Executive Living - Sofa

[simon512 0]

Hi,

I have been looking around for furnishing ever since i've gotten my new home in Sengkang (renovation just started ). What matters most to me in the living room is the sofa and had since read up abit on leather sofa and of course all the horror stories here.

I have decided on a leather sofa (less than 2.7 m in length ) as to go with the interior design of my home.

I went to the Furniture expo checked almost all the sofa vendors there, the price varied quite abit but mostly i was quite surprised to be quoted between $1800-$2300 for full genuine leather sofa. I am firm believer of you get what you paid for hence naturally i was quite sceptical. I stopped by executive living and tried their sofa and it felt better. I was educated on that they use top grain leather with a thickness of between 1.1 to 1.5. They are even willing to write all these down on their receipts.I was quoted between $2k to $3k depending on length, mechanism and design for half leather.

I liked their sofa and it was well within my budget but I decided to do some research before committing my hard earned money, i even went down to their showroom at tai seng mrt.

Sadly, I cannot find any feedback or review anywhere. Would appreciate if anyone who had purchased from them could drop some feedback here?

Secondly I wish to check with other experts here:

1. Typical $2k for full leather, most likely use split leather considering if they are honest merchant who actually do deliver genuine leather sofa?

2. Mechanism wise, is it better to have spring coil in leather seats as latex tend to be more susceptible to cave in?

If the feedbacks came in positive, most likely I will get from them and build this thread into the whole sofa purchase experience, with scanned receipts, photos, service level etc so as to help first time sofa hunter.

Edited May 20, 2011 by simon512

[laoyao64 0]

i went for the last show and this show. Was quoted around low $3k+ for a 3 seaters motorised L shape full leather.

Hi,

I have been looking around for furnishing ever since i've gotten my new home in Sengkang (renovation just started ). What matters most to me in the living room is the sofa and had since read up abit on leather sofa and of course all the horror stories here.

I have decided on a leather sofa (less than 2.7 m in length ) as to go with the interior design of my home.

I went to the Furniture expo checked almost all the sofa vendors there, the price varied quite abit but mostly i was quite surprised to be quoted between $1800-$2300 for full genuine leather sofa. I am firm believer of you get what you paid for hence naturally i was quite sceptical. I stopped by “executive living” and tried their sofa and it felt better. I was educated on that they use top grain leather with a thickness of between 1.1 to 1.5. They are even willing to write all these down on their receipts.I was quoted between $2k to $3k depending on length, mechanism and design for half leather.

I liked their sofa and it was well within my budget but I decided to do some research before committing my hard earned money, i even went down to their showroom at tai seng mrt.

Sadly, I cannot find any feedback or review anywhere. Would appreciate if anyone who had purchased from them could drop some feedback here?

Secondly I wish to check with other experts here:

1. Typical $2k for full leather, most likely use split leather considering if they are honest merchant who actually do deliver genuine leather sofa?

2. Mechanism wise, is it better to have spring coil in leather seats as latex tend to be more susceptible to cave in?

If the feedbacks came in positive, most likely I will get from them and build this thread into the whole sofa purchase experience, with scanned receipts, photos, service level etc so as to help first time sofa hunter.

[3xtra999 0]

I went to expo today and I'm also surprised that a full genuine leather sofa can cost less than those half-leather types.

Anyone with their experiences to share?

[SamTheMan 7]

Actually $1800 - $2300 for a full leather L-Shape sofa is achievable if the sofa was in Buffalo hide or the if the supplier used split leather for some portions of the sofa.

It is a good price, if the seller is willing to write everything clearly on the order it should be quite safe. My suggestion is to just pay a small deposit and then pay up the difference if the product delivered is what you ordered.

[Mortred 0]

hi ts

the price is achieveable.

depending on who u buy from.

buy from retailer definately more expensive as they need to cover sales people and high rental.

would suggest you visit some factory outlet for cheaper deal and not sacrificing quality.

recently i bought a full leather 3+2 sofa for $1618 at a factory outlet.

the outlet promise me full cash refund if goods deliver is not as presented.

they explained to me the price factor is caused by the distribution network and buying direct would definately save us alot of money as long as we dont mind buying it from a factory outlet.

they have a few selection of leather to choose from.

