• agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Remember like two weeks ago when someone posted a question asking why IKEA was in business when good quality wood furniture was basically the same price? Hilarious.

    • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Even the used furniture market is obscene.

      Used flat pack shit that lasts maybe 10 years in optimal conditions goes used for only half the price, bad lean and all.

      Anything solid wood you might as well buy new, cuz it’s nearly the same price, like damn.

      I now go to habitat for humanity restore locations or goodwill, because they -can’t afford to charge a lot for big stuff- because they don’t have the space to store it. It’s not great stuff, but refurbishable.

      • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        My local reStore wants $100 for a 20 year old washing machine with a tag that says “we don’t know if it works”. They want $50 for a shitty old door ripped off your parents house. I used to love that place, now it’s not even worth looking.

        *Edit: grammar

        • swiffswaffplop@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, I used to love thrifting. Could find really awesome stuff for a couple bucks. Now it’s too trendy. They’ve figured out that people were buying it from them dirt cheap and then reselling it in their own “vintage” shop for like 20x the price. Society has even ruined thrifting.

          • Maybe@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            This doesn’t apply to furniture but the Goodwills in my area ship all the good stuff to a central location two counties away where it can be listed for sale online. The stuff in store is mostly garbage.

        • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          Fair. I live in a LCOL area, mine don’t touch appliances, outdoor stuff, etc., can’t even donate to them, so it’s really just a place for cheaper remodeling stuff.

          They have furniture, cabinetry, and building supplies. That’s about it. Limited plumbing fixtures, limited lighting, some “extra” paint and carpet tiles in mostly neutral colors.

          Doors (no frame) are like $5-10, same with window sashes. Doors with frame are iirc $25, I never looked at windows with frame.

          An entire very nice kitchen cabinet set ripped out of a newer condo is like $600.

      • socsa@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Shit, there is an upscale consignment shop near me where they have “vintage” flat pack furniture straight from Wayfair marked above list price. I know because I have the same fucking table. The whole midcentury modern revival has gotten completely out of hand.

        • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          -.-

          No offense to your flat pack, but it was garbage then and it’s not better now (you have apparently taken good care of it to not have it fall apart since)

          I have had a lot of flat pack stuff because poverty, including a full wood coffee table that sat in a box for 20 years (mom bought it) before I used it. Took 6 months before that one started to wobble from normal use.

          It’s never been good. I’d almost argue they are better now than 20 years ago, because people can’t afford legacy furniture and everything is flat-pack. And that is not saying much.

          • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Put some thread locker on those shitty table leg bolts. That’ll keep it sturdy until the bolts rip themselves out of the pressboard garbage they’re glued to

      • CobblerScholar@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Then the next thought is, “oh I can make that, doesn’t look too hard” and then you realize the tools you need to make it and make it more than a couple boards nailed together are as much if not more. And that’s not even counting how expensive the wood itself will be

    • bitsplease@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Hell even making wood furniture yourself is expensive as hell with lumber prices as they are right now

    • saigot@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      IDK maybe it varies by area and what you a re looking for but almost all my furniture is thrifted/scavenged and I think the most I paid for a single thing was a 100 bucks. I go to a local thift store not one of the big chains. I also don’t have to buy with any sort of time pressure.

      E: the idea that it invalidates IKEAs existence is crazy though.

      • Hematite@rqd2.netOP
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        1 year ago

        Thrifting gets pricey nowadays. I’ve had better luck scouring FB Marketplace and Craigslist for curb alerts, if not trawling around the neighborhood looking for stuff to pluck up and take home myself. For free, even!

    • oats@110010.win
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      1 year ago

      This usually depends on the country/region. For example in India ikea is obscenely expensive for what they are selling when you can get a miles better product at a similar price.

      At least in Delhi you can get really really good furniture at a fair price.

      • candybrie@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, their post was about why do people buy crappy ikea furniture when nice wood furniture exists for the same price. Why the OP thought nice wood furniture could be purchased for the same price as flat packed particle board was the question.