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Comment by mgerdts | Hacker News Reader

PSA: Used office chairs are a much better deal than new, at least if you are paying close to list price. About 10 years ago I bought a steelcase leap for less than $300. I've used it at least 250 days a year since then with no problems. List price on that chair is $1k.

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Last fall two regional banks merged, and they consolidated office space. A removals company was in charge of the move, and had a big sale. I missed the first weekend, but snagged 18 steelcase aria chairs - delivered to our coworking space - for $600 (and they took and disposed of 12 older chairs) These chairs' MSRP is $720 each.

Possibly one of the best bargains ever for me.

My office chair was $14 from Goodwill. Thrift stores are great places for office furniture. And when you're done with it, just donate it back so someone else can use it!

Used chairs seem to be plentiful. It seems that whenever a business moves office they just throw away or sell for very cheap all of their chairs and tables.

Selling for cheap basically means they want to get rid of it but not pay for disposal.

Which is good for me because they are almost always still in really good condition.

From a previous life in financial services refit (remodelling) you are correct. I have disposed of lots of top quality desks, chairs and drawers - sometimes with random amounts of cash left in them!

Always returned, btw.

I bought a brand new one and it's fantastic. The used market for premium chairs in my remote part of the country is non-existent. I certainly would have bought a second hand one since they are so well built.

Same, I bought a herman miller chair new about 6 years ago, there is no used chair that I could find in India.

But even when bought new, something that gets used so much everyday is worth the price.

which herman miller did you bought? and what's the price there?

Not OP but I have a Mirra 2, I liked it better than the Aeron or Embody. I do really suggest you go someplace where you can try it out, also the various sizes. I bought refurb, don't remember price.

Also not OP and I also have a Mirra 2. There is a school of thought that as the Aeron is a design classic they can't really iterate on it. The Mirra has been great for me.

I got the sayl chair. It was around INR 45,000 I believe at that time. The aeron was around INR 85,000.

+1 for this. I bought my Herman Miller Aeron new almost 20 years ago now and I still love it & use it every day. Immediately fixed some (very mild) back trouble I was having.

It probably won't fit the Shopify budget, it's super expensive. But having the same chair used in recording studios and is officially a work of art in the Museum of Modern Art [1] still makes me smile every day I go to sit down to work.

[1] https://www.moma.org/collection/works/3734

Yeah, I bought the executive Aeron because I couldn't stand so much plastic and it cost an eye watering £1200.

But I'd spent £300 on a chair before it that didn't last three months, wasn't as adjustable or comfortable, I couldn't get a refund on and for which there are no spares on eBay. 10 years in it's looking like a great buy.

Same here. There were some refurbished Herman Millers for like 500€ here, so I opted for a new Steelcase Gesture. Don't regret it at all.

Yep. My small company bought us all second hand aerons for less than £300 each. Perfect condition (except for one which needed a wheel, which we replaced for < £10). When we were acquired and moved offices, a full new set of brand new Aerons were bought, even if you specifically asked to keep your old one.

Oh well, at least someone got a cheap desk chair out of mine.

I bought a refurbished Herman Miller Aeron today on Craig's List for $350, with same day delivery. It might just be a Bay Area thing, but Craig's List was crawling with them. I'm guessing it's all the failing businesses liquidating their stock.

I used it all day and I'm amazed I spent years in an $80 Amazon chair.

oo if i may ask -- where?

I just typed "Aeron" into Craig's List and chose a seller. I think they delivered out of San Mateo. The going rate seemed to be $300 - $400 depending on whether you needed delivery or not.

You could still buy original Aeron from dot com era. Got myself 2002 model last year in close to pristine condition, only armrest needed to be replaced due wear

For those in the UK, I recommend Studio Modern (https://studiomodern.co.uk/) for refurbished chairs. I have only bought one chair from them (Mirra 2), but was originally recommended it by someone who has bought dozens for offices.

I've had 2 mirra chairs at home for years, I think they were ~£120 off ebay each and are ridiculous value for money.

This. I bought a used Herman Miller Miira for $250 and when I priced it out it was 1200 new. Great chair and significantly better than the new $200 office chairs.

Any ideas on what the best clearinghouses online for used Steelcase or Herman Miller chairs would be?

These chairs are big and heavy, shipping will probably be annoying. I got mine from an office liquidator ~30 minutes from my home, which I found just by searching for office liquidators near me that had inventory listings online. As a bonus, you can probably see it in person before you actually buy it.

http://madisonseating.com has been a reliable supplier for years.

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for but for some reason was unable to find.

I highly don't recommend buying from them. I bought a steelcase leap v2 in platinum color and it's clear that the base of the chair is a cheap knockoff.

Crappy silver spraypaint that flakes, the wheels barely work, the piston was broken on delivery (which they did replace for free).

I've had problems with the chair being too low at max height and I am a short guy. I still don't know if it's their cheap base that's the culprit or that's just the design.

Thanks for saying this. Before I read your comment, I thought they were selling opened box or used Steelcase chairs, but 100% authentic. There's nothing on the site that I could find that discloses that parts of the chairs are not authentic. If that's the case, it's super shady of them.

I've been dealing with them for years and never saw anything shady. Perhaps the GP got unlucky and was unwittingly sold chairs with replacement parts.

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