This is a list of notes I put together when shopping for couches. Some of it requires getting hands-on with the couch so it won’t work well for online purchases, but you should be at least sitting on a couch before buying it. My notes were cobbled together from information I found online, so big grain of salt.

---

Old couches are almost always going to be better than new ones because so many companies have dropped in quality over the years.

Take a black light to look for pee spots or stains. Look for bugs (fleas, bedbugs).

Things to look for:

• Touch back of sofa & area under arm rest and see if it’s just fabric. Something solid usually means attention to detail / quality
• Seat cushions that are solid foam wrapped in breathable layer (cotton, down, etc) are the worst quality cushions (degrade quickly over time)
• Seat cushions that have layered foam or glued foam is a good sign and may mean springs in the foam (springs are generally a good thing)
• Take off the seat cushions and see how far apart the springs underneath the cushions are / how many there are. More & tighter packed the better
• Take off seat cushions and look for horizontal connection wires. There should be 2 minimum. Should be able to feel and see through fabric
• Lift up the sofa. If it’s light weight, that’s bad. If it flexes, that’s bad. Good sofas are heavy and don’t flex when lifted
• Don’t buy leather, buy polyester. This is personal preference, but leather is a lot more work to take care of & keep it looking nice
• “Eight way hand tied” isn’t necessarily a sign of quality, but it’s better than s-springs. There can be fake “eight way hand tied”, which is why it isn’t always better

Good brands:

• Room & Board
• What A Room
• Arhaus
• Maiden Home
• Stickley 
• Thos. Moser 
• Ethan Allen
• Stuart David (Amish)
• Hancock and Moore
• Bradington and Young
• Classic Leather
• American Leather

Ok brands:

• Bernhardt
• Palliser
• Lovesac 
• La-Z-Boy
• Flexsteel

Bad brands:

• Crate & Barrel
• Ashley
• Article & Joybird
• Wayfair
• Natuzzi 
• Restoration Hardware

When I bought my couches a few years ago, I got them used off Facebook Marketplace. It took a couple weeks for some decent Ethan Allen couches to pop up, but I got them for ~$400 each.