0.9mm or 1.3mm or aniline leather.

but i choose the 0.9mm as i do not require a sofa that serve me more than 10 yrs and i feel the 1.3mm leather is too thick to my liking for example not as soft.

[kalimantan 6]

i bought my 3+2 full leather from castilla modern in 30 sept 2007

Paid for $7k (include gst)

I know it is a good sofa because whenever guests comes, they sit on it and refuse to get up. Even kids / maid sit, refuse to give up unless called by their parents / employers to get up !

My son likes to jump on it for 3 years and it still it is a good sofa !

I do not believe cheap means good, unless i am really conned by them on the price.

[simon512 0]

i ended up buying a rozel furniture leather sofa ($1799 exclude gst) plus a love at first sight coffee table ($399 excld gst). Manage to nego it down to $2245 ( rd up figure include gst). main reason, i saw the same coffee table at exec living and they priced it at $599 on display. they difference in price is quite astoundin as i went bck n forth to confirm exact same aritecture. leather sofa had the same feel as well. second main reason, salesman penned exact dimension and material used - cowhide leather and countersigned remark on receipt that no buffalo non split leathrr is used for this set. took pictures of items with receipt as well. now crossing fingers. will start a seperate thread to run through the whole sofa buying experience to help new sofa hunter.

[simon512 0]

thank you motred but unfortunately i already committed to one.

To kalimantan, i hold same the principles but unfortunately i dnt have that high a budget so all i cld rely on is instinct, research and logical purchase. ( reno eatin up 55k of my savings played a big part to my budget constraint ) haha

movin on to dinin table, tv and bed now.

[laoyao64 0]

Hi EL, so are you saying that the 3 seaters motorised L shape full leather sofa that I was quoted ~$3000+ by your staff at the recent expo show is NOT made from full top grain leather?

[bubblegumm 0]

Hi E-Living,

I saw the thread from KenEmu and he seems to be an expert in leather.

So i m abit confuse. He say 2000 to 5000 is splited leather.

Is it true.

BTW i dono wats the diferent can you explain.

also i saw people say buffole leather? isnt buffol and cow same?

Is there OX leather also?

Who is right n who is wrong.

Can you help me.

Dear Sir

I would like to assure you that all our leather sofas are made from top grain leather, as I had said. We do not even have an option for spilt leather. Therefore, When we said its full leather means, its full top grain leather. I hope that answers your questions.

Hi all,

I happen to stumble upon this thread while looking for reno stuff for my own flat,

i'm also a sales consultant from one of the premium furniture importers here, won't say which company in case

get into trouble for advertising.

I'd like to explain that most the "leather sofas" in the market are using split leather and PU Leather.

Depending on your budget for your sofa options, i can give a rough guideline to the general market for your reference

For an average 3-seater size from 200cm-240cm

Price below $2000 - Manufactured Locally or Malaysia or China, chances are PU (Synthetic) Leather

Price $2000 - %5000 - Manufactured Locally or Malaysia or China, chances are Split Leather

Price $5000 - $8000 - Manufactured Locally or Malaysia or China, chances are Top Grain Leather

Price $8000 & Above - Manufactured in Europe, Chance are Top Grain Leather.

Actually when most retailers say Top Grain Leather its all BS. All machine compressed grains.. Look at all the grains are all so nice and uniform..

where got cow hide so standardised one...

Real cow hide is very rustic like an old cow boy's jacket..

Real Brands who has Real Top Grain Cow Hide - Proof Living, Marquis Furniture, Space Furniture, etc.

Understand that all consumers have their own set of budgets, just dont get conned by the BS sales talk from all the different places.

Im not trying to advertise for myself, if you have any enquiries on any brands please feel free to PM me i can offer some advice.

[beef68 1]

Hi EL ,

So what animal hide does your leather made of ? if you say that buffulo /cowhide is call bovine ?

Edited May 31, 2011 by beef68

[romeo78 0]

Infact we ve been trying so many sofas from A TO Z since last year.Somehow i dunno how i like the feel when i try on EL sofas.Ask my wife, she agreed.

Every sofa retailers kept telling us they are no.1. So whos no.2 no.3? haha

At the end, we chose EL..during XPO,ASIA PACIFIC FURNITURE FAIR.

