Everyone loves a great deal! It’s human nature to feel good – really good! – when you know you’ve gotten a high-quality product at a really great, discount price. Nowhere is this more true than when shopping for furniture, especially if you’re lucky enough to get a North Carolina furniture discount deal.

But whether the price is discounted or not, there are still buying ‘tips’ you should follow to avoid common furniture shopping mistakes, especially since your purchase is likely to represent a significant ‘chunk of change’.

So let’s get started! We all know the saying “location, location, location” when it comes to buying real estate, but what about furniture? The answer: “Preparation, preparation, preparation.”

People often go furniture shopping without really giving much thought to what they’re looking for, what they like, what they’re comfortable in or on, or even the dimensions of the room the piece will go in. (How often have you heard someone say, “I don’t know what I want, but I’ll know it when I see it.”?)

Remedy: before you leave the house, draw up a simple floor plan of the room, take photographs, look through magazines for items of furniture that appeal to you and bring them with you to the store. Even bring a paint sample if you can, but at the very least grab cushions or arm chair covers from other furniture in the room and take them with you to help the sales assistant help you.

So far, so good. Now you’re in the store, ready to shop for your North Carolina furniture deal. You’ve brought everything you need with you, even a book, right? Okay, we didn’t mention that before, but it brings up another common error furniture buyers make: not testing the furniture before buying. Never buy anything you will sit or lie on without giving it a good ‘once over’. Sit on it. Lay on it. If it’s somewhere you plan to spend time resting or reading, stretch out and read a chapter or two. (Ditch the shoes, first, of course.)

Which brings us to one final common boo-boo. Let’s say the sofa passes the reading test. Great, but based on the information you’ve given the sales assistant, that’s about all that’s right with it. The sales assistant points this out and trys to steer you in another direction, tactfully and with extreme professionalism, of course. But no, you’ve made up your mind, you want THAT sofa. Okay, but just remember, it’s a safe bet that salesperson knows way more about furniture than you do. “Most sales personnel desperately want to be helpful”, according to Leonard Bruce Lewin, author of “Shopping for Furniture, A Consumer’s Guide.”

Give them a chance and you will dramatically increase your chances not only of getting exactly what you want, but getting a great North Carolina furniture clearance discount as well.