SamTheMan

Discolouration is not going to be the problem but PU may deteriorate and become a sticky mass in 1-2 years. If I were you, I would go for PVC or Fabric.

Try HTL or Domicil.

I believe there's already a thread on St. Louis, you may want to do a search.

That's a commercial hob. You may want to look for a professional kitchen equipment supplier.

Please look at the threads for Red Apple and Winter, same company

This is not easy for the average consumer. People in the furniture trade can probably identify it will some effort.

Well you get what you pay for. Seahorse provides their products at amazingly low prices, I suppose a little give and take is fine anyway they are replacing for you.

Then perhaps you should get some quotes first before you decide. My guess is that the cost of re-upholstery will be quite close to the cost of getting a new sofa but if you like what you have then you may want to re-upholster.

How many years? Usually not worth doing because will need to change foam as well.

Hi Mr. EL, So what's the lead oxide content of your crystal glass table tops?

Luxury Brands Space, Minotti, Marquis, Proof Living. Pricing from 15-40K High-End XZQT, Domicil, Natuzzi, LeMerciers. Pricing 5-10K Mid-range OM, Lifestorey Low-end Cellini, Star Living Group, Lorenzo These are the brands that have very few negative comments.

Good point Phin. Willing buyer willing seller means good deal.

Hi EL, If you actually have to buy a half leather sofa at SGD1700 you must really evaluate your buyer. For SGD1700 I can get what you mentioned in full cowhide in 1.5mm thickness. I have given my 2 cents worth, I am sure that as you mentioned your very learned customers will make an intelligent decision.

Hi EL, So $2299 net will be $2086 before GST. Since you say you need more than 50% GP to survive, let's just say you are working of 60%. So the sofa will cost you only $834. That's within my estimate. So what are you trying to tell me, me confuse.

Hi Mr. Executive Living, Say if I were to order a Crystal Glass item from your store and I send it for independent testing and if it turns out that it is not crystal glass, would you be open to refunding me for the item and the cost of testing? A 3m long half leather L-shape sofa in corrected grain bovine leather/pvc will cost approximately, SGD600-900 landed in Singapore. A reasonable margin for a sofa is 45-50% to cover your costs. In other words a 3m half leather sofa that retails at SGD1399-1999 inclusive of GST would be considered a reasonable price. Strangely enough, I was at Jurong Point yesterday and I saw a half leather L-Shape sofa at about 2.4m long at Sea Horse and it was retailing at SGD879. I would imagine my estimate is already a little on the high side. But every company has a different cost structure, some are more efficient than others. Perhaps you would like to enlighten us on your own cost structure.

Hi Mr. Executive Living, With regards to the crystal glass thingy, it is not deduction, it is with years of experience that I conclude that not all your glass surfaces are made with crystal glass. In fact, I am sure that none of your glass surfaces is made with crystal glass for the following reasons: 1. The facets you claim are edges that glass manufacturers cut. 2. Based on the prices of your glass items, you would lose money on every sale if the items are made of crystal glass. The reason you claim that the items are crystal glass is probably once again copy writing. You want to make it sound like you are a premium brand when you are just selling mass market products. With regards to your Full-Grain option, by your own admission, the thickest leather you have is 1.7mm. A piece of cowhide is 5-7mm. In other words you don't have this option. Meaning you are just putting things on your website to make it sound like you are a premium provider. Either that or you have a total lack of product knowledge. For all I know your leather can be from timbuktu because as you said this is what your distributor tells you. But that's neither here nor there. True enough, you are not claiming that your products are made in Europe or USA when your products are from Malaysia and China. Having said that your products are not really premium quality products but your prices are tending towards the mid-range. I wouldn't say great value for money. Consumers are better off spending their hard earned money at more established company at lower prices for the kind of products that you carry. All I can say is that you guys have a decent eye for sofas and the designs are interesting but if your prices are dropped by about 30% then I would say that your products are a good value for money. Anyway, I know you are everybody else is in business to make money, your goal is to maximize profit for each item sold. It's your prerogative to price your products according to your wishes. However this is an internet forum to share opinions and my opinion is that you are overpriced for the kind of items you carry. Having said that you are probably not the only furniture company selling overpriced items. There are numerous companies on this forum that has a multitude of complaints and they still sell items at a very high price. So if you can convince your customers to buy your products and the prices you charge, more power to you.

