How to Choose a Furniture Brand: 7 Concrete Criteria to Look At

Short answer: when choosing a furniture brand, look not at the name but at what it commits to in writing. Seven concrete criteria separate a good company from a bad one: the source of production, transparency about materials, dimension information, the scope of the guarantee, after-sales service, delivery terms and reachability.

This article is about assessing the company in front of you, not the product. The product itself is a separate subject: what to watch for when buying furniture.

1. Source of production: is the company a maker or a reseller?

A company either has the product made itself or buys it ready-made and sells it on. Neither is bad, but the difference grows when something goes wrong: a company close to production has a broken door remade; a middleman says "I have none left". Does the About page say where the products are made? If the answer to a request to change the fabric is "it only comes like this", the company is far from production. In detail: the İnegöl furniture guide.

2. Material transparency: if it is not stated, there is a reason

Are the body material, foam density, fabric type and rub count written on the page? The company already has this information. If it is not stated, the reason is usually one thing: written down, the product does not look as good as expected. Measurable statements like "solid beech frame" are a good sign; sentences like "first-class materials" are decoration, not information.

3. Dimension information: vague measurements are a bad sign

A serious company states the width, length and height of every product, and on a sofa gives the seat depth too. A product with no dimensions is one you cannot know will fit your home. And second: the company may not have picked it up and measured it.

4. Guarantee: not how many years, but what it covers

The sentence "2-year guarantee" on its own means nothing; what matters is the scope. The guarantee text should state:

• When the period starts (usually the invoice date).
• What is covered: material and workmanship faults arising from production.
• What is not: impact, incorrect cleaning, ordinary wear, unauthorised assembly.
• Whether an installation record is required.

A company that states the exclusions plainly is more honest. One that does not will read you the exception when the problem arises.

5. After-sales service: can parts be replaced?

The most common problems are small: a hinge, a runner, a door. The question is: can you find that part two years later? A company that bought and sold the model as a one-off cannot. The answer "have a local craftsman look at it" means there is no after-sales service.

6. Delivery and assembly: who carries it, and up to which floor?

This is the stage of the purchase where most problems arise. Settle it before ordering:

• Whose responsibility is transport, and who covers transport damage?
• If there is no lift, up to which floor is it carried, and whose cost is an external hoist?
• Is assembly included, and within how many hours must damage be reported?
• Is the delivery time different for stock items and made-to-order ones? We explained where the difference comes from in why furniture delivery takes longer.

7. Reachability: is there a person at the end of the phone?

This is the simplest and most telling test. Call the company: does anyone answer, and can they answer a technical question? Does the site show an open address and the registered trading name? The real question is: can you reach the same person after the sale? Contact that disappears after delivery is the most frequent complaint. More: is buying furniture online safe.

Red flags

• Constant, exaggerated discount claims. A promotion that says "last 2 days" all year round is not a discount, it is pricing.
• Product pages with no dimensions or materials. If there are only photographs, what is being sold is expectation, not information.
• No written guarantee or return terms. A verbal promise cannot be proved.
• A single contact channel. A seller with no address and no phone number is risky.

8 questions you should ask the company

You can copy these and send them to the company; ask for the answers in writing:

• Where is this product made, and is there made-to-order production?
• What is the body material, the foam density and the fabric rub count?
• What are the width, length, height and seat depth?
• How many years is the guarantee, and what does it cover and exclude?
• For the guarantee, does your team have to do the installation?
• Two years from now, can a door, hinge or cushion be replaced?
• Who is responsible for transport and assembly, and up to which floor is it carried?
• How long is delivery, and how am I informed if it is delayed?

A scoring table you can use yourself

Score each criterion: 2 = stated in writing and clear, 1 = told when asked, 0 = no answer.

↔ Scroll the table sideways to see all of it.

Reading it: 11-14 points is safe. Between 7 and 10, ask about the gaps and get them filled in. Below 7, look at other options too.

Where does Selishome stand on these criteria?

The following are stated on our site and can be verified:

• Guarantee: 2 years on furniture products, starting from the invoice date. What is and is not covered is set out on the guarantee terms page, together with the installation record requirement.
• Delivery: transport is our responsibility and we cover transport damage. In a building with no lift, if the stairs allow, items are carried up to the 3rd floor, and damage is expected to be reported within 24 hours. The timings are on the shipping and delivery page.
• Reachability: our trading name, our address in İnegöl/Bursa and our telephone number are stated on the about us page.

You can find how Selishome measures up on these seven criteria in question-and-answer form in frequently asked questions about Selishome.

You can see the dimension and material information in our sofa set category or on the Kays corner sofa set page.