Barcelona Chair Reproduction $314.99 shipped by sea - white / black / off white (reg. $398.50)

This may not be a deal for everyone but I thought I would share anyway since I've been shopping for these chairs for some time.

Barcelona Chair reproduction $299.99 + 5% if paying by paypal = $314.99 shipped via sea (30-45 days transit)

The real Knoll version retails for $4000-$6000. I stopped by my local Knoll Space last week to try one out, and the list price they quoted me was even higher.
Most reproductions I've found sell for $500+ after shipping.
On eBay you can get them for about $400 shipped

I found this place about a month ago when searching and they listed the chair for $188+ shipping. I inquired about shipping costs and was quoted $265 by air or $210.50 by sea.
If it's sent by sea they said it takes 30-45 days to arrive. I was OK with that time frame but wasn't exactly thrilled to pay more for shipping than for the product so I passed.
Anyway last week I saw that they are running a sale only for White / Black / Off White for $299.99 including shipping. I wanted to pay by PayPal to put it on my credit card for protection and they charged 5% for that to recoup the fee.

They are obviously coming from China and the website seems kinda sketchy in that the grammar and word choice is often wrong, but their communications have been good via email as long as you take into consideration the time difference.
They also sell on eBay and have feedback here, and under the name barcelonachairfactory.com

Who knows as to the actual quality, I'm taking a risk as far as that goes, but will gladly report back in a couple months.

What's so great about these chairs?

FYI, here's some reviews of this store:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Barcelona_Chair_Factory

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/prettystores.html

Here's a helpful link with details about reproductions:
http://www.modernfurnitureclassics.com/index.php/main_page/editorial/title/Title%204

rootbear said: I sure understand that compared to real and at this price it's likely a deal but looking at the photos these sure seem to be a pretty dated style. Any better images that folks know of?

The dated style is what has the appeal to most who are interested in them.
It's the whole mid-century modern thing. The original was made in Germany in 1929 and is considered an iconic piece in terms of modern furniture design. It would stick out like a sore thumb in most traditional living rooms but you'll see them frequently in upscale offices, hotels, or homes with a modern decorating scheme.

For better photos just google image search "barcelona chair"

smileshadow said: FYI, here's some reviews of this store:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Barcelona_Chair_Factory

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/prettystores.html

I read the resellerraitings reviews first which kept me from ordering initially. They have a page on the site that tries to debunk the bad reviews for what its worth. I took both sides of the story with a grain of salt and relied more on the eBay feedback since with that you at least know some kind of transaction took place. In any case at the reduced price it was a risk I figured I was comfortable taking. I see these on my local craigslist occasionally for $475 per chair, so if I really don't like them I can try to recoup the loss.

GWBush said: I don't know, having a reproduction at a discount price just doesn't smell right to me. A Herman Miller Aeron chair for $500 wold be a deal. A Herman Miller Aeron knock off for $50 is still just a knock off and someone buying it completely misses the whole point of the chair in the first place...

I can totally see that side too. I think it depends on the buyer as well. Kind of like clothes. If you can piece together a decent outfit does the label matter to you? For some people the label is the only thing that matters even if it's on something ugly.
In my case I've got little kids. There is no way I would put a $4k chair in my house. If they destroy a $300 chair I can deal with that, and when I send the last one off to college perhaps then I'll treat myself to a genuine Knoll replacement if there is anything left in the bank

There are many different types of knockoffs--I have one by Alphaville Designs which is often considered the highest quality knockoffs. I cannot tell the difference between these and the originals, with the exception that mine were about 1,000. The site the OP maentions are not all real leather such as the original or Alphaville, but I think there is a small surcharge to make them all leather. But what is not know is the quality of the leather and the steel. I can, on the other hand, vouch for the quality of alphaville designs. I have the matching table as well, which is also listed on the OP's site (but for much cheaper). If the quality is as good as alphaville, this is a great deal. But of course no one knows that yet.

The pictures of my chair:

Sure thing! It's scary to send hard-earned money overseas. But it worked out really well for me so I wanted to share

IIRC, Knoll made the originals came in both stainless and chrome.

HTuttle said: jds580s said: Thanks for posting SeattleJ! Very glad to get feedback from a customer.

Even their avatars are the same, must be an aesthetic

How are your Arne Jacobsen knock-offs? That is an unbelievable price, for the "egg". Is it tilt/swivel? That price seems almost too good to be true.

What? Do I have to wear a baseball cap to get a reply ?

jds580s said:
lol, sorry!

I would have replied but I'm not an egg chair kinda person myself; the design just never appealed to me. Because of that I've never sat in one and can't really offer much of an opinion as to what makes one better than another. If your curious give them an email/Skype/im, they were helpful with my pre-sales questions I'm sure they would answer any questions you had too.

OK, maybe I'm a little confused. When you refered to SeattleJ as a "customer", I assumed you worked for or otherwise had a business association with prettystores.com. That's the reason I asked. Maybe I will give them a call. I've never seen even a knock-off that cheap.

Thanks for the picts. I was thinking of ordering the eames chair from them -- as well as the large arco lamp. The reviews seems to be pretty mixed though (searching on google).

SeattleJ - just wondering - one report found from google-search was that the leather on the chairs had a bad smell to them. Did yours? (also, was it real leather?, was it soft?)

Also, I was wondering if anyone here has order the lamp from them? The base is > 100 lbs.

thanks!

p.s. how long did it take for them to contact you? After i placed my preliminary order, i've heard nothing from them - been about 2 days.