Hi Mr. Executive Living, Great attitude. 1. Glad I cleared up the mechanism thingy because I was really confused about Legend Plate, I suppose you now need to update your website and brochure. 2. Let's agree to disagree on the crystal glass, your brochure says all glass surfaces are crystal glass, perhaps another effort by your copywriter to flow. From a furniture perspective, you are better off providing tempered float glass because of the strength and safety, as you can see from your wiki search crystal glass is softer than float glass. Also, it makes no sense to use crystal glass on flat surfaces because the increased refractive index does not come into play since flat glass has no facets. Finally, I would imagine the cost of crystal glass would be prohibitive since crystal glass cost several time more than float glass. 3. I refer you to your website under "Why Us", "Luxurious leather options include magnificent heavy embossed leather (top Grain), with its intricate and alluring patterns that seem to go on forever, and the much sought-after semi-aniline grade (Full Grain) which is treated to show off the natural grain. This grade is special as instead of fading over time, it ages gracefully and exudes an aura of beauty no words can describe. Truly a sight that deserves to be experienced first-hand." "Full-grain leather – Highest quality leather where the top grain and split layers are not separated. Executive Living uses this leather in our best sets for greater strength, durability, and breathability. Interestingly, this leather is also used in luxury shoes." The above paragraphs are from your website. Perhaps your copywriter convenient wrote these without checking with you. 4. Well perhaps you want to reign in your copywriter. 5. All I said is that you could help your customers save some money by sourcing in Asia. I personally have seen many cowhides that are as good as Italian hides. 6. Once again I refer you to your website, "Not only do we offer premium-quality products at mid-end prices, we take care to educate you about the products and services you will receive so that you know exactly what you are paying for." I wouldn't want to put words into your mouth, I hope that your copywriter does not put his foot into his mouth.

Half leather is perfectly fine, but the colours are limited, try to choose dark colours like Dark Brown or Black because lighter colours will result in a two-tone effect over time because genuine leather and PVC will fade differently. Half leather sofas are easy to spot, the texture on the seat and the back will be quite different, just take a close look.

Hi Mr. Executive Living, After seeing you write so many wonderful things about you company, I thought I would drop by your showroom to have a look. On your brochure you make several claims: 1. Your mechanisms are from Legend Plate, imported from USA. 2. All glass surfaces are made from crystal glass. 3. You use full-grain cowhides that are not split. 4. You use cow-hides from Brazil which is supposedly higher grade because of the gentle climate. 5. Your leather is Tuscan leather. 6. Your products are premium quality at "mid-end" pricing. So let me tell you what I saw: 1. Your mechanisms are from Leggett and Platt, which is mostly made in China. All you have to do is to open up your recliners and look at the label, it clearly says Leggett and Platt. There is nothing wrong with this brand, I don't see why you keep denying it. Most sofa makers use this brand. 2. Most of you glass items are using coloured glass, crystal glass is glass with a high lead oxide content and is usually clear. So the coloured glass items are unlikely to be crystal glass. Next the only piece of clear glass I saw in your showroom has a green tinge on it, this is a normal colour seen on float glass. Furniture makers use crystal glass because there will be no green tinge on the glass. 3. You supposedly use Full-grain leather for your semi-aniline range and they have not been split, a cow-hide is typically 5-7mm thick, your semi-aniline leather is 1.3-1.5mm thick. Do the math. 4. Leather manufacturers use hides from Brazil not because of the gentle climate but because hides are plentiful. Brazil has a climate like Singapore, how is it gentle? 5. Your sofas are from Zolano, there is no mention of Tuscan leather on their website. The leather could have been tanned in Tuscany but really, how leathers are made is more important than where they are made. Many Italian leather companies have tanneries in Asia, if you started using their leather maybe you can reduce your cost without sacrificing quality. 6. Finally, you supposedly have premium products at "mid-end" prices. I noticed that most of your sofas are presented in 0.9-1.1mm leather mixed with PVC. This is the kind of products that are sold in most mass-market stores. If you go to a premium brand such as Natuzzi or Giorgetti, they will never even present a product in half-leather and the leather thickness will be from 1.5mm-3mm. Thicker leather lasts longer and will not crack or peel faster than thinner leather, this is why high-end brands use them. So while I respect the fact that you will promptly respond to comments, I think that you have been rather liberal about your product specifications. Consumers spend their hard earned money to buy furniture, I think they deserve to know exactly what they are buying and not hear sales talk. Cheers,

You have 4 factories behind you, meaning you own these 4 factories? You are very good at not answering questions directly. Anyway, in business there is this thing called transfer pricing, it will not make any economic sense for the factories to supply you with sofas at below a price they can get selling to somebody else because they will have costs to incur in production. Similarly, you have your own costs it will not make sense for you to make less money than any other retailer because if you did you will go out of business and it does not help you customers. I am sure all you customers want you to be profitable so that you can be around a long time to continue serving them.

Hi Executive Living, May I know where your sofas are manufactured? From your website, it sounds like you manufacture your own sofas or do you buy from a supplier?

Try Kim Hwee Sofa, they are on the yellowpages.

You should report to IRAS. They cannot collect GST if they are not GST registered, it's illegal.

No such thing as a good fake leather for sofas because they all lack tensile strength, maximum will tear in 2 years. If you really have to go for synthetic then go for PVC, the most stable. PU feels softer to the touch by more likely to peel off quickly. Bonded leather is just awful because is it just ground up leather held together will glue.

Absolutely True. A white leather sofa is easier to maintain but still not easy at all. A white fabric sofa is near impossible to take care of.