said they would still do it (they probably wanted cash on the side, which I didn't have) and I said no thanks because it was easy enough. To my surprise, the chaise was made by a small furniture maker in North Carolina--not a nationally recognized brand but probably one that supplies larger sellers. I'm impressed with how well made it is and sturdy. Cushions are great. It cost me about $650 which is not unusual at all for a well-made chair w/ottoman that ships to you. The odd thing about Wayfair is they use these "fake" brand names and they aren't at all what you are getting.

I've ordered 3 large area rugs (all great and a good price).

Four vanity lights for my bathrooms that were recently renovated.

Finally, I wanted a makeup mirror just like they have in the Grand Floridian/Contemporary. Bed Bath and Beyond sells them but they are constantly out of stock for the one that's just like it. You can get it at BBB for about $90 and then use a 20% coupon. Just couldn't get it. Finally ordered one "just like it" from Wayfair. It had a weird brand name. The mirror came and it ended up being the EXACT brand as BBB but I paid about $30 more for it.

I do have a Wayfair credit card and earn points for every purchase I make. Between the chair and the lighting, I earned signficant points that I got a lot of money off my subsequent purchases.

That said, I do think they are overpriced if you can find the same item somewhere else. I also don't think I'd go as far as to buy a piece of furniture like a sofa that I spend tons of time on. I'd want to try that out. I really wish Wayfair would just give the real brands that the item is.

Oh, to add, I do think they do a great job with reviews. People are really honest and detailed and that helps. It's just harder to decide if it's an item that hasn't been reviewed much.

 

[laughinplace199]

I've bought a few things from them, mostly accent furniture or area rugs. Prices and quality were decent. We had one issue and their customer service was great. I ordered a wooden bench for my hallway and it arrived damaged. I called and they asked for pics of the damage. After I sent the pics, they called me back and said they were sending a new bench to me and I could keep, donate, or trash the damaged one. Then they called to say the bench was backordered and it would be a few weeks before I got the new one. Then they gave me a credit of 10% of the price since I had to wait for a new one. The bench was usable, so I kept it until the new one came.

 

[Disneylover99]

So....don't buy from them? I don't get it.

Read the OP’s last sentence.

It sounds like OP is looking for positive feedback about the company.
It makes sense to me.

 

[mousefan73]

I have yet to order from them but I am constantly on their site. What I like about them is that they have tons of different items and if I’m looking for something specific their search function is pretty good. Helps narrowing things down to what I need.

Right now I’m looking for night tables for our new bed. I specifically have in my head when I want concerning color, type of wood, size. I entered these in the search function and it really does give me things that might interest me.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

My daughte just ordered a bed from them. Will let you know what I think in a couple of days.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

We got our son's crib/toddler bed from Wayfair (but it was 5 years ago, so things may have changed ). It was a DaVinci "Reagan" (so name-brand), they included the toddler bed rail, and the whole thing was $178 with free shipping. I had seen the same crib at numerous B&M stores (like Babies R Us) and online on DaVinci's own website for well over $200, and none of the cribs I saw came with the toddler rail. Yes, it came unassembled, but I think all cribs did. UPS delivered it and they left the box leaning upright against our garage door, and being 7 months pregnant, I couldn't budge it. I had to wait until DH got home from work, and he had to move it before he could get the car into the garage.

A few years later I ordered a picture frame from them. I specifically wanted a "wall frame," not a tabletop frame with an easel back, as I've found that when you hang one with the easel, it tends to not lie flat against the wall. I picked one that said wall frame, but when I got it, it had the easel anyway. I was a little disappointed with that, but thankfully it hung correctly. (I ended up changing it later anyway when I got a much better photo of DS from school, which looked better in a different frame )

 

[kaytieeldr]

Every time I’ve gone window shopping on their site I always end up shaking my head at the ridiculous prices.

Not that I agree or disagree - but after windkw shopping, where do you then find comparable items at sane prices?

 

[Christine]

Not that I agree or disagree - but after windkw shopping, where do you then find comparable items at sane prices?

I'm not who you directed the question too, but it probably depends a lot on where you live. I live in an area that has a lot of higher quality furniture stores about 30 minutes away (and unfortunately a ton of low quality stores). Lots of shopping places too, so honestly, I can probably find what I need cheaper than I can at Wayfair, but I'll be doing a LOT of running around. I don't go to Wayfair for the best prices. If I shop there, it's because I don't feel like going to 10 different stores. But I'm guessing there are plenty of people who shop at Wayfair who don't have access to all the brick-and-mortar stores so Wayfair is definitely the better option.

 

[tasha99]

We just bought a large kitchen cart from them to serve as extra counter space. I LOVE it--it was affordable, looks better than expected, and my husband put it together in an evening. I'll consider them again next time I buy furniture.

Snip . . .

(Important note: I am a hungry goblin. If you throw free meatballs in with any deal I'll immediately take it.)

Wait, FREE meatballs? I demand a better Ikea!! Mine charges, and I pay because I like meatballs, too.

 

[DuskKodesh]

Wait, FREE meatballs? I demand a better Ikea!! Mine charges, and I pay because I like meatballs, too.

Every time we go they have a deal where if you spend 100$ in the store they deduct the cost of you eating there (For both me and the spouse! I make it a point to eat like three of those princess cakes too, because again, I am a goblin). I think the deal is rotational but it always seems to be running when we're there.

 

[kimblebee]

Not that I agree or disagree - but after windkw shopping, where do you then find comparable items at sane prices?

I’ve never gone to the site actually needing something, so I don’t do any follow up to find cheaper prices. I usually check it out after I see a commercial, hoping this time prices will be more reasonable.

The one item I remember looking at was a huge oversized clock, you know the one that were trendy for about 10 minutes? Wayfair wanted like $800 for them lol