I have a reproduction Barcelona chair from the 60's, it has held up very well, the leather straps are still in great shape as are the cushions, the chrome has some pitting but looks good. I have never seen an Eames Lounge chair reproduction that lasts, some look very good but the swivel, the brackets on the lean, and the foot pads are usually crap as is the headrest, too many components to mess up, I wouldn't think twice about a Barcelona chair repro, but an Eames Lounge chair, I would stay away from.

upsetbovine said: Thanks for the picts. I was thinking of ordering the eames chair from them -- as well as the large arco lamp. The reviews seems to be pretty mixed though (searching on google).

SeattleJ - just wondering - one report found from google-search was that the leather on the chairs had a bad smell to them. Did yours? (also, was it real leather?, was it soft?)

Also, I was wondering if anyone here has order the lamp from them? The base is > 100 lbs.

thanks!


p.s. how long did it take for them to contact you? After i placed my preliminary order, i've heard nothing from them - been about 2 days.

Great to see some more posts to this thread. I'm very interested. I've wondered about any smell issues too - seriously. I just got a couple of cheapo bar stools (vinyl fake leather) from an Amazon deal. They where dirt cheap. They are from China and as soon as I opened the box, out to the breezeway to air out. Why does everything from China reek of petro-chemicals ?

Personally, I'm after an Arnie Jacobson Egg chair. There are plenty of different repos out there. Some have appearance/wear issues with seams, some have dimensions that are much more slight of the original, some have tilt/swivel,some cost over a $1000 and this vendor has then for under $200. Under $200 is a throw-away in my book so while I would not expect a totally faithful quality reproduction. I would like to know that its a useable, appearance pleasing, "spirit of the thing", non petro-chemical smelling, decent sized piece that would last at least a couple of years. Am I expecting too much ?

These are reproductions that are more then likely not authorized, but build quality will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. A lot of the higher end furniture companies are currently either moving some production to China or have plans in the works. I have seen some good reproductions, but if you want the real deal then be prepared to pay a minimum of ten times the price of the reproductions.

Hey there - I haven't been on this forum for a while. Yes, I'm a customer. I live in Seattle and found Pretty Stores while doing a web search for the Barcelona chair. I don't work for them or am in any way affiliated with them. I just thought I'd post my story in case it helps someone else decide - one way or another.

Oh, and "upsetbovine" the chairs are firm, but the material is soft. My case is unique though. I'm a vegan and I was looking for non-leather chairs. They are impossible to find! Pretty Stores usually sells genuine leather so I worked with them to get PVC (vinyl) instead. I can't tell you what the real leather feels like, but I can say that my vinyl chair is soft, and didn't have any off-gasing. I do want to stress that they usually sell real leather. I'm just weird and wanted fake.

I got an e-mail response in a day or two after first contacting them (they're 15 hours ahead of me so it's not always going to be immediate). I ended up IMing them for real-time info. I paid with PayPal so I can't speak to the login/user account situation expressed here.

About the problem of smell from the leather, it is something untrue. We make the cushions of the barcelona chair using calf leather on the front and PU leather on the back, or real calf leather both on front and back. No matter for real calf leather or PU leather, they have no smells. You can click here to know the technique details for the leather: http://prettystores.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flyp...

About “vinyl”, it is not correct. Vinyl is a material similar as plastics, this is often used to make the outside shell of CDs. It is impossible to use vinyl to make cushions for chairs. What we used in Jean (Seattle J) as she requested is PU leather. Not vinyl.

Regarding the smell from fumigation, it is also not the situation. Fumigation is always done before the shipment to kill possible worms or insects from wood, and the pesticide is sprayed only onto the wood frames, which we use to protect furniture from crash during long transportation. Then a special film will cover the wood frames, and let pesticide work in sealed environment. Before the fumigation, the chairs are packed into cartons, and plastic bag wrapping the cartons. You can find the real pictures for fumigation on www.order-shipping.com , the smell is hard to enter the carton, no mention pesticide is volatile after the fumigation process finished.

Finally, I appreciate all of you that have paid or are paying attentions on prettystores.com and the related affiliated websites. Your doubts, questions, satisfactions or dissatisfactions are all important for us to make progress. Prettystores.com is just starting selling directly to USA in later 2009, and we have no experience before on how to deal with USA end buyers (we dealt with only middlemen from USA before). We grow and develop fast from the difficulties and problems. For example, after the untrue reviews from resellerratings.com, we realized the importance of reviews, and begin to invite customers to write reviews on public sites, as well as setting up shipping systems to publish the order delivery. After the dispute with Diana for insurance, we are now offering “up to door” delivery handled by capable shipping partners in USA, and buy for customers on our own for full insurance to protect from possible damage or loss. We just need some patience and tolerance as well as time, to let us adjust our mistakes and do better. You can see our websites are upgrading, and our systems are improving all the time. And we promise that you will find in the near future, Prettystores.com is the place that you can find items with lowest rate, highest quality, and safest dealing process.

if anyone knows of a reliable site to order this kind of stuff at this price drop me a pm. like stateside?

I have just looked at your website and want to order an Eames coat rack but I cannot find a way to add it to my cart. How can I order it?

Also, where are the shipping charges listed? I can find no information regarding shipping costs. Thank you.

mrshop123 said:   Did u ever receive the Barcelona chairs? Where u happy with them? Please let me know. Mbsl50096@yahoo.com
jairgarcia said:   mewannaxbox - How did it go. Did you receive your shipment?
No need to ask if I received my shipment, just look up at the post a few above yours with the photos and everything.