Price of the furniture: restoring credibility at a price that is all too often crossed out
The price of a piece of furniture is the price at which a retailer sells each product, including delivery and any options. In a declining market, a succession of promotions has taught customers to wait for discounts and to no longer trust the list price.
The 30-day rule reduces the discount that can be advertised when sales follow one after another. A consistent base price per collection, measured promotions, and carefully managed markdowns at the end of a collection restore credibility to the price.
At many furniture stores, the base price is only in effect for a few weeks a year. The rest of the time, it serves as a strikethrough price.
This article is intended for sales, pricing, category management, and e-commerce departments in the furniture, bedding, and home decor industries.
It explains why constant promotions erode prices rather than offset a shrinking market, and what restores credibility to furniture prices.
Furniture prices: What are we talking about?
The price of a piece of furniture is the price at which a furniture, bedding, or home decor retailer sells each product, including delivery and any options. When set correctly, it lends credibility to an offer for a purchase that is rarely made and difficult to compare.
Sofas, bedding, storage solutions, lighting, home linens, and decorative items: these product categories don’t sell the same way. Yet they have one thing in common: customers take a long time to make up their minds, and they’ve learned to wait for the next sale.
Our professional belief:when everything is crossed out, nothing is believed anymore. In the furniture industry, a fixed base price is the primary selling point, far ahead of any current discount.
We have classified the furniture sector alongside other sectors in our retail sector pricing guide. Here, the key factor is customer confidence in the listed price.
A declining furniture market, with promotions that don't make up for it
The market has been declining since the end of the inflationary period. The new-construction housing market remains sluggish, households are saving, and new discount retailers—both online and in-store—are driving prices down.
To maintain foot traffic, many retailers have responded in the same way: sales, trade shows, Black Friday, themed weeks, and end-of-month promotions. The promotional calendar has filled up to the point where it now covers a good portion of the year.
The French furniture market declined for the third consecutive year in 2025, to €13.6 billion including tax (-1.8%), following declines of -2.5% in 2023 and -5.1% in 2024.
(IPEA and L'Ameublement français, Furniture Industry press kit, February 2026)
The decline continued in 2026. According to the IPEA, the market fell another 2.6% in the first half of the year, and 4.1% excluding kitchenware and bedding.
Promotions shift furniture purchases; they don't create them
You don't buy a sofa or a mattress just because it's on sale. You buy one because you're moving, moving in with a partner, or because your old one is worn out. The sale mainly determines when you buy it and where you buy it.
The IPEA's 2025 report illustrates this trend in the sofa category. Sales in this category were brisk throughout the year, with several players maintaining promotional pressure; yet sales declined by 1.8 percent, in line with the market.
Our take:In the case of a rare purchase, ongoing promotions drive sales volume, not growth. They come at a definite cost—sacrificed margins—and have an uncertain effect on total demand.
The true test of a promotion remains the incremental profit measured in terms of margin. Our promotional pricing strategies—designed to stop eroding margins —show how to distinguish between promotions that are profitable and those that merely shift sales.
Furniture sales and crossed-out prices: When everything is crossed out, nothing is to be believed
A crossed-out price only makes sense if the original price was actually charged. When a sofa spends more weeks on sale than at its original price, customers view that original price as fictional.
He no longer buys at the list price; he waits. And he compares the advertised discount to that of the competitor, as well as the product itself.
Only 15% of the 933 ads with crossed-out prices found on six major e-commerce sites were genuine discounts, with an average actual discount of 11% compared to the 31% advertised with a comparison price.
(UFC-Que Choisir, Crossed-Out Prices on E-Commerce Sites, July 2025)
Customers therefore have good reason to be wary. When making a purchase of several hundred euros, they double-check, they wait, and they end up treating the discount as the actual price.
30-Day Reference Price: The Math Behind Chained Transactions
Any discount promotion must be based on the lowest price charged in the previous 30 days. The legal framework is detailed in our article on the 30-day reference price and discount promotions.
What matters here is how it affects a busy schedule.
Let's look at a specific example. A sofa priced at €1,290 is sold for €990 for three weeks during a trade show, then returns to its regular price.
If the next promotion begins less than 30 days later, the strikethrough price displayed is no longer €1,290 but €990. A promotional price of €890 can then only be advertised as approximately a 10% discount, compared to a 31% discount from the base price.
The more promotions are run in quick succession, the more the advertised discount shrinks, even as the actual price decreases. The retailer sacrifices profit margins and, at the same time, loses the discount as a selling point.
Our position:The 30-day rule is not primarily a legal requirement; it is an indicator. It reveals a base price that was no longer being charged.
