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>It makes me wonder .. if the US shutdown Canadian wood imports, would that significantly lower prices for Canadian consumers? How low would it go? It probably

>It makes me wonder .. if the US shutdown Canadian wood imports, would that significantly lower prices for Canadian consumers? How low would it go? It probably wouldnt go low because you are not recognising global demand and a growing global population, cost of automation for factory (automated built) furniture, bespoke furniture by individual or small teams of carpenters, cost of transporting wood to other countries where costs are different. Here in the UK we have this place https://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/ https://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/ it does real solid (oak) wood furniture, not some furniture made of chipboard. It seems quite cheap but there are visible cost savings, like the furniture isnt that big, its suited to smaller homes than some grand mansion or luxury home, and with a lot of businesses, where finance/credit is available, sometimes the company main business is actually a credit broker/finance specialising in a niche market product. Some people have said GE (General Electric) is now more a financial entity than a manufacturer, this is business diversification over the decades.

nly 5y ago
> the furniture isnt that big, its suited to smaller homes To be fair, pretty much anything built after 1960 is small, and all UK housing is small by American standards. I also don't think most people in the UK consider OakFurnitureLand a cheap, or even an affordable place to buy furniture. Despite being made of cheap internationally sourced oak, and somewhat mediocre, it's definitely a premium brand. If you were to buy all your furniture there many people would consider you well off. Spot on with the reality of their finance business though
taffronaut 5y ago
I spent quite a lot of time in https://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/ https://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/ returns outlet picking through stuff. I furnished most of a house from there. The furniture is made in places like Thailand, and woods like mango are used as well as 'oak'. They must make reasonable margins even with the normal prices they charge. I'm sure they also benefit at least on their lower tier of credit plus upsells on insurance etc. I didn't encounter any of that as the outlet was strictly cash. Even the carcasses use solid wood. Some of the returned furniture had cracks in interior wooden boards where a composite like ply/chip/MDF would not have cracked. I guess solid wood is lighter, part of their brand and they have less diversity of material sourcing. It must pay off, even with slightly higher returns.

nly 5y ago

> the furniture isnt that big, its suited to smaller homes To be fair, pretty much anything built after 1960 is small, and all UK housing is small by American standards. I also don't think most people in the UK consider OakFurnitureLand a cheap, or even an affordable place to buy furniture. Despite being made of cheap internationally sourced oak, and somewhat mediocre, it's definitely a premium brand. If you were to buy all your furniture there many people would consider you well off. Spot on with the reality of their finance business though

taffronaut 5y ago

I spent quite a lot of time in https://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/ https://www.oakfurnitureland.co.uk/ returns outlet picking through stuff. I furnished most of a house from there. The furniture is made in places like Thailand, and woods like mango are used as well as 'oak'. They must make reasonable margins even with the normal prices they charge. I'm sure they also benefit at least on their lower tier of credit plus upsells on insurance etc. I didn't encounter any of that as the outlet was strictly cash. Even the carcasses use solid wood. Some of the returned furniture had cracks in interior wooden boards where a composite like ply/chip/MDF would not have cracked. I guess solid wood is lighter, part of their brand and they have less diversity of material sourcing. It must pay off, even with slightly higher returns.