Is this a good buy?

I found a Hancock & Moore Austin tilt back chair and ottoman for sale on Craigslist. It's 3-4 yrs old, in very good condition. There are a few scratches on the ottoman. He's asking $900 OBO. I can't figure out how to post the pictures he's got in the ad. It seems to me that this is a very good buy. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive for me to look at it, so I wanted your advice first. I've asked him what the leather type is, but haven't received a reply as of yet. By the way, I've been reading your forum for 6 months now, and really learned a lot! THANKS!

Here are the pictures of the chair and ottoman.



Attachment 1983Attachment 1984

You will spend over $ 2K new for this combo, I can't really tell you if its a good buy or not, to evaluate something for a dollar number without putting hands on it requires quite a few detailed photographs in good lighting, and knowing what leather is on the piece.

Duane, I got some more info on the chair set. It's 6 years old, mahogany distressed. He thinks it's a class 5, but unsure. The paperwork doesn't list the class. He said it's extremely soft leather. He sent me some more pictures in good lighting, but I can't upload them. I get an error message that they're too big. There are a few scratches on the ottoman. Can I do anything about that? The pictures look great! A beautiful set as far as I can tell. I'm going to sit in one tomorrow at a local furniture store to make sure I like the fit. I remember reading that you think this is a very comfortable chair :)
Thanks so much!

I figured out how to make the pictures smaller :) Here they are. I'm concerned about the scratches on the ottoman. The seller told me that they're not as noticeable as they seem in the picture. Is there something I can do to cover them up? Thanks so much for your help!!

Again I have a another question! I went to the furniture store today to sit in the Austin High Back, but they only carry the shorter chair. The sales rep said they had trouble with the high backs due to the weight of the chair back. The cylinder which brings the chair from reclining to upright position had trouble and had to be replaced. She said that it happened quite often, so they quit carrying the High Backs. She thought that maybe H&M had fixed the problem in recent years. Do you know anything about this? I REALLY appreciate your advice since you're the expert! Thanks again!

That leather on that piece is in Document, which is the married cover for the Austin series (Chinese tannery, cut and sewn in China). Definitely nothing close to a GR 5 leather. The ottoman scratches can be touched up by a professional leather tech for about $ 125 or so, less if you take the piece to them rather than having them make a house call. Overall, that's about 40% the price of new as his asking price.

That other dealer is being silly about the gas struts on the High Back Austin Chair. Of the hundreds of the model # 2038NB I've sold, I've had exactly one gas strut failure and it was defective as it came out of the box brand new. H&W warrants the gas struts for 1 year and afterwards they are available at a reasonable charge, and fairly simply to replace - two clips and it slides right out (require removal of the chair outback).

I ended up buying the set for $700 and brought it home yesterday. It's comfortable, very soft and a nice brown color. We're very happy with it. I just have to clean it and get the scratches touched up.

Excellent! You can probably get a kit to touch that up from Leather Magic (see their website) and do it yourself. You'll need to send them a bit of the 'flag' under the sofa center cushion so they can color match it.

Did you enjoy your Hancock and Moore Factory Tour yesterday? Gloria told me that she really enjoyed visiting with you! Were you able to escape the clutches of Jimmy Moore's tour in under three hours? <chortle>

I was going to e-mail you about the tour when I had enough time to really rave about it. I LOVED IT! Jimmy was amazing and everyone was so friendly!!! I spent 40 min in non-stop talking to my husband when I got home. I was so impressed with the amazing attention to detail they employ there. I am a Hancock and Moore fan now! I really like the way he does business and the way he treats his workers and people in general. Thanks so much for lining it up for me. My only regret is that my husband couldn't go with me. Someone has to work for a living :) I've learned so much from your forum and I'm thankful for that. Keep up the good work!