How to buy furniture without getting ripped off. Buyers who are often cheated, come and take a look.

Inventory of unspoken rules in the furniture industry

1. Environmentally friendly furniture is not environmentally friendly

The so-called environmental certification marks, "zero formaldehyde" are mostly gimmicks for businesses. Current research It shows that formaldehyde contained in decoration and furniture has a release period of 3 to 15 years. Although relevant departments stipulate that furniture companies undergo quality inspections by statutory testing agencies at least twice a year, this process is conducted by the companies themselves. There is no supervision during the entire sampling and inspection process. Some samples submitted for inspection do not come from furniture manufactured by the company. Data show that from 2015 to 2017, the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce conducted random inspections of 187 batches of various types of wooden furniture four times in three years, and 75 batches were unqualified, with a failure rate of 40.1%, mainly due to formaldehyde release. The problem of excessive quantity.

2. Solid wood furniture is not "real"

Solid wood furniture is more expensive than other wood furniture. Driven by profit, other materials are used to pass off solid wood furniture and pass it off as good quality. They are often sold. It is advertised as solid wood furniture, but the furniture that finally reaches consumers is made of solid wood frames, joinery boards, multi-layer boards, imitation solid wood, veneer, and even high-density fiberboard furniture. There are three common types of "fake solid wood" methods on the market:

The first type is the most common, which is to stick a layer of solid wood skin on the surface of the furniture.

The second type of practice: splicing small strips of deeply processed solid wood into the base material of pure solid wood furniture, and then affixing a layer of solid wood veneer to the surface. This method is more deceptive. The third type is a more sophisticated counterfeiting method that is almost undetectable by consumers. The front and back of the board are thin finger-jointed boards, but the center of the board is made of various plywood or scrap wood.

3. There are many furniture problems

The current furniture problems are mainly concentrated in furniture with excessive formaldehyde and furniture edges that are not rounded enough. According to the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce’s random inspection report in March 2016, the main unqualified items for furniture were excessive formaldehyde, structural safety and warning signs.

4. Customized furniture is full of troubles

The current problem with customized furniture is mainly that there is a lack of unified industry standards for customized furniture services. There is no "ruler" to handle consumer disputes because it is "quantity". "Customized" cannot be changed, and merchants use this as an excuse to "only repair but not return". Consumers have no way to complain to a certain extent in order to safeguard their rights. The pricing model for customized furniture is generally: actual usage of materials × unit price + cost of main accessories = total price. When quoting, sales staff often only tell consumers a "lowest" standard price, and the prices of other accessories for making furniture There will be additional charges. If consumers do not ask clearly and only calculate the price based on the "per meter" quotation, the customized furniture will definitely exceed the budget.

5. Leather sofas are mostly imitation leather

The leather sofas promised by the salesperson are actually not 100% genuine leather. Only the part of the human body contact surface is genuine leather, and the rest is generally made of imitation leather. Surface or artificial leather. Due to the current improvement of sofa manufacturing technology, many imitation leathers are very close to real leather in terms of texture and color. The difference is basically invisible to the naked eye. It is difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish between full leather and half leather sofas.

6. The quotation is too high and the invoice is too low

There is a big gap between the listed price and the transaction price of the goods. The clearly marked price has become "clearly false price" or "discount sale", and the price has become opaque. Become the unspoken rule of the furniture industry. In addition, operators only issue payment receipts or delivery orders, but do not provide formal invoices. When consumers ask for invoices from merchants, they are often told that the invoices have been used up, that they cannot enjoy discounts when issuing invoices, and that buyers must bear taxes and fees when issuing invoices.

7. Online furniture shopping is unreliable

In 2016, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce conducted inspections on 34 batches of furniture sold by 4 mainstream e-commerce platforms and 18 physical stores. After market inspection and quality inspection, the unqualified detection rate was 50%. Among them, the unqualified rate of e-commerce online platforms was 80%, and that of physical stores was 37.5%. The unqualified detection rate of online platforms was twice as high as that of physical stores. many. In addition, furniture e-commerce still has many problems, such as after-sales service cannot be solved, there is a large gap between product promotion and actual products, manufacturers are only interested in profit, and sell defective products and furniture that are not up to standard, resulting in fake furniture e-commerce platforms. The goods spread.

8. The store promises to be "fake and empty"

When purchasing, the salesperson claims free door-to-door installation, and transportation, floor and installation fees will be charged during delivery. Many stores promise "return if not satisfied" and "lifetime maintenance", but they often fail to deliver. In order to attract and better serve consumers, home furnishing stores have also launched various pre-sales, sales, after-sales and other store service terms in a targeted manner. In fact, once there is a problem, it is always difficult to return or exchange goods. The price, freight, cost, etc. of household products such as furniture and building materials have all become obstacles to the return of household products.

