Buying Office Furniture

There is not a more confusing and difficult industry for the consumer. The thousands of options, features, benefits, fabrics, finishes, parts, pieces, etc! Even the seasoned veteran gets confused.

5 Ways to Simplify the Process of Buying Office Furniture

If you are thinking about buying office furniture here are essential ways to simplify the process and guaranty success:

(1) Know how much money you want to spend in total. Nobody can ever answer this question, but are quick to complain a cost is too high after the fact. This causes everybody to waste valuable time with a “value engineering” exercise. It is much simpler to declare one and then have a furniture professional work backwards.

(2) Assign someone in the office who has the authority to approve any decision and budget. Do not assign someone to gather information upon which others will make decisions.

(3) Have a CAD file of the space you wish to furnish. Is a CAD file some sort of national security secret? We are always told “I only have a PDF” or “The building owner does not have a CAD.” Having a CAD file will save a lot of time ensuring your density, configuration and, thus budget, are met.

(4) Do not wait until you sign a lease to start talking to a furniture professional. You do not get furniture in 2 weeks! Some lines of furniture can take up to 10 weeks to deliver, and the average is 6. While there are a few manufacturers that have some sort of quick ship program, your choices are severely limited. Start working with your furniture professional early enough so that you can execute the plan quickly, not miss critical deadlines and avoid the need for rental furniture (or moving your existing as a temporary solution).

(5) Used furniture is not always cheaper. A reasonable used furniture budget is approximately $14.00 per rentable square foot, but there are some new furniture lines that are the equivalent or somewhat close (say $16.00-18.00). While you may be able to procure some items for less money, there is also no guarantee that the size, quantity and finish will be available when you need it. If you wish to go the route of used, be sure to pay someone to measure all the pieces and fit them into the space. You do not want to buy a lot of furniture and learn later on it does not fit according to your expectations.

The Experts at Fast Office make Buying Office Furniture Easy

Honesty, integrity, years of experience and competitive pricing makes Fast Office the smart choice for NYC business. We represent a large selection of manufacturers including: