Lately, I’ve been in the process of buying furniture for my new apartment.
When I was deciding on what to purchase, I ran into a multitude of options. I could buy second-hand furniture or new furniture.
Even with the new furniture, I could choose to buy from a place like Ikea or buy more expensive furniture.
Here’s the main reason why I decided to buy a mix of used and new quality furniture.
Longevity
If I spend a little more on quality furniture now, I can use it for longer than I would use less well-made furniture.
One big-ticket item is my couch. I spent $1,000 on my couch because I want it to be comfortable and I know the couch is well made.
I think I’ll use this couch for at least 5 years. Let’s do the math to see how much this couch will cost me on a regular basis.
A purchase price of $1,000 spread over 5 years of use turns out to cost $200 per year.
Going even further, a cost of $200 per month spread over 12 months is $17 per month.
I’d gladly pay $17 per month for this nice couch I bought.
I think 5 years of use is conservative, so the cost per month of that piece of furniture goes down the longer I use it.
In this case, I wanted to get a new couch and I admit that I paid a little more for the style of it.
I intend to get my money’s worth out of it through many years of use.
Used vs New Quality Furniture
I bought a new couch, but what about my other pieces?
I don’t feel like it’s worth it to get new furniture for everything because there is such a markup on furniture prices.
There can be as much as a 200-400% markup on retail furniture prices!
That makes buying used furniture an easy decision, especially if you’re not sure how long you’ll keep a piece of furniture.
I bought a set of Martinsville of America coffee tables and end tables for $120 at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago.
Buying used quality pieces can help keep you within your budget for furnishing your apartment.
Author Bio
Drake is a freelance writer who’s interested in history, economics, art, & beer. Drake graduated with a degree in Supply Chain Management and began working at General Motors. He writes about popular personal finance topics and shares his journey. Make sure to check back for more posts on Abnormal Money.