Furniture Pricing Strategy: Positioning Yourself Without Identical Products
The second characteristic of the industry is the lack of comparability. Finishes, dimensions, fabrics, configurations, and private-label brands: two retailers rarely sell the same sofa under the same product code.
Customers, however, do compare. They compare style, size, material, and price including shipping. A retailer that doesn't do this comparison work leaves it up to the customer to do it instead—with less information.
Compare similar products, not identical ones
To identify your position in the market, you need to compare similar products based on their characteristics: number of seats, upholstery, width, and color. This is the role of product matching, which links your product listings to those of your competitors even when the product names differ.
The scope of comparison has also expanded. Online marketplaces are now selling home goods on a massive scale.
Our analysis of how marketplaces are revolutionizing price monitoring explains why they need to be included in price monitoring efforts.
The price including delivery—the true price of the furniture
When it comes to a large item, delivery, assembly, and lead time are key factors in the decision. A sofa that’s cheaper but costs more to deliver isn’t actually cheaper for the customer.
Comparing prices based solely on the list price leads to poor decisions in both directions: unnecessary price cuts where the offer was already competitive, and price gaps that are overlooked where it was not.
Customizable Sofas and Bedding: Profit Lies in the Options
When it comes to a sofa or a bed, the value shifts from the model itself to its options: width, fabric, convertible, and reclining features. These add-ons have often accumulated over the course of various collections, without their profit margins being tracked.
A percentage discount on the total price also applies to options, including those the customer would have paid for without hesitation. This is one of the industry's most subtle margin leaks.
Base price per collection: the primary selling point
Moving away from a "promotion-only" approach doesn't mean eliminating promotions. It means that the base price once again becomes the price at which the majority of sales are made, collection by collection.
This price is set in comparison with similar products on the market, based on the delivered price. It is based on what the customer perceives and can verify: materials, workmanship, origin, warranty, and services.
Our article on perceived value and actual value lays out the basics.
A "good, better, best" pricing structure also helps customers see the differences. It only works if the price differences remain stable, and a single poorly timed promotion is enough to undermine it—when the discounted top-tier product falls below the mid-tier price.
The rules governing this architecture are detailed in our article on price segmentation and price verticality. In the furniture industry, these rules must withstand the promotional calendar.
Our belief:Two or three credible price spikes per year are better than a permanent discount. Each one must be carefully selected, measured in terms of its margin, and spaced far enough apart so that the base price remains the benchmark.
Small Decor and Home Textiles: A Different Pricing Approach
Small decorative items and home linens don't follow the same rules as the sofa. Candles, throw pillows, tableware, throws, and duvet covers can be bought in a matter of seconds, often as an impulse purchase during a visit.
Here, customers don't spend a lot of time comparing prices. They react to certain price points: €9.99, €19.99, €29.99. The psychological price and the product's position within its product family matter more than the multiplier applied to the purchase price.
The table below summarizes what sets the sector's segments apart and where margin risk lies.
| Family | What Influences a Purchase | Primary Margin Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Sofas and Furniture | Style, dimensions, material, price including shipping | Original price now crossed out |
| Bedding and Customizable Products | Size, comfort, and selected options | Discounted options with this model |
| Small decoration | Favorite and Threshold Price | Flat rate and percentage discount |
| Home Textiles | Renewal, Season, and Threshold Price | Unsold Items from the Short Collection |
| Discontinued Items | Arrival date of the next collection | Bulk sales—too late |
Pricing a cushion the same way as a sofa—using a markup factor and percentage-based discounts—reduces the profit margin on both items. Accessories sold at a discount along with the furniture lose their role as a profitable add-on.
On the other hand, these lines turn over quickly. The collections are short, and unsold items from one season lose their appeal within a few weeks—yet they cannot be destroyed.
End-of-line furniture: Clear out inventory early rather than hold a clearance sale
The end of a collection is the third factor that determines a piece of furniture’s price. A past collection that lingers too long ties up showroom space, warehouse space, and cash flow, and slows down the arrival of the next one.
The common approach is to sell everything off in one go, late, at the same discount rate. This is the most expensive option: the steep discount comes when demand for that model has already dropped.
A targeted markdown begins as soon as the renewal date is known, in stages— product by product —depending on inventory levels and sales volume. Our article on end-of-line items and unsold dormant inventory explains how to identify them in a timely manner.
This markdown should be kept separate from a promotion. One clears out a product that’s being discontinued, while the other highlights a product that’s staying on the shelves. Mixing the two teaches customers that everything eventually goes on sale.
Putting Price Back at the Center of the Strategy
Base prices per collection, fewer and more measured promotions, and controlled markdowns at the end of a collection: these three decisions form a strategy, not a series of ad hoc adjustments. They require a clear direction for each product family and written rules.
