Furniture prices

[Lbob131]

Based in the UK I see a lot of  good looking furniture  supplied  from various  big name  outlets.

Some of the prices I could hardly  buy the timber  from at my local  hardwood supplier  never mind  start a production line.
How do they do it?

Ok here in the UK  we don't have  much forestry  timber of our own. We chopped it all down  years ago to build  ships  so we could rule  the waves.
Does a similar situation prevail  in the United States?

 

[mouppe]

It might look good, but it's almost certainly veneered or a softwood. The seemingly well-priced oak tables at John Lewis, for example, are all rubbish. Oak veneers, made in China and not worth even the low price.

In the US, wood prices vary according to region. Red oak and maple are very cheap where I am- much, much cheaper than in England,- cherry is average and walnut is more expensive. But wood generally is much cheaper than in England and I would say it is on average cheaper in my region of Eastern Canada than the rest of North America.

 

[Loren Woirhaye]

It's not possible for a small operation to compete with big concerns on price.  If you want to sell fine furniture, focus on the sorts of details and customization high end clients will find attractive.  Things like gilding and faux finishing skills, marquetry and curved forms are good elements to consider incorporating in your designs.  There is usually some market for exacting reproductions of museum quality pieces...  Chinese Chippendale, French art deco, and other styles that usually get turned into mush by larger operations cutting out as much skilled  hand work as possible to hit  price points.

 

[amt]

One of the things I have noticed on what stores try to pass of as fine furniture is that it's very hard to see the grain in the wood.  The stain borders on opaque, and I think they do this to hide the fact that the wood is not high quality.  I suppose, as long as it has the same color as aged mahogany, many will think it's the same!

 

[gippy]

One of the things I have noticed on what stores try to pass of as fine furniture is that it's very hard to see the grain in the wood.  The stain borders on opaque, and I think they do this to hide the fact that the wood is not high quality.  I suppose, as long as it has the same color as aged mahogany, many will think it's the same!

Quite true. There is a small chain of stores here in Thailand selling quite nicely designed and made solid wood furniture. One of their ranges is sold as being solid oak. I carefully checked out a few pieces, some oak has been used but most of the wood is rubber carefully coloured to match the oak. There is a big price difference between oak and rubber furniture and this is being sold as high end  expensive stuff.

 

[Loren Woirhaye]

Consider that furniture manufacturers as a collective industry have massive resources to devote to squeezing the most "appearance" out of wood materials at the lowest cost.  It's funny. I've encountered chairs with plastic detailing and things like that.  They photograph wood grain and print it on laminate for restaurant tables.  I've seen home furniture done that way too of course, but it always looks real cheap while the restaurant table stuff looks okay under glass.

 

[Lbob131]

Thanks for the replies. Very interesting.
I'd never heard of "rubber" furniture before. ???

 

[Loren Woirhaye]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberwood

 

[sancho57]

I think very few pieces of furniture are actually made here i the UK. I think they are imported. There are some shops that make and sell pine goods.
However with that being said, I know some bespoke woodworkers that are doing well making a selling wood products, everything from wood radiator covers to restoring and building bespoke furniture.

There is one small business in a business near me that sells old furniture he has restored/ cleaned up with a wood shop in the back and makes new pine furniture. Mainly pine and painted. Others buy old furniture ad go with the "Shabby Chic" look which means painting repairing old furniture adding some knobs etc and selling for good money.

 

[gippy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubberwood

I have used it a bit. Pencil marks keep disappearing but the board stretcher works well.

 

[Paul G]

The vast majority of furniture here is also junk. There's no way a small volume maker can compete without doing high end custom work. Then there's folks like me who go the diy route. I have no serious commercial aspirations, just enjoy making things and ending up with a quality product for about the same cost as the junk (not accounting for my time of course).

Thanks for the replies. Very interesting.
I'd never heard of "rubber" furniture before. ???

There's an unfinished furniture store near here that sells a lot of items made of rubber wood.

 

[jacko9]

"Ok here in the UK  we don't have  much forestry  timber of our own. We chopped it all down  years ago to build  ships  so we could rule  the waves.
Does a similar situation prevail  in the United States?"

No, we kept our forest and used steel in our ships [wink]

More seriously, we cut our logs and send them to China where they either process them into plywood on ships for sale around the world and here or to build cheap furniture at "cheap labor rates" and send it back here on the return trip.

I agree with the poster above that says that individual furniture makers need to concentrate on a given market segment.  I build custom high end furniture to meet my customers specific needs like size and style, etc.

Jack