What Office Furniture Dealers Actually Pay (And Why They Won't Tell You)

By Sam Coggin, Coggin Sustainable Office Solutions

Dealers pay 10 to 30 per cent of what the item will resell for. Brand, condition, quantity and location decide where you land in that range, and the gap covers collection, refurbishment, storage and the warranty.

Every dealer in the UK will happily tell you what they sell chairs for. Almost none will tell you what they pay.

There's a reason for this. And it's not what you think.

The industry standard for furniture buyback is 10-30% of the item's resale value. That means if a dealer sells a refurbished Herman Miller Aeron for £400, the original seller typically received £40 to £120 for it. A Steelcase Leap selling at £350 might have generated a £35 to £105 offer.

Most dealers stay silent because they know this looks like highway robbery if you don't understand the economics. So let me explain exactly what happens to your furniture after we collect it, why the margin exists, and what you should actually expect when selling.

Why the Buy-Sell Gap Exists

When you sell a chair to a dealer, you're not just selling a product. You're transferring all the risk, cost, and effort of getting that chair back to market.

Here's what happens after we make you an offer:

Collection and logistics. We send a vehicle and team to your location. Depending on where you are, this costs £50-200 per trip. Rural Scotland? More. Central Manchester? Less. If you're selling 2 chairs, we're absorbing that entire cost. If you're selling 50, it spreads.

Full strip-down and inspection. Every chair gets completely dismantled. We check every mechanism, every adjustment, every weld. Roughly 1 in 4 chairs we collect doesn't make the cut and goes straight to recycling. You got paid for it. We didn't.

Parts replacement. Gas lifts: £15-25 each. Arm pads: £10-30. Castors: £8-15. Lumbar mechanisms: £20-40. Mesh panels on Aerons: £80-150. Most chairs need something. Some need everything.

Refurbishment labour. Each chair takes 30-60 mins depending on complexity. That's real labour cost, not volunteer time.

Deep cleaning. Industrial cleaning equipment, proper sanitisation. Not a quick wipe down.

Storage. We hold stock for weeks or months. That's warehouse space, heating, insurance.

Marketing. Photography, listings, website hosting, SEO, paid advertising. You're reading this because we paid for it.

12-month warranty. We warrant the parts we replace for 12 months. If a mechanism we fitted fails at month 11, we eat that cost.

By the time a chair sells, our actual margin after all costs is typically 15-25%. Not the 200% the headline numbers suggest.

What Dealers Actually Pay: The 10-30% Rule

Rather than listing specific prices that change with the market, here's how the maths actually works. Dealers typically offer 10-30% of the item's resale value. Where your furniture lands within that range depends on brand, condition, quantity, location, and current demand.

At the top end (20-30% of resale value):

Premium brands in good condition. Herman Miller, Steelcase, Humanscale. Bulk quantities (20+ matching items) that are efficient to collect. Items the dealer specifically needs to fill current orders. Furniture in excellent condition that needs minimal refurbishment. Rare or hard-to-source specifications.

In the middle (15-20% of resale value):

Premium brands in fair condition that need significant refurbishment. Strong mid-range brands like Orangebox, Senator, Boss Design, and HAG. Smaller quantities (5-20 items). Standard specifications in common colours.

At the lower end (10-15% of resale value):

Mid-range brands in fair condition. Single items or very small lots where collection costs eat into the margin. Models with high market availability where the dealer already has plenty in stock. Items that need extensive parts replacement.

Below 10% or no offer:

Budget and unbranded furniture where the refurbishment cost exceeds the resale value. Furniture with structural damage (cracked frames, failed mechanisms). Items from high-street retailers, Amazon basics ranges, or Ikea. Anything where the collection cost alone exceeds the realistic buyback value.

How This Works in Practice

Say a dealer sells refurbished Steelcase Leap V2 chairs for £350 each. You have 30 of them in good condition.