9. The road to after-sales rights protection is long

Currently, furniture products are not included in the national mandatory "three guarantees" product catalog, and the "three guarantees" agreed between operators and consumers are implemented. Once the furniture is suspected to have problems, merchants will often require the buyer to provide a test certificate proving that the furniture is unqualified. This will put consumers in a dilemma: First, for testing, you need to transport the furniture to the testing center yourself, and the cost is not low. One piece costs at least a few hundred yuan; secondly, after the furniture is inspected, it is equivalent to being scrapped. If the final inspection result is qualified, or the merchant still refuses to accept the account, then the loss will be even heavier. In this way, some consumers consider themselves unlucky and give up.

Furniture Inspection

So, as consumers, after understanding the unspoken rules of the furniture industry, how can we choose furniture so as not to be cheated?

Seven steps for buying furniture

1. Choose a store

When buying furniture, you must choose a formal, well-known and reputable furniture store. Large and well-known furniture stores provide a full range of products with low prices and excellent quality, as well as complete pre-sales, sales and after-sales services. Some stores also provide service measures such as "full responsibility for goods sold", "advance compensation", "free delivery and installation", "refund of price difference" and "no reason to return or exchange goods". This can best safeguard consumer rights. The after-sales service is guaranteed, so you can use it with confidence and buy it with confidence.

2. Choose a brand

To choose a brand, consumers can consider the length of time the manufacturer has been established and the authoritative certification honors it has obtained (such as ten-ring certification, famous trademarks, well-known brands, etc. ) to judge. At the same time, data shows that the number of complaints from well-known brands is not high, only about 0.8%. Brand owners pay more attention to quality and have higher credibility, because once quality problems occur, they will have a greater impact on the brand. Choosing well-known large-scale furniture brands, environmentally friendly and durable boards, authentic materials, professional designs, thoughtful sales services, years of brand reputation, etc. are all strong guarantees of quality.

3. Smell

Except for solid wood furniture, most of the wooden furniture currently on the market has artificial board components, which inevitably smells of formaldehyde or paint. Therefore, you should pay special attention to the smell when purchasing. It usually has a bit of an odor, but if the smell is strong enough to make people cry or sneeze, it means that the formaldehyde release of the furniture is relatively high, and you cannot buy the furniture, no matter how attractive the style and the price. , cannot be purchased.

4. Read the report

When purchasing furniture, be sure to read the product quality test report first. National standards stipulate that the amount of formaldehyde released in wooden furniture shall not exceed 1.5 mg per liter. It is recommended to purchase furniture made of panels that meet E1 standards. In addition to referring to the test report during the purchase process, it is more important to refer to the company's certification certificate, especially the certificate from an internationally renowned certification agency.

5. Compare with three stores

As the saying goes: "Don't be fooled by comparing with three stores." When purchasing furniture, you can check as many stores as you want and ask as many questions as you like. As for the price difference of the products, it can range from dozens to hundreds or even thousands. I don’t know the comparison, but I will be shocked when I compare it. Be sure to look at more than one store and find a few options for your favorite furniture styles. If the prices of the same style of furniture vary greatly from store to store, you need to know whether there is a big difference in material and size. Also, it is best not to choose furniture that is much lower than the mainstream price. You get what you pay for. If the price is too low, it is usually made of inferior materials and paint. Such furniture is neither environmentally friendly nor durable. Ask the seller more about the manufacturer. If the seller doesn't know about the manufacturer, it means there is something wrong.

6. Sign a contract

Pay more attention when purchasing, inquire in detail about the material, leather and origin of the furniture, and ask the merchant to make clear instructions in the purchase contract to save money. Some unscrupulous merchants steal goods and replace them with inferior goods.

When signing the contract, be sure to bring a room plan with dimensions, and tell the merchant the size of the door and the general conditions of the stairs to see if the furniture you bought can be installed smoothly. In addition, the delivery time and payment method should be clearly marked in the contract to avoid unnecessary disputes. If possible, try not to pay the full amount before delivery. It is best to pay the balance after acceptance.

7. Invoicing

According to Article 22 of the "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law", operators providing goods or services shall invoice consumers in accordance with relevant national regulations or business practices. Issue invoices and other purchase vouchers or service documents; if consumers ask for invoices and other purchase vouchers or service documents, operators must issue them. Merchants will use various seemingly reasonable reasons and a few discounts to induce consumers to give up asking for formal invoices. Industry insiders suggest that if possible, consumers should still ask for invoices, and do not lose the protection for small money, "in case the store withdraws one day." If you move or relocate, who should you go to with the receipt?"