Furniture

Overview

The e-commerce revolution in the digital age is driving more homeowners and renters to discover the benefits of buying furniture on the internet, rather than in local physical stores, in convenience, competitive prices and product quality.

From traditional and classic pieces to modern styles, leading websites offer gigantic virtual catalogs packed with a wide range of highly-creative collections, providing easy access to endless design, construction and pricing options.

Their inventories include home goods for every section of the house: the bedroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and home office.
Other than furniture, the major online vendors usually offer other complementary interior design pieces, such as area rugs, lighting solutions, home accents, and others.

Many sites offer a variety of flexible ways to find potential products and provide the customer with the ability to search items by destination room, style, color, pattern, material or manufacturer.

Furniture shopping sites serve a broad target audience: from everyday private customers, DIYers and price-sensitive shoppers that look for dirt-cheap bargains to professional interior designers and luxury goods buyers.

Consumer Tips: How to Buy Safely and Avoid Furniture Scams Online

Just like any other field that involves shoppers, merchants, and money that switches hands, the online furniture market also has its fair share of scammers, fraudsters and cybercriminals that operate on the internet and look for potential victims.

Scammers use a variety of illegal or unethical ways to trick unsuspecting shoppers.
Some fraudulent websites collect thousands of dollars from customers but do not deliver the ordered goods or send the wrong items, different from what was ordered in color, size, style or material.

Other sites use brutal false advertising tactics, vague language or misleading photos and ship furniture with scratches, manufacturing defects or other types of damages with no ability to cancel the order, return the merchandize or get either an exchange or a refund.

Also, some businesses in this industry offer poor quality products with short life spans, inferior customer service, unfair store policies, nerve-wracking shipping delays, frustrating order fulfilment mistakes or other aspects that lead to an extremely negative shopping experience.

Taking these steps will help you find credible and reliable retailers and complete your purchase in a safe, secure and satisfactory way:

Check the Website’s Return Policy

A generous and liberal return policy gives you the reassurance you have a workable backup plan if the delivered items do not meet your expectations or if things don’t go the way you planned.

Investigate the Furniture Website’s BBB Record

Check the company’s record on the Better Business Bureau’s website.
What you’ll find there, will help you evaluate whether it’s a legitimate business that deserves your money and trust or if you must look elsewhere.

Look for current BBB rating, customer reviews, complaints, warnings and alerts on their business profile.
Furthermore, learn how long it has been in business – a potential indicator of experience and reputation.

If the website is not even listed with the BBB, this is a very bad sign.
On the other hand, if the furniture retailer is certified as a BBB Accredited Business, it’s an important positive signal.

Pay Close Attention to Red Flags

Learn how to protect yourself better when shopping on the internet, to avoid scammers and keep safe in general.
Knowing how to check if a website is legitimate or not is the first line of defense.