One way to keep your furniture costs down is to look at buying second hand. There are a few websites which specialise in this market, and Ebay often turns up a few Gems. You can definitely save money but there are some pitfalls which come with 2nd hand office furniture
One is that there will never be enough of what you want and too much of what you don’t want. You therefore need to be fairly relaxed about what you get. If you want all the desks and chair to match then you probably shouldn’t be looking at 2nd hand. Your will also need to accept a few scrapes scratches and dings. Office furniture has a hard life and 2nd hand furniture will have its battle-scars. It won’t be shiny and new smelling and you might find a few unexpected items in the drawer units.

Another is that you probably won’t be able to get any spare parts if anything breaks. The seller won’t know where the furniture was made, and not many furniture products have a trademark or name on them. Sometimes you can see a logo in the cable port cover, or an inspection tag stuck under a desk or chair, but most likely you will just find some old chewing gum or something much much worse.

The next problem with 2nd hand office furniture is the cost of having it delivered and assembled in your office. The cost of this is sometime greater than the cost of the furniture, or at best represents a very large percentage of the cost. New furniture is cheaper to deliver and install as it is usually flat-packed which reduces transportation costs, the fitters know the products well, and have the correct tools for assembly. The box contains all of the fittings and spares are available. 2nd hand can be a bit of a lottery with previous bodges making disassembly and reassembly more difficult, and when that 10 year old thread insert finally goes, you have an even bigger problem.

With seating the problem can be even worse. You cannot tell if the mechanism is about to break, or the gas ram, after many years of supporting donut munchers, is about to explode. And just how much dirt, coffee, food, fingernails and who know what else from numerous office parties have found their way under the fabric on the chair. Also it is a known fact that methane gas will quickly breakdown the foam in the seat cushion. So suddenly that 2nd hand chair is not looking like such a bargain. You will also find that there will be either no or very little guarantee given on 2nd hand furniture, as opposed to new products which will invariably have a 5 year guarantee.

You do also need to consider health and safety issues when you purchase 2nd hand. Can you get armrests for the operator chair if a member of staff requests some. Are the desks the right shape and size for full time computer use. Do the pedestals and filing system incorporate anti- tilt devices.

Buying second hand can seem like a perfect way to save money and to recycle unwanted product but the buyer must be careful not to let a cheap price get in the way of common sense.