Indy: Leather Sofa Set

[maxie.maverick]

I am in the market for a leather sofa set. My budget is about $3000 and preferably include all 3 pieces (sofa+love-seat+chair). I was hoping to find something like a recliner if possible within this price... I've been to a lot of furniture retail stores and recently visited Bob's furniture store. My girlfriend really liked the below set:

http://www.mybobs.com/indy

The salesman said that the material is "100% leather everywhere the body touches". When I asked for something in leather completely, he said they usually don't carry any and most other stores don't carry them either... He said that pure leather is difficult to work with and so to make the finish taut & good looking, it is generally the norm to provide a vinyl (or leather match) on the sides and bottom... (I am not sure of that )

Anyways, my girlfriend and I liked the above set for total of $2697+$30 (coffee color set special order). Is this a good deal? It has power recliners but the side/bottom material is vinyl. I just don't want to get ripped off...

I also found another set that said "100% top grain leather" and the above set says "100% leather" as the material. Is there a difference? When I asked the salesman about it he said that both have "100% top grain leather" and that I shouldn't worry too much about it. I am not too convinced about it though and wanted to take expert opinion... Is there a way to differentiate between the top-grain leather and something else?

Please let me know.. Thanks a lot
Maxie

[drcollie]

That's hilarious. Hat's off the Bob's Furniture Salesman for sticking to his BS sales pitch! There is only one reason to not use leather on the entire piece - cost savings. That's it. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but that set is pretty much junk, and that's what you're going to get spending $ 3K for a sofa/loveseat/chair combo at that price. It will be in the landfill in less than 10 years.

Read the LEATHER PRIMER here on the forum, it will school you on the leather terminology and differences. Good luck!