Modular Leather Sectional Advice

Long time lurker first time poster!

Recently I went to a staged home where the stager also sells furniture. I saw a modular leather sectional that looked really nice and at a good price point ($1600 for 6 pieces).

http://photos.imageevent.com/customc...ebsize/030.JPG

However, I have no idea about the manufacturer. When I did turn the ottoman upside down I saw that it was made in China. I'm wondering if anyone can tell what kind of leather it is by the picture? It felt supple but I'm fairly inexperienced, and at $1600 for a 6 piece set I don't know if it could be bonded leather. The guy showing to me said that he sources directly from the manufacturer, otherwise the sectionals are at least $600/piece.

I'm not sure what to think, although it would fit my living room very well. I would love to purchase really nice leather couch at some point but I still have roomates so I would like to wait on that.

Thanks for your help!

I think its a safe bet to assume that is not very good quality, and will be bycast (bonded) leather which is not real leather, its a leather scrap byproduct. A piece such as that made the correct way with an entry grade 'real' leather will cost about $ 5K. If that were made of genuine leather a piece that size would use up $ 1,600 worth of leather hides at the manufacturer's wholesale cost alone.

So what to do? If you would be happy with 5 to 7 years useful service life from that piece, then it will probably last that long, with some noticeable deterioration at the 3 to 4 year mark.

There are some incredible buys on used high-quality furniture on the market as well. Some of the forum members find them and post about them here all the time. That's another option to look at, depending on where you live.