ModernGraham.com - A resource for Intelligent Investors

             For a new kitchen table $45 might seem like an unbelievable steal, yet are you getting what you paid for? In theory, if furniture is well taken care of, it can last for years. The dresser that I have in my bedroom is over 22 years old and is still just as beautiful as when it was brand new. So, I have found myself wondering lately if classic and moderately priced beats out trendy and cheap. This has caused me to look at what I have that has lasted and what hasn’t.

            Two years ago, we wanted to downsize our computer desk. It was fine 12 years ago when we actually needed a place to store our oversized computer, printer, and scanner, but with everything shrinking the desk was becoming a place to store our junk and something we really just needed to get rid of. Since it was too big to move out of the front door, we began to take it apart, and an entire day later we had finally yanked apart every price of wood and neatly packed it so it could be put back together somewhere else. It is currently at someone’s house and is still in wonderful condition. The desk we replaced it with however is not. We wanted something small, with two drawers that would hold our computer but that we could easily move for cleaning so we went to IKEA to find something that we hoped would fit all of our needs. The desk we bought cost under $100 and a year and a half later it began to fall into pieces. First the drawer stopped working right, then I pulled the whole front of the drawer off, then other pieces started to loosen and slowly the desk is falling apart. Now, I am a very handy girl – I put a new kitchen floor in this summer and I am VERY comfortable around power tools so this is not a case of not putting it together correctly, but rather a simple case of poor quality. We are now going to have to buy a new desk. If we continued buying a new desk every two years we would spend about $600 in 12 years, the same amount of time that we had a desk that cost us around $400. Furthermore, if we hadn’t decided to downsize, our old desk would still be great condition and probably last us for another 12 years if not more.

            There is no question that the better quality something is, the better it is and while it isn’t always possible to by the best quality products available, it is important to be smart about what quality products you do buy. Two weeks ago I bought a $1,900 mattress, which I admit is a bit of a splurge, but the sheets that I put on it cost me $25 for a complete set. Furthermore, the mattress is guaranteed to last for 20 years costing me about $95 per year and will help me with my chronic back pain. The sheets on the other hand will go within two years no matter what quality I get and since I wear pants and a t-shirt to bed, their quality won’t matter much anyway. In general, while discount stores for furniture might seem like a great way to save money, you could actually be costing yourself in the long run.