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Finding a good office chair (pre-owned? auctioned?) for only $300 or less

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Wingsley

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 20, 2014
300
39
My cheap store-bought office chair gave out on me. The cylinder won't work and the seat keeps sinking when I set in it.

Time for a new chair... or maybe a used one?

Where are good places to look for working office chairs that can still be used? What a good ones to find on a budget?

Are there trader sites to look at? Are there auction sites?

I've never bought anything but cheap, new chairs before, so I have no idea. I'm tired of being let down. I think my broken-down chair is less than 2 years old.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
 
You'll be lucky if you find a good one used…but then again there might be availability due to the pandemic.

I second Herman Miller and specifically the Aeron chair. Be aware that high-end chairs come in sizes. I see a couple on my local Craigslist and they're asking $350-$375.
 
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$350 is a good price for a high-end task chair like the Herman Miller Aeron or the Steelcase Leap.

My Aeron is 20+ years old and I picked it up from a dead Dot Com Bubble 1.0 company.

If you keep it for ten years that's less than 9.7 cents per day for the most used piece of furniture apart from your bed. Completely worth it.
 
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Also, I'm in a rural area, 65 miles from the nearest 100k city, so I don't know if Craigslist would help or not unless there's a mail-order option.
 
Wingsley said:
I am about 5 ft 7 in tall, if that helps with the chair sizing...
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The high-end chairs have their own sizing. Consult each company's website for specifics.

Back in the Nineties, Herman Miller Aerons came in three sizes: S, M, L. A lot of it is tied to height and weight (i.e., the size of your caboose) but ultimately it depends on how comfortable you feel in the chair. The Fortune 500 company I worked at in the mid-Nineties had an ergonomics center onsite where one could sit in various models to decide which one felt the best. I liked the medium-sized chair and I am 5' 6" with a slender build.

I have no idea if Aerons added additional sizes since then or if they have altered their sizes for vanity (the latter is entirely possible).
 
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Wingsley said:
My cheap store-bought office chair gave out on me. The cylinder won't work and the seat keeps sinking when I set in it.

Time for a new chair... or maybe a used one?

Where are good places to look for working office chairs that can still be used? What a good ones to find on a budget?

Are there trader sites to look at? Are there auction sites?

I've never bought anything but cheap, new chairs before, so I have no idea. I'm tired of being let down. I think my broken-down chair is less than 2 years old.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Try Costco If you are a member.
 
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Wingsley said:
Also, I'm in a rural area, 65 miles from the nearest 100k city, so I don't know if Craigslist would help or not unless there's a mail-order option.
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Check if you have a local(-ish) IKEA that delivers.

I went to my local IKEA in need of a new chair, and tried them all from the most expensive down to US$80; which turned out to be right one for me: Flintan, office chair.

As I'm spending more and more time in my home office, and my posture is improving/changing, I'm sort of viewing my chair of choice as something constantly evolving; so I'm pretty sure I'll be replacing my chair every 1-2 years from now on.
 
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HDFan said:
Purchased a "faux leather" chair from Costco some years ago. Got the afternoon sun - "Leather" completely deteriorated into shreds. Very messy.
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Leather holds up well, if it is real leather. The chairs I’ve seen at Costco one is faux leather and one is another material, same style. I’d go with the material. Not impressed with faux leather. About 2 years ago I purchased an expensive leather chair from Office Depot, $450 marked down to $350. Turns out the arm rests are faux leather and one of them, the imitation ”leather” just disintegrated leaving another or the bottom half of the material remaining.

The chair is under warranty and I’ve been playing hell trying to get Office Depot or True Innovation, the company that actually made the chair to respond to me. :mad:
 
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I appreciate the suggestions about Costco and IKEA, but each of their stores is over 150 miles away, so I would have to mail-order.
 
As to sizing on Aerons…I went to a local office furniture store that carried them and tried the sizes and it seemed to me that you'd have to be pretty big to need a large and very petite to fit a small. Medium is probably what most used ones will be.

Aerons have a webbed seat and the design/construction results in me knowing I could sit in it all day. I don't see any Ikea chairs with a similarly designed seat.

A used chair will be just about impossible to get shipped, I would think…but if you can find an decently-priced Aeron within driving distance I'd say go for it. The basic model lists for over $1000 new. I got mine in 2010 for $750 new and I think that included a small discount.
 
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The company I worked at upgraded our chairs 3 years ago to Allsteel Relate chairs. They have held up surprisingly well (much better than the ones they replaced), and show no signs of wearing out or anything like that. Not sure where to find them, although a quick google search put new ones at around $450, so I'd imagine used ones would fall somewhere around $300. FWIW, we got cloth seats on ours. It looks like some of them are leather. I have no experience with how sturdy that surface is.
 
