5 reasons why your next office chair should be built to last

Whether you are looking for an office chair for your home office or 1000 employees, there is always the impulse to buy the cheapest, nicest looking chair you can find - It’s only natural to look for a ‘bargain’ after all – and with the internet providing access to 100s of options, it's easy to find what feels like a great deal.

But before you make that decision, you should ask yourself “is this built to last”?

Choosing something that is built to last not only can save you money down the line, but can be better for the environment, and even your health. Here are our top 5 reasons why you should choose something that is truly built to last.

It can save you money

As they say, money talks – and to many, spending $1000 on an office chair can seem quite excessive, but it’s important to think of it as an investment. Sure, it may look similar to the $300 option at the outset, but if the cheaper version only lasts a couple of years before it starts to fall apart (and if you are using it long hours every day there’s every chance this will happen), you will be forking out again. A new chair every couple of years will make this option more expensive in the long run.

Always check to see what sort of warranty your chair comes with, and explore what kind of reparability is built into the design. At Flokk, we offer a 10-year warranty as standard on almost all of our office chairs, and they are designed for repair, with replacement parts available, and handy self-repair guides available online.

‘Built to last’ means just that – it’s something designed to stick around. When it comes to office furniture that means it’s been heavily tested to be able to withstand considerable usage over a long period of time. It will also mean that the materials and construction methods used are of the highest quality.

It can have a better resell value

Another way you can save money when you opt for built to last designs is the ability to resell, long after you originally purchased. High-quality designs retain their value, especially if it's easy to repair general wear and tear issues. As long as you’ve treated it well, you can reclaim a much larger portion of your upfront investment on a long-lasting chair compared to a cheaper, lower quality chair, which will often have no further use, which leads us onto point 3…

It’s better for the environment

A 2020 Global survey found that 74% of participants wanted to reduce their impact on the environment and nature by a large amount, but only 31% admitted to actually doing so. There is a gap between aspirations and actions, and this is usually down to not knowing how.

When you buy an ethically produced and long-lasting product you really are helping the environment. Considerable energy and resources go into making furniture, and choosing one that will stick around for a long time means you won’t be forever replacing it with a new one, which not only uses up more natural resources, it also creates mountains of waste. According to the United States EPA, 8.5 million tonnes of office furniture and equipment ends up in landfill annually, so choosing a long-lasting piece of furniture will help reduce this waste.

At Flokk, we not only design chairs to last, but continually add recycled materials to our product designs, including metals, plastics and fabrics, with the aim of becoming a fully circular furniture designer.

It’s better for your health

Not necessarily an issue you would think about at first, but buying quality is often better for your health. To keep manufacture costs down, many lesser quality products contain chemicals known as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).

You know that “new furniture smell”? This is often a mixture of VOCs commonly found in paints, plastics and fabrics, trapped by packaging and released into your home or workspace upon opening. These can cause side effects such as headaches and diseases, and in some cases more serious health effects such as cancer.

If a product is built to be durable, chances are it uses quality materials and tries to use less toxic options where possible. Premium products also offer exact details on the materials used and come with certificates such as Mobelfakta and Greenguard, which guarantee they are safe for use.

Read more – How to choose environmentally friendly furniture

It can make you feel good!

Never underestimate how important your sense of wellbeing is. By making ethical choices that will stand you in good stead financially, environmentally and health-wise will always make you feel better, and help to encourage you to continue to make the right choice when it comes to protecting our environment.

What other reasons can you think of for choosing “built to last” products?

Let us know in the comments!