Saving cost on furniture purchase in Singapore

Last weekend I spent almost entire day in searching for a good queen size bed plus mattress for our guest bedroom. I have never been to any furniture shop here in Singapore. My criteria for the bed was simple :

• Simple queen size bed frame
• Pocketed Spring mattress(this is the most firm type of mattress)
• Total cost : $500-600

My first step was to look in Salvation Army Stores . The only thing you can buy from here is the Bed Frame, that too if you are lucky to get a good one. As most of the stuff is second-hand, they are either old fashioned or not good. There is no point in getting mattress from here as they are very old. Well I was not lucky to find what I wanted :(

Then I went to a shop near by who was claiming upto 80% discount :). The furniture was good in this showroom, but I was not sure whether the prices were reasonable. Well here I got one tip from the showroom guy that it is tough to get King Size bed + mattress in Singapore in less than $1000 if you are looking for good brands like KingKoil (the most advertised in radio's here!). Also he explained me the difference between all types of mattress available & their relative cost.

After this my last stop was IKEA. As I know that the IKEA stuff is really nice and quality one. But whatever you like there visually, it is more than $500 just for the bed frame !. Also I did not find the type of mattress I was looking. They have pocketed spring mattress but I did not find them as firm I saw them at the other shop I visited earlier. I was really hoping that I could finish my search for good bed here :). I liked bed frame at IKEA. This is a very simple bed, which is priced at $99(just the bed frame). Whereas till now whatever bed frames I saw were in the range of $300-$500.

Well so my search for bed frame is ended. But I could not find the type mattress I was looking for in IKEA. So finally I went to the other shop I visited earlier for the mattress.

IKEA has excellent stuff for home furnishing. There bed frames with $175-200 tag too which are good.

Here are some of the Tips while you search for furniture in Singapore

• Decide in advance what you want(Bed size, frame type, mattress type) - This will save lot of time while shopping.
  
• Be firm on the price tag while you are shopping - this helps in bargaining and making decision faster
• Type of Mattresses are many and confusing :) ..So research for that first
• The most important part of the bed is the mattress ..so spend more on that rather than spending on the bed frame(I am not saying bed frame should not be good!)
• Bargain for FREE delivery of bed from shop. Also some shops give good discount on cash purchase
• IKEA charges $40 - $50 for he delivery and 5% of the cost for assembly. It is worth if you like the IKEA stuff.
• Try to look out for factory outlets(Like Defu Furniture(this shop has lot of variety for all type of furniture etc ) and SALE in malls to get an idea.
• So a good bed will cost around $500(Simple bed frame + pocketed spring mattress(this is the most expensive type ..apart from contour mattress :)
  

I hope this helps!

Please comment to help others...

Enjoy shopping !