Comments on: Hello!

By: I ♥ Original

I ♥ Original — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:15:36 +0000

Hi Carmen,

Thanks for your message,

The best thing to do is take some pictures of the table and send them to me at sam@couchpotatocompany.com

We can have a look and let you know if your table is genuine,

Thanks
Sam

By: madone90s

madone90s — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:48:27 +0000

I agree with Peter’s first sentence. I do understand that a lot of these wonderful pieces are handmade using high quality materials, but spending several thousand dollars for a chair is out of reach for the average, middle class enthusiast.

That being said, I will choose to buy only originals. Sure it make take me a year or two to save the money, but knowing I get a high quality chair that will last for decades is certainly appealing to me. How long will the reproductions last?

I have interested in Mid Century Modern furniture for only a couple of years, and I do find it very difficult to find any descriptions or details of how to identify a true original. This site is a tremendous resource for those of us that do need to know those little details that distinguish an original from a cheap copy! Thanks to those involved in the website! Nice work!

By: tmb

tmb — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:50:40 +0000

I initially bought an Eames lounge chair & Ottoman copy for £700, but the quality was terrible, all I could see was what it WASN’T. The company said in their advert that it was Aniline leather, it most certainly was not, it was really nasty split leather. They had said that the pads were held in place by metal clips, NO, they were held in place by velcro, & if you’ve ever had a chair with pads held by velcro, you’ll know that after a while the glue dissolves & the pads fall off!! The shell was rough & nasty.
Anyway, to cut to the chase, I got a refund & bit the bullet & bought an original. It’s the best thing I did, because I absolutely LOVE it!! It’s everything I wanted it to be. I was embarrassed by the copy, I’m proud of my original!
One last note, in your video on how to spot a copy, Vitra no longer place a production number sticker on the bottom, just a Vitra/ Eames signature label.
I know originals seem like a lot of money, but if I had kept the copy, it would have been £700 wasted & I would still be cooing over the real thing in Heals!!!

By: twistoffat

twistoffat — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:59:40 +0000

I can sort of understand what peter is on about and also your arguements in relation to originality. I would always buy the original purely because the resale value on a fake is very low where the originals seem to hold there value. If the original demonstrates extreme bad value for money then its not worth having. The market dictates the price albeit many manufacturers do seem to be having a laugh at times.

By: I ♥ Original

I ♥ Original — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:17:53 +0000

Hi Peter. Thanks for your post. It may be a little harder to justify buying the real McCoy in these credit crunch times. At face value you are going to be comparing around £3600 for a genuine Barcelona chair vs about £500 – £750 for a copy. Or you may be looking at a Saarinen Tulip table where a copy will set you back around £200 for a copy vs around £1200 for an authorised original. But the reasons to own the real thing haven’t changed. Most people end up disappointed when their fake turns up – it doesn’t quite look like the lovely image on the web site they ordered from. This is often because the companies in question “borrow” the official images from the genuine manufacturer’s websites so the customer has pretty high expectations of what the product is going to look like. We’ve heard many customer stories from people who have bought copies (sometimes unknowingly). Typical problems include: the laminate layers start peeling off on a Series 7 Chair copy; or the chrome flakes off the frame of an Eames “inspired” Aluminium chair, or the stitching splits open on a repro Jacobsen Egg chair. So people end up very disappointed. And don’t even get me started on the “after sales” service from these companies. Nobody ends up particularly proud of owning a copy. So my advice is to either wait until you can buy the real thing, or buy something else. If you are looking for a Lounge type piece you may be able to wait. But if you need a set of dining chairs now, why not go for slightly cheaper originals, such as Magis Butterfly chairs instead of Knoll Tulip chairs. At least this way you know that the Designer in question will still be compensated for their design and hard work and you won’t end up feeling disappointed….

By: peter

peter — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:39:59 +0000

I would choose to to buy an original if they were not
so ludicrously expensive.
Many copies are now extremely well made and priced
realistically.
How can anyone justify £1828 for a Barcelona Footstool!
http://www.couchpotatocompany.com/shop/knoll/barcelona-stool
Until the original manufacturers price realistically
Then I for one will always buy a copy.