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these work at home days commercial buildings are tossing office furniture out 2nd story windows and above.
 
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I had been using a simple side chair for my desk temporarily. After reading this discussion decided it was time to find a better chair. Looked on Craigslist and fond a Steelcase Leap chair in excellent condition for $220. The chair lists for about $1,700. Deals are out there if you look around.
 
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BrianBaughn said:
Aerons have a webbed seat and the design/construction results in me knowing I could sit in it all day. I don't see any Ikea chairs with a similarly designed seat.
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This is one of the great features about the Aeron. The mesh fabric allows air flow and thus reduces the risk of perspiration.

Heavily padded/upholstered leather surfaces are the worst for long-term sitting. That's why quality leather automobile seats are perforated.

The Aeron does not utilize padding (which acts like insulation). The mesh fabric is stretched across the chair frame.

This also allows the use of the great adjustable lumbar support bar in the back of the classic Aeron chair which is not only adjustable in height but can also be flipped around to change thickness. I figured out the ideal placement for me and the lumbar support bar hasn't moved for twenty years.

The presence of adjustable lumbar support is a good indicator whether or not you are looking at a quality task chair.

The older you get, the more you will appreciate a great task chair.

This is the same as any ergonomically important device, like monitors, input devices, work tables, adjustable height keyboard trays, etc.
 
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Wingsley said:
I am about 5 ft 7 in tall, if that helps with the chair sizing...
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You're probably the medium-sized classic Aeron.

Part of the correct sizing of a task chair is the width between the arm rests. Good ergonomic practice would mean your arms should naturally land on the armrests. If your arms are splayed out or bowed in, you're probably sitting in the wrong chair. Armrest height should be so your elbows are nearly at a right-angle.

Ideally you'd have an adjustable height keyboard tray so your fingers can type parallel to your forearms. Let the chair's armrests do the work supporting your forearms.

This is pretty typical of all ergonomic poses. Your body parts should be naturally positioned.

Using a notebook computer is a prime example of really poor ergonomics. Elbows at wrong angle, arms at wrong height. Neck down to stare at a small screen.
 
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Anybody have experience with the Okamura chairs, specifically the Contessa (2)? Lots of adjustment options that seem superior to the Aeron.

For me it would be either that or refurbishing my current Aeron (needs a new seat-edge pad, new vinyl armrest pads and the paint on the 5-star base for the casters is flaking badly, might as well replace the cylinder while at it) - which is out of warranty.

Keeping the Aeron would be a lot cheaper (and I'm happy with it in general) but I wouldn't mind trying something new plus was never a big fan of the utilitarian styling. I also have a 3rd party headrest mounted. New chair needs a head rest (ruling out any other Herman Miller offerings) and the Okamura offers two different types even.

Btw. pro tip for prospective Aeron buyers: go for the silver/shiny/aluminium versions if you can find them. Dull grey all-over is a bit much for the home office.
 
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Huntn said:
Leather holds up well, if it is real leather. The chairs I’ve seen at Costco one is faux leather and one is another material, same style. I’d go with the material. Not impressed with faux leather. About 2 years ago I purchased an expensive leather chair from Office Depot, $450 marked down to $350. Turns out the arm rests are faux leather and one of them, the imitation ”leather” just disintegrated leaving another or the bottom half of the material remaining.

The chair is under warranty and I’ve been playing hell trying to get Office Depot or True Innovation, the company that actually made the chair to respond to me. :mad:
Click to expand...

I tried again and discovered today that the 10 warranty on my chair is a manufacturer's warranty, and not by Serta, but by a third party licensed company using the Serta name, True Innovations.

I also discovered that the warranty covers mechanical parts, but not fabric which is only a 1 year warranty. On the arm where the faux leather has come off it left a solid backing material underneath. The chair is still functional and comfortable, but I am irritated and may never buy another Serta brand chair again.

The take away is that extended limited warranties, if offered are not for fabric and be sure to verify that when you buy leather, it is real leather. I did not think at that price it'd be dealing with fake leather. They say the word assumption starts with ass. ;) 😐 Note I believe the seating and back part are real leather.
 
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glenthompson said:
I had been using a simple side chair for my desk temporarily. After reading this discussion decided it was time to find a better chair. Looked on Craigslist and fond a Steelcase Leap chair in excellent condition for $220. The chair lists for about $1,700. Deals are out there if you look around.
Click to expand...

Question on this:

I'm unfamiliar with Craigslist.

Is it like eBay, where auction winners get their item shipped?
 
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