At the mid-range of 15-20%, you'd expect an offer of roughly £52 to £70 per chair, or £1,560 to £2,100 for the lot. In practice, the bulk quantity might push the offer toward the higher end because collection is efficient and the dealer can fill the order in one trip.

Now say you have 3 Orangebox Do chairs. The dealer sells them for £195 each. At 10-15% (lower end because it's a small quantity of a mid-range brand), you'd expect roughly £20 to £29 per chair. At that level, the collection cost might mean the dealer can't make a viable offer at all, unless they're already collecting nearby.

This is why quantity matters so much. The percentage doesn't change dramatically, but the total value and the collection efficiency do.

Why 10-30% and not more?

Because by the time the dealer has collected it, stripped it down, replaced worn parts, cleaned it, stored it, photographed it, marketed it, sold it, delivered it, and warranted it for 12 months, the actual profit margin is typically 15-25%. The rest is absorbed by the costs listed above.

A 10-30% buyback offer isn't a dealer taking advantage. It's the cost of transferring all the risk, labour, and time from you to them. You get certainty and speed. They take on everything else.

Which Brands Attract the Best Offers

The percentage range applies across the board, but some brands consistently land at the higher end because dealer demand is stronger and resale is faster.

Consistently strong (top of the range):

Herman Miller. The Aeron is the most sought-after used chair in the UK. Remastered models (2017+) command higher offers than Classics. The Embody is hard to find used, which keeps buyback prices strong. Sayl and Mirra 2 are solid but less iconic.

Steelcase. The Leap V2 is an excellent chair that sells quickly. Leather versions and headrest models push offers higher. The Gesture is newer with strong demand and limited used availability.

Humanscale. The Freedom's self-adjusting mechanism is either perfect or broken, so condition matters more than with other brands. When it works, the Freedom holds value well. The Diffrient World and Liberty sell steadily.

Strong mid-range:

Orangebox. The Do is one of the most common task chairs in UK corporate offices. Plentiful supply keeps individual buyback values modest, but bulk quantities move well. The Flo commands stronger offers as Orangebox's premium model.

Senator, Boss Design, HAG, Sedus. All reputable commercial manufacturers with steady demand. Offers depend on specific model and condition.

Low or no buyback value:

Budget office chairs from Staples, Amazon basics ranges, no-name imports, or anything from Ikea. The refurbishment cost exceeds the resale value. This isn't a quality judgement. It's market economics.

Bulk Pricing vs Single Items

Quantity doesn't just affect the total value of the deal. It shifts where you land within the 10-30% range.

The reason is simple: collection logistics. Sending a van and a two-person team to collect 50 chairs from one location costs roughly the same as sending them to collect 5 chairs. The per-item collection cost drops dramatically with volume, which means the dealer can afford to pay more per piece.

For bulk lots (50+ items) of premium brands in good condition, offers can reach the top of the range or occasionally exceed it if the dealer has immediate demand for that specific stock. We've paid five-figure sums for complete office clearances where the furniture quality and quantity justified it.

For single items, you're covering the entire collection cost with one buyback value. A single premium chair is still worth selling to a dealer if it's a high-demand model (Aeron, Leap, Freedom), but the per-item offer will sit at the lower end of the range because the logistics cost doesn't spread.

When Selling Makes Sense (And When It Doesn't)

Sell when:

You have premium brands in reasonable condition. You have quantity (10+ items). You're upgrading and want to offset costs. You're relocating and don't want to pay full clearance fees.

Don't sell when:

Furniture is budget quality (you'll get rejection or a token offer). Condition is genuinely poor (broken mechanisms, torn fabric, structural damage). You only have 1-2 items of a lower-value brand (collection costs kill the economics).

Alternative: clearance with buyback offset. If we can't make a buyback offer on everything, we can still quote to clear the space. Any items with resale value get credited against your clearance invoice, reducing what you pay. This is how most mixed offices work in practice: the premium items subsidise the removal of everything else.

How to Maximise What You're Offered

1. Provide accurate information upfront. Send photos. Tell us about damage. List quantities. The more accurate your initial information, the closer our quote will be to the final offer.

