It’s Not Just Wayfair: Why Does ALL Of Your Furniture Fall Apart?

If you have ever bought a Wayfair couch or tried to assemble an IKEA anything, you know furniture sucks now. Fast furniture has taken over — meaning cheap quality for customers and low wages for workers. Meanwhile, companies like IKEA and Wayfair are raking in huge profits.
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[nfrench]

Everything from children’s toys, to furniture, to clothes are made with nothing but profits and self gain in mind. Nothing is made with pride anymore

[hayleypbop]

The shitification of things is real. Now do polyester in clothing.

[GhostWriter]

Spent years in the mid-to-high-end furniture industry, working with designers. It's so much worse than people think. And the prices are insane for the complete lack of quality

[Vulcan_Seagull]

I bought a $600 couch from wayfair (most expensive I could afford at the time). I was SO proud of my first piece of new furniture after thrifting everything in my apartment. 2 months later and both middle legs snapped off because of the tiny screws holding them on. By the time I moved, about 6 months later, both legs were held on with wood glue, extra screws and c clamps. The cushions on it were deflated like a 20 year old piece of furniture. The day I moved out of that apartment, I jumped onto the couch with both feet and cracked it right in half. Great feeling.
I’ll never buy wayfair again.

[悠里-th]

I got into woodworking last year. I’ve only made a few benches and tables so far. Nothing fancy but it feels good to make my own stuff and have it be so strong.

[bonniegaither]

Who else besides me is really sad that they damaged that beautiful real table

[e-spy]

So I took my daughter furniture shopping after she got her first home. It was a townhouse, she had little money. I was incensed as all of it, no matter where we went, was particle board. I thought what the heck? I could maybe figure out how to design and build furniture for her. I went to her house, took measurements, and I did. I designed a TV console that fit her room and made it feel like she was in a movie theater. It had rolling barn doors and a fireplace. I built her a coffee table and end tables in the finish she liked (custom). I made an entry table and a bar cart, and I built her a patio outside with a new bench and a garden. The maintenance man at the complex said they should hire me. The neighbors copied the garden designs. But all of the furniture I made her was real wood, not particle board or plywood. I had little tools. A square, a miter saw, and a drill. The furniture is solid after more than a decade. We can do this.

[lindathompson]

Thank you. I am 76 years old and still have the dresser I received when I was 12. It is very hard to find decent furniture today. Thank you for sharing this important information.

[KrisD]

The other issue is that, since most people can't afford a home, they have to keep in mind that no place is permanent. As rent goes up with each new lease, eventually we will have to move. Grandma's solid maple table is a lot harder to move from place to place than a lightweight plywood table.

[matthewhair]

I inherited my dining table about 10 years after it was made, and just after to 10 year warranty expired. For some reason, my parents ignored the misaligned feet, but I contacted the maker, Oakwood Industries in Missouri, through my local furniture store, and they sent me whole new pedestals to fix it, at no cost. They even stained the pedestals to match the back catalog color. It's truly amazing service, and they have superb craftsmanship and materials. I ended up buying side tables, chairs, 2 beds, nighstands, a dresser, and chest of drawers from them. I expect it will all last many decades. All of my furniture is carefully selected for quality, and the vast majority was made in America quite recently. It wasn't cheap, but it's cheaper than buying trendy crap two or three times.

[hanzfranz]

Yes, EVERYTHING has gotten more expensive while quality goes down at the same time.

[lordcupkake]

I think one massive oversight of this video is the effect of becoming a renter society on furniture preferences. Solid, hardwood, non-flatpack furniture is great when you can move it into a home you intend to keep long term. The long term furniture matched the long term house. Nowadays, people are moving a lot more frequently and more people are renting for longer so the advantages of a long-term, solid, sturdy (bulky) item have actually been diminished or reversed. No one wants a couch that you can't get into an elevator or up a stairwell because they can't get it into there apartments so the flat furniture has an advantage there too.

[StefanRemund-cduw]

My father is a carpenter, as a moving gift, he built me a Queen sized bedframe made out of stained solid white oak. It's so solid. I'll bet it's worth more than all my Wayfair furniture combined 😅

[Cammi-Cat-XIII]

I used to be a trucker about 5 years ago. I usually did lumber loads and I remember one day my load was the lowest quality lumber I had ever seen on my semi trailer. I delivered it to the Ashley Furniture factory in Wisconsin.

[Orinslayer]

"'We' created that demand; not the consumer." - the CEO literally on file saying that his products are so low quality that they will break and are impossible to fix, meaning that you will need to buy a new one soon. 💰👀🤢

[kc]

North Carolinian here. Grew up in the 70s, saw the decline of the furniture making industry

[emagneticfield]

When my previous house had a fire I bought ALL my replacement furniture from Salvation Army and never regretted buying there. I was able to get real wood well worn furniture scratches and missing pieces and all. Everything is comfortable and as an ensemble definitely one of a kind.

[DSmith-gstr]

My soul cried when she took a sledgehammer to that vintage table😭. I still have the beautiful vintage nightstand I grew up with. It's probably at least a century old.

[deemon]

You're talking about how precious old furniture is and also taking a sledge hammer to a piece. I'm so torn! 😭

[carriebutler-sxkg]

Thrift, garage sale and estate sales. I paid $250 for a 6, 000 dollar used Whitmore Sherrill leather sofa. $75 for a $3, 000 dollar leather chair. The deals are out there.