That is the purpose of our service: Pricing Strategy Consulting : defining each family’s role, establishing the rules and safeguards, and then guiding them through the tool.
The clients we work with—across all industries—see their margins increase by 0.5 to 3 percentage points within a few months. The challenges facing the industry and our dedicated solutions are outlined on our furniture and home decor pricing page.
Do you want to restore the value of your furniture?
Our experts work with you to analyze your promotional schedule, base prices, and latest end-of-season clearance items, then simulate the impact of a fixed price on your sales and profit margin.
Let's discuss your furniture pricesSee also in this feature
- B2B Pricing: Why List Prices Are No Longer Enough When Dealing with Segments
- Pricing of sporting goods: a margin determined at the end of the season
- FMCG Pricing: Managing Your Margin When You Have No Control Over the Shelf Price
- Pricing in the Food Retail Industry: Balancing Margin and Price Image
FAQ: Furniture Prices
Based on a base price that the retailer actually charges, compared to similar products on the market and expressed as a delivered price.
Since competitors rarely sell the exact same product, the comparison focuses on similar products: dimensions, material, number of seats, and style. Delivery, assembly, and turnaround time are included in the quoted price.
This base price must then remain in effect over the long term. If it is offered for only a few weeks a year, it ceases to be a price and becomes a crossed-out price.
Because they teach customers not to trust the list price anymore and to wait for the next sale.
When it comes to a rare purchase like a sofa or bedding, promotions are the main factor in determining when to buy and which store to choose. They shift sales rather than generate them, and the margin sacrificed is lost forever.
The more promotions follow one after another, the more the discount comes to be seen as the true price in the customer's eyes, and the deeper the discount must be to trigger a purchase.
Any advertisement for a discount must be based on the lowest price charged in the preceding 30 days.
When two sales occur too close together, the crossed-out price of the second sale is the promotional price of the first. A sofa priced at €1,290, discounted to €990, and then offered at €890 less than 30 days later, can only show a discount of about 10%.
Spacing out the highlights therefore protects both the margin and the justification for the discount.
By comparing sofas that are similar—rather than identical—in terms of their features.
Number of seats, upholstery, width, color, convertible or recliner: Product matching links your product references to competing offers even when the product descriptions differ. Each match is validated before it is used.
The comparison must be based on the price including delivery. A sofa that is listed at a lower price but costs more to deliver is not actually cheaper for the customer, and online marketplaces are now part of the scope of the analysis.
No. Small decorative items and linens are typically quick, often impulse purchases, decided based on a price threshold.
Customers don't spend a lot of time comparing a pillow or a candle. They respond to a price range and the product's place within its product family.
Applying the same markup and percentage discounts as on the sofa reduces the profit margin on both items. These product lines turn over quickly and also require a scheduled clearance of unsold items from the collection.
As soon as the arrival date of the next collection is known, and in stages, rather than selling everything off in one go at the end.
A steep discount applied late in the cycle comes when demand for the model has already dropped. An initial, moderate price cut—decided product by product based on inventory and sales volume—almost always costs less.
A clearance sale should be distinguished from a promotion: one clears out a product that is being discontinued, while the other promotes a product that remains in the lineup.
By highlighting the decisions that the spreadsheet hides: positioning relative to similar products, the actual impact of each transaction, and the trajectory of end-of-line products.
The tool compares your products with those of your competitors, includes the delivered price, calculates the reference price 30 days before each listing, and simulates the impact of a promotion or markdown on sales, margin, and inventory before applying it.
Booper's clients see their profit margins increase by 0.5 to 3 points within a few months, across all industries.
In the toy industry, Black Friday kicks off the Christmas shopping season, which accounts for more than a third of annual sales. With the 30-day rule, its price becomes the benchmark for nearly all December promotions.
The discount applies only to the toys being compared, not to licensed products or this year's new releases. Baby care—a thoughtful purchase driven by the timing of births—calls for moderate discounts.
In the high-tech sector, Black Friday accounts for a major portion of annual sales and takes place two months after the back-to-school product launches. It is intended to clear out the previous generation of products rather than to sell off the new ones at a discount.
Refurbished products set a ceiling on the price of new items, and some prices are rising due to the cost of components. The advertised discount is always calculated based on the lowest price over the past 30 days.
When it comes to home appliances, Black Friday success depends more on the selection of models than on the size of the discounts. An 8% price reduction may require a 50% increase in sales to maintain the same profit margin.
It's best to act quickly on the models that are actually being compared, maintain the prices of exclusive models, focus on delivery, installation, and trade-ins, and prepare the 30-day policy starting in October.