What is a good office chair worth? | Hacker News Reader

What is a good office chair worth?

14 pointsapeters30 comments

I don’t quite understand the prices sometimes. It’s a bit like with mattresses. Some cost 1000 USD for no apparent reason.

What’s your take on it? Are there "fair chairs"?

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FWIW, my Herman Miller Aeron has given me sciatica over the years. That's frankly more a problem with my terrible posture and sitting position, but I wanted to note it here because we're all probably pretty bad at that. If you need a quick fix, I'd focus more on core strength and sitting posture than chairs.

I bought an Aeron 2 years ago and absolutely love it. I coupled the purchase with posture improvements and have nearly eliminated my back pain. As noted above, an ergonomic chair is only one part of the equation.

Great input, thanks.

The high price office chairs often have a lot more adjustments so they can be a good fit to more people. And they're durable and available. There's value in being able to buy the same chair multiple times for your whole career (if you like it).

Of course, just because a chair has some good qualities doesn't mean it's right for you. Lots of people love chairs I hate, etc.

If you don't want to pay for a fancy chair, your options are really look out for used office equipment dealers, or try a bunch of lower priced chairs in a retail office store and see if one happens to be a good fit; they won't adjust in the right ways if not, but if it fits, you sits.

Thanks, that was helpful

I've had the same Herman Miller Aeron for 22 years. It's survived 4 office moves (by office moving companies) and finally a move to my house when I went WFH full time. I've replaced the casters (due to different flooring) and the lumbar support but other than that, it's still in great working condition. All the adjustments are still working, the seat and back fabric are basically like new, the fabric on the arms is still in good shape (if faded).

I got mine used or overstock (been so long I don't remember) and it would be totally worth whatever it costs new.

There was a time I thought expensive chairs are overrated. Until I sat on Herman Miller Embody [1]... this chair is so comfortable to sit on, I wish I learned about this chair earlier...

[1] https://www.hermanmiller.com/en_lac/products/seating/office-...

I sat on one and thought it would be good at 350. Everyone is different.

We had floors full of this at work. Sat on them for 2-3 years. I did not like them. Did not hate them either.

Found out they cost >$1000. Still don't like them.

I (very luckily) picked up a Serta Smart Layers Hensley Big & Tall Ergonomic Bonded Leather High-Back Chair in 2017 from Office Depot for $97 at Xmas time - It was a floor model.

The chair held up great, although I did break an arm off last year (sheered bolt) and had a heck of a time replacing the bolt to keep the chair going, but it worked.

The bonded leather finally started wearing off in the last year, so this year I decided to swing by Office Depot and drop another $97 ...

Of course that was not an option :)

So I checked out all the chair in the store and still very much preferred that Serta High-Back Big & Tall chair.

I was surprised to see the chair's regular price is $499 - Man did I get lucky in 2017.

It was on sail that day for $299, but I set on sub-$100 so I didn't buy it that day.

I went home and searched online in the $300 range, and by the time I realized that I wasn't going to be any happier than that chair for $300, the sale had ended :)

Then it was time to scour the internet for anyone still offering the sale price on that chair.

Finally found it at OfficeSupply.com with a few days left at the $299 sale price.

So now I'm back in the same chair and loving it.

So, I guess $300 is my price point :)

I second the comment about trying them, but then again, it’s very different using a chair in a showroom than 8 hours a day. My Steelcase chair is for sure the best office investment I’ve made!

With a good chair you are looking for something that can accommodate to you. Remember that your body is the real expensive stuff in your office!

+1 for Steelcase

I bought a Steelcase Think after deciding I really liked them in the office I worked at. I've had it for over five years now, and it's still just as rock solid as the day I got it. I've even abused it by dragging it through a very rough parking lot (almost gravel, really) several times into a gaming event.

My only regret with my purchase was that I didn't buy the headrest they offered at the time, though I found a third party headrest for some other chair that happened to be compatible.

I think these days durability is the most important if you want to be “fair” in some sense of the word. A close relative has had his Aeron since the mid 90s. It’s still the same, like a tank, still in use. It’s repairable, sellable etc. I’ve torn through a few shitty ikea chairs in a couple years or so, and caused myself unnecessary strain and pain.

So I got myself an HM Sayl lately (used bargain) because I didn’t want a huge throne to dominate the small room. Best choice ever. Can’t recommend strongly enough. Prefer it to aeron.

As with cars, not worth buying new, but worth buying higher quality used. The noteworthy brands retain value for longer but the wear and tear drives their price down.

I am very happy with MARKUS Office chair from IKEA. I think this is the best value for money chair I have had so far.

Most people buy a new office chair every 5-10 years - hence the initial expensive price, among other things, I guess.

the cost of office chairs soared from the start of the pandemic and doesnt seem to have come down appreciably.

Premium office chairs involve far more cost up-front, but are actually pretty good values when you consider that there's a realistic chance that they'll last 10-20+ years of normal use. Herman Miller, as one example, I believe offers a standard 12 year parts and labor warranty with their chairs, so they're probably intended to last at least 12 years. The no-name $100 chair you find on Amazon has a pretty good chance of starting to fall apart within 1 year.

(Disclaimer: I live in EU)

I have an office chair from a Swedish company, RBM-765. It's quite adjustable and worth all the money that I paid for it.

The quality is lot better than the usual Ikea chair.

Watch https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cslQsqSalqc to see the different adjustments.

I got it recommended by mech engineers who worked on chairs for disabled people.

Thank you. :)

I bought a Herman Miller Embody on sale for $1450.

Sound insane? I dunno. It comes with a 12 year warranty, so $10 a month or so. I am comfortable and pain-free even on the occasions that I sit in it for 14 hours straight (yes, I know I shouldn't do that).

I like it a bit better than the Aeron, but note that it is not as adjustable as the latter -- notably, the lumbar support either fits you or it doesn't.

> Some cost 1000 USD for no apparent reason

What you're paying for is durability.

Sure, you can get a $100 chair from your local office supply store that looks and feels like a $1,000 Herman Miller, but you'll find that the mesh seating starts to sag after a year. Or one of the chair legs will break. Or the air cylinder will fail.

I've abused my Steelcase Think (Was ~$850 when I bought it in 2017) and it still feels rock solid.

I couldn't bring myself to buy a Herman Miller. I bought this one and I'm really happy with it https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/2724332/WorkPro-Ocean...

There's a saying that goes something like, "never go cheap on anything that separates you from the ground (tires, shoes, beds, chairs...)"

A "good" chair is worth $1000s in saved medical costs for fixing bad backs, necks, etc

Ergonomics is quite a valuable this to invest in

You can sometimes buy used/reconditioned chairs at a hefty discount. My current office chair (a Haworth X99 advanced seminar chair) was about 10% of the original retail price, and the same outfit sells Herman Miller chairs for a couple hundred bucks.

got a link, perchance?

https://nationalofficeinteriors.com/

I bought through a local business. If you're near DC, buy a chair from Cubes2u!

Yeah I got a used Herman Miller for £400 on eBay in the UK.

HÅG H09 here, 12 years old. I regularly suffer from a bad back through doing stupid stuff. When I am in pain I choose to sit in this chair, because it is so good. And still it is like the day I bought it.

The HM Embody resolved the burning pain that used to set into my shoulders after 5 hours.

You also pay for brand reputation, materials, build quality and quality assurance, and even design.

But why not try them?

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