In the past couple of years, I've bought new sofas for both my family room and my living room, and I've done a lot of research. I'm very frugal and am always looking for a bargain.
I think this is one area where you get what you pay for. Making furniture well is labor intensive and you want good materials. Cheap stuff doesn't last. If you don't mind replacing furniture every few years, cheap is fine. If you want it to last for a long time, it's better to suck it up and spend a little more.
If you are flexible about styles and colors, you can haunt your local furniture stores when they are getting rid of floor models and get some great deals that way.
You can also buy online. It's a risk, and if you have problems, returning the furniture can be a big pain. But you can save a lot of money. We saved over $1000 on a Palliser leather sectional that we got online. It worked out perfectly, but I was a nervous wreck doing it. I wanted the sectional version of a style and grade of leather that a friend had, so it helped that I knew exactly what the piece would be like.
One thing I saw over and over again in researching leather furniture is to be wary of Flexsteel's Latitude line. The prices are very reasonable and the leather isn't bad, but the internal construction is shoddy, and many people are unhappy about it. I also saw a lot of complaints about LazyBoy. My nephew bought a reclining leather sofa and it broke after about six months.
