Hey all,

I've been learning about how many products of different brands are actually the same thing (same manufacturer, different names/brands). Notable examples are sunglasses and mattresses.

I imagine the same thing is true for furniture in general. While I don't mind paying extra for quality, I cannot stand the thought of paying extra for brand names, and would rather pick furniture based on the quality of the manufacturer build.

I'd also love to be able to test a piece of furniture at a high end store, and then buy exactly the same thing online at a much lower markup, knowing it's exactly the same feel/build quality.

What's the best way to get at this information? Obviously, the big stores would never reveal that their line of sofas come from manufacturer X, also available at (say) Wayfair under a different name and for half the price. However... I know the information is out there... somewhere. :-)

Here's a quick example I just searched for - I hope linking external sites is okay here: https://qz.com/1067197/the-reality-o...fferent-sites/

I'd love to hear from the savvy furniture shoppers with more experience in this!