2. Identify the brand and model."20 black office chairs" gets a cautious offer. "20 Herman Miller Aeron Size B Remastered with lumbar support" gets a proper one. Check labels underneath chairs and on desk frames.

3. Have everything accessible. If you have 20 Aerons scattered across 4 floors in different buildings, collection costs go up. If they're all together in one room, costs go down and your offer goes up.

4. Be flexible on timing. If you need collection next Tuesday specifically, we might need to make a dedicated trip. If you can give us a 2-week window, we can route you efficiently with other collections nearby.

5. Be honest about condition. Surprises always work against the seller. If a dealer quotes based on your description and then arrives to find furniture in worse condition, the offer drops or gets withdrawn. Honesty upfront means the offer you receive is the offer that holds.

6. Combine services. Selling old furniture and buying refurbished for your new office? We'll often increase the buy price when it offsets against a purchase. This works particularly well for relocations and office refreshes.

The Questions We Get Asked

"Can't I just sell on eBay for more?"

Maybe. Private sale typically returns 40-60% of the item's new replacement cost for premium brands in good condition, compared to 10-30% of resale value from a dealer. The question is whether that extra return is worth the weeks of effort, buyer enquiries, time-wasters, storage, and uncertainty. For businesses clearing offices, it almost never is.

"Why don't you just rent them or sell on commission?"

Because rental means ongoing liability, maintenance, and collection logistics that don't work for occasional one-off deals. Commission selling means we hold your stock indefinitely with no guarantee of sale. We buy outright because it's clean: one transaction, money in your account, done.

"What if I think your offer is too low?"

Get other quotes. We're not always the highest bidder, particularly if another dealer specialises in brands we don't focus on. But we are typically among the most transparent about why the number is what it is. If you believe our valuation doesn't reflect the condition or specification of your furniture, send better photos or invite us for a site visit. We're always happy to reassess based on better information.

"Do you ever pay more than 30%?"

Yes. Rare specifications we can't otherwise source, bulk quantities with immediate buyer demand, and perfect-condition items that need virtually no refurbishment can all push offers above the typical range. It's not common, but it happens, particularly on chairs like the Herman Miller Embody or Steelcase Gesture where used supply is limited.

"What about desks and storage, not just chairs?"

The same 10-30% principle applies, but desks and storage generally sit at the lower end of the range because they're heavier to transport, take up more warehouse space, and have lower resale margins than premium chairs. Sit-stand desks with working motors are the exception and can command offers closer to chairs.

How to Get a Quote

Contact us with: Brand and model (photos help if you're not sure). Quantity. Condition (be honest, we'll see it when we collect). Location. Rough timeline.

We'll give you a ballpark figure within 24 hours and a firm offer after inspection if needed.

If we can't make an offer that works for you, we'll tell you why and suggest alternatives: donation, different buyers, or clearance with buyback offset.

Get a buyback quote or call 01995 606414.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Most dealers won't publish this information because they're worried about two things:

1. Customers getting angry about the margin.
2. Competitors undercutting them.

We think that's backwards.

If you understand the economics, you're not angry about the margin. You're making an informed decision about whether selling makes sense for your situation.

And if competitors want to operate on 5% margins after covering all these costs, they're welcome to try. We've been doing this for 40 years because our numbers work.

The office furniture resale market isn't transparent because nobody wants to go first. So here we are, going first.

Now you know what dealers actually pay, why they pay it, and how to maximise your return if selling makes sense.

Want a quote for your office furniture?

Contact us with details of what you have. We'll give you an honest assessment of value and whether selling, donating, or clearance makes most sense for your situation.

01995 606414| info@coggin-sos.co.uk

Disclaimer: The 10-30% range is a general industry guideline based on typical market conditions as of 2026. Actual quotes depend on inspection, specification, condition, quantity, location, and current demand. We reserve the right to revise any quote after physical inspection. Not all items will receive offers. Some furniture is worth more as recycled material than as refurbished stock.