Now just waiting for delivery most probaly end of July..after my reno complete.

Hopefully it will be a GREAT BUY.

Cheers.

[kalimantan 6]

Honestly which layman will go to understand the term "top grain", "cow" or animal codes out there since layman do not get to see the process of slaughtering,etc

We layman knows only cow milk (at least our AVA super good and ensure public confidence).

Now i am not saying who is more knowledgeable on the "materials" used here.

How about giving brand names so layman can easily "perceive" the brandname ?

For example in IT Tablets, we can say Apple is the pioneer and innovate so layman can easily see the "best" of it. However Apple do not tell us what complicated parts it use inside for most layman can never understand !.

For sofas, is there a real-leather brand names out there ? Eg da-vinci, etc in ascending order ? This way those who buy bottom down the list need not pay a high-con price of it. Those we pay the premiums at the top level knows the "quality is surely there".

Does anyone knows the list or each retailers are just advertising ?

[laoyao64 0]

Hi EL, really appreciate that you took great pain to educate us. I read from other threads that some buyers encountered peeling and cracking of their full leather sofa after 1-2 years of use. I'm very surprised as I had bought and used 2 sets of full leather sofa for 5 to 6 years without any maintenance and nothing happened. Is it that the so called top grain leather today are not genuine?

Btw, I saw your advertisement on Wan Pao yesterday that your company provided 10 years 结构保证 , is it only on structure and mechanism and NOT on leather? Lorenzo sales told me no warranty on leather. If EL do provide warranty on leather, when there is peeling and cracking, is it charged under wear and tear, so not under warranty? IMO (and my experience), if it's a genuine top grain leather, it should not peel and crack in less than 5 yrs with normal usage (unless under direct sun)? Is that true?

Dear Kalimantan

I took great pains to ensure that consumers do not get conned by rogue traders. many of the sales person here are poorly trained. They do not even know what they are selling. This ha been the industry practice for years. I put in effort to learn about the different types of leather and source for quality products, despite the fact that we are losing market share becasue we are adamant about the products that we market. I do not want people to think that our products are over priced. That is the reason why I put in effort to educate the consumers. At the very least let them know whta they are paying for when they patronises Executive Living. We always believe in value for money, many people think that leather is just leather, whether they buy leather sofa from A company or B company, its all the same except for the difference in pricing. The more we educate our consumers, the less likely that they will be overcharged. eventually, they will understand what is leathet sofa all about. Sad to say many of the clients that I met asked me about the thickness of the leather, in their opinion, the thicker it is the better. However is this really the case that thickeris better? Arent we more concern about what the leather comes from? How is the tanning done? what grade of leather are they looking at? Its all misconception that rogue traders in this industry had instil. That is why many of them regretted their purchase, they felt cheated, shortchanged after a few months when the prodcuts starts to show their defects. They pass this bad experience to people who wanted to have honest dealings, who offer geniune products. However they are sceptical as they have been bitten once and twice shy. That is the reason why we exists, we exists because of business and we exists because its passion, we love our clients, we love our products and we love the thrill of seeing a satisfaied customers walking through our doors again looking for coffee table and other furniture. That is our Mission.

You mentioned Da vinci, may I asked, how many people can afford or rather are willing to spluge on a piece of sofa set there? Its all different market segmentation. In EL we are trying to give our consumers value for money by offering products which are of quality materials. Our motorised units for our sofas are from Legend Plate (USA).we believe in quality over quantity.Most importantly, pricing. we believe in fair and affordable pricing which caters to a discerning few. With the faith and trust of our clients we are able to thrive this far, especailly the APEC fair which ended on the 22nd May 2011. We had overwhelming response and I would again like to give a Big thank you to Romeo and all those who had supported us.

[KenEmu 0]

Wow Executive Living, very impressive that you know Bovine leather.. Can i just check where are your leather sofas made?

I just want to put it to everyone that i'm not against any particular company or sales person, i'm just stating facts and providing advice.

But if you say that i dont know what i'm selling, then i pity you. You have no idea what the premium furniture is like.

Please advise everyone here how long your company has been in the market? and where are the sofas made in?

I can only say, just like a car, the parts can be from japan but if its assembled in thailand its not as good.

I stress again, my intention is not to advertise for myself or badmouth. Just stating facts.