Buying a "to the trade only" sofa?

I’m interested in buying a sofa but it is sold to the trade only.  I don’t need help with the size or picking out the fabric, only placing the order.  Can I hire an interior designer for just this one thing?  If so, what should I expect to pay for their service, 1 hour + sofa & mark-up?  Do all designers have the same % mark-up or should I shop around?

bklynpwds

in Interior Decorators and Designers 12 years and 11 months ago

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daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Get on Grindr or something and find yoursdelf a gay designer friend. 🙂

dimagibacyan2014 | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Agreed – there are purchasing services that can help you with this. I used Maison CE (https://www.maisonce.com) to get a couch. Much less that retail – usually a 10-20% markup from wholesale – and they have a 5% off referral program.

janeinteriorsnyc | 11 years and 6 months ago

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I offer this service to people. My mark up is 10-20%. I know someone mentioned above that they believe it is a rip off for a designer to charge this way for the service. However, the designer will be placing the order, will be responsible for the accuracy of the order and if the wrong thing is ordered, will be responsible for eating the cost of the mistake, tracking the order, filing the sales tax on the order, setting up the delivery of the order, and handling any problems with the pieces at the time of delivery and in the future under warranty. Additionally, this amount of markup, means that you are purchasing the goods for less than retail prices. Jane www.janeinteriorsnyc.com

nyc_sport | 12 years and 11 months ago

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If you know exactly what you want, there are several “buying services” that can source to trade only furniture. We bought a dining room light from this place a few years ago. http://www.ladesignconcepts.com/

Brooklynista | 12 years and 11 months ago

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You wouldn’t have given us that deal because we would have never retained you.

Brooklynista | 12 years and 11 months ago

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We did this once with a set of chairs we purchased from a showroom in the D&D building. The dealer could not/would not sell to us direct. After deciding on all the specifics of the order, they referred us to an ID to place it.  IIRC, the ID’s charge  for placing the order was 10%. Total ripoff IMO, given that the only “work” involved was submitting an order to the dealer and an invoice to us. Even so, we still had to haggle over the accuracy of her invoice!   However, we had no choice if we wanted those chairs — which we did.  Now we have them.   http://interioroptions.com/showroom.html Good luck!

StuyMom | 12 years and 11 months ago

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What’s the manufacturer?  You might try Furnitureland South– they have a massive showroom in High Point and they carry 100’s of brands (the roster is changing all the time– don’t go by the website, which is crummy and lists only a fraction of what they can order).  Jody Conley is my contact person there.  336-841-4328.