Short answer
- “Open-box”, “floor model”, “refurbished” and “like new” are marketing words with no legal or industry definition. Two sellers can use the same word for very different pieces.
- What matters is not the word but the answer to three questions: what is wrong with it, where exactly, and is there a photograph of that spot.
- A seller who grades honestly will volunteer the flaw. A seller who describes everything as “excellent” is telling you they have not looked.
- On a one-of-one piece, the condition note is the product description. There is no second unit to fall back on.
Furniture condition language is unregulated. Nobody certifies it, no standard defines it, and the same sofa can be listed as “excellent open-box” by one seller and “good, minor wear” by another. This guide is about translating the words, and about the questions that get you past them.
The words, and what they usually mean
New
Unused, in original packaging, never assembled or displayed. On a discount floor this is genuine overstock or a cancelled order. It should look and behave exactly like the same piece from a chain showroom. If a seller calls something new and it has been assembled, the word is being stretched.
Open-box
The carton was opened. That is all it strictly tells you. It covers a piece someone unwrapped and changed their mind about within the hour, and a piece that was fully assembled, used for a fortnight and returned. The gap between those two is most of the value of the item.
The question that resolves it: was it ever assembled and used, and are all the fittings and hardware present? Missing hardware on a returned item is common and frequently unmentioned.
Floor model / display
Assembled and shown in a store. Expect light surface wear on the arms, seat fronts and any high-touch edge, and expect the cushions to have taken some set from people sitting on them. Structurally these are usually sound — they were assembled once by people who assemble furniture for a living, and never moved after that.
The question: how long was it on the floor, and was it in a window? Sun-fade on one side is the classic floor-model flaw and it is not fixable.
Refurbished / restored
Something was repaired. This is the vaguest word on the list, because it can mean a professional reupholstery or it can mean somebody glued a leg back on. Ask what was repaired, by whom, and to what.
Used, pre-owned, second-hand
Lived with in a home. The honest word, and the one most sellers avoid. A used piece from a careful household is often in better condition than a floor model from a busy showroom.
How we grade, and what each grade actually commits us to
We use four grades, and every listing carries one plus a written note on anything worth knowing, with photographs of the flaw rather than around it.
| Grade | What it means on our floor |
|---|---|
| New | Unused. No wear anywhere. Any packaging or hardware situation stated on the page. |
| Like new | You would have to be told to find the flaw. Typically a piece opened and barely used, or a display piece from a quiet floor. |
| Good | Visible, minor, specific — a scuff on one leg, a mark on one cushion, light seat set. Named in the note and photographed. |
| Fair | Obvious wear, or a defect that affects how it looks from across the room. Priced accordingly and described bluntly. |
Two things we do not do. We do not reuse one set of photographs across two units of the same model — if two of the same sofa are on the floor, they are two separate listings with their own photographs, because no two used pieces wear alike. And where a listing includes a computer-generated room scene to help you picture the piece in a space, it is labelled a styled rendering and the real photographs come first. You judge the piece by the photographs, always.
The five questions to ask any seller
- What is the single worst thing about this piece? A seller who cannot name one has not inspected it. The answer is more informative than the grade.
- Is there a photograph of that spot? Not a photograph of the piece — a photograph of the flaw, in daylight, close.
- Is any hardware, cushion, cover or component missing? Especially on anything modular, reclining or with a mechanism.
- Does anything smell? Smoke and pet odour do not photograph. They are also the hardest thing to remove from upholstery and the most common reason a cheap sofa becomes a skip.
- Has it been in storage, and where? Unconditioned Georgia storage in summer is hard on veneer, glue joints and leather.
What to check with your own hands
Photographs cannot show you these, which is the argument for seeing a piece before you pay the balance:
- Sit and shift your weight. A frame that creaks or racks side to side has a joint problem. Foam that bottoms out under you is done.
- Lift one corner. A well-built sofa lifts as one rigid object. A tired one flexes and twists.
- Open and close every drawer twice. Look for dovetails or dowels rather than staples, and check the drawer runs smoothly at the end of its travel, not just the start.
- Look at the underside. It is where repairs, water staining and cheap construction are visible and where nobody photographs.
- Press the veneer edges. Lifting at a corner spreads and is not worth fixing on an inexpensive piece.
- Smell the inside of a case piece with the doors shut, then opened.
What condition should do to the price
There is no formula, but there is a sanity check. Work out what the piece costs new today — not what a listing claims it once retailed for — and ask whether the discount is proportional to the flaw. A named scuff on one leg does not justify half off; it also should not be priced as if it were not there. If a seller quotes an original retail figure, ask where the figure comes from. Ours come from the manufacturer’s or retailer’s own current listing, and where we cannot verify one, we do not print it.
The one-of-one part
Everything above matters more when the piece is unique. On a chain floor a bad unit gets swapped. Here the piece you are looking at is the piece, so the condition note is not a disclaimer buried in the listing — it is the product description, and we would rather lose the sale than have you drive to Duluth and find something we did not mention.
Every piece on the floor, with its grade and note · How a hold and deposit works
Common questions
What does open-box furniture mean?
Only that the carton was opened. It covers both a piece someone unwrapped and changed their mind about within the hour and a piece that was fully assembled, used for weeks and returned. The question that resolves it is whether the piece was ever assembled and used, and whether all hardware and fittings are present — missing hardware on returned items is common and frequently unmentioned.
Is a floor model worth buying?
Usually yes, structurally: floor models are assembled once by people who do it professionally and then rarely moved. Expect light surface wear on arms and seat fronts and some cushion set. The flaw to ask about is sun-fade on one side from a window position, which is not repairable.
What should I check on a used sofa before buying it?
Sit and shift your weight to test for frame creak or racking; lift one corner and see whether it rises as one rigid object; press the veneer edges on case goods; look at the underside where repairs and water staining show; open every drawer and work every mechanism twice; and smell the piece, since smoke and pet odour never appear in photographs and are the hardest thing to remove from upholstery.
See the floor
Everything we have is listed with its own photographs, its condition grade and its price. One of each — when a piece sells it comes off the floor rather than being restocked.