Best Places to Buy Affordable Home Furniture Online 2024

These days, there are plenty of places to buy cheap furniture, whether online or in-person. Many stores even offer financing to make it even easier to take advantage of a deal right away.

But is financing the way to go and how does it impact your credit score? You’ve come to the right place to find answers to these questions and more.

First, we’ll reveal the most affordable furniture brands worth checking out. Then, we’ll answer all your questions about financing, whether to buy in-store or online, and more.

Which online platform is best for furniture?

The best places to buy cheap furniture will largely depend on your personal definition of “cheap.” As we go through our list of top picks, you’ll discover that some are affordable furniture brands, some of which make it possible to buy furniture online under $100.

But, for our last pick, we’ll also mention a few websites that offer insanely cheap furniture. While such sites may or may not offer furniture of the highest quality, they may be worth looking into if you’re looking for something that will get the job done until you upgrade.

The Best Places to Buy Cheap Furniture

Amazon

The great thing about Amazon is that it’s an online marketplace, which means that it’s like a virtual mall where you can buy products from thousands of different brands. While Amazon offers plenty of high-end, pricier furniture, it’s also a great place to find cheap furniture for your entire home.

Amazon is a particularly great choice for Amazon Prime members, as Prime-eligible items usually offer fast, free shipping. Products sold through the Prime program are also subject to Amazon’s 30-day furniture return policy, though you should always check for any shipping restrictions.

Ashley Furniture

Ashley Furniture is a good store to check out if you’re looking for furniture that’s a little more high-end but won’t break the bank. One of the perks of Ashley Furniture is that the chain store offers everything from home furniture and beds to lighting, decor, and outdoor items.

You’ll also find plenty of financing options available if you’re hoping to pay for your purchase over time. Ashley also tends to offer sales on a fairly consistent basis and has a great clearance section where you’ll often find plenty of killer deals.

Totally Furniture

Totally Furniture is a Florida-based online furniture manufacturer that gets major points for versatility. Whether you’re remodeling your entire home, shopping for accent pieces, or even looking for really adorable pet furniture, this place has it all.

Part of what we love about Totally Furniture is that the site makes it easy to search for furniture that fits within your budget. On the left-hand menu, you’ll find a set of filter options, including a sliding “price” option that you can set to reflect the minimum and maximum price you’re willing to pay.

Walmart

Walmart has always been known for offering great prices on a huge array of items, including furniture. It’s also the only store where you’ll find items from several affordable furniture brands, including Gap Home, Mainstays. Allswell, and Better Home & Gardens.

Walmart’s website design is on point, with easy categories and filters that allow you to shop by style, customizable price range, room, and more. The Walmart app also offers a handy AI feature that lets you visualize how a piece of furniture would look in your home.

Home Depot

We have to admit, before further investigation, we too fell prey to the belief that Home Depot was only a place for DIY fans looking for tools and 2x4s. But as it turns out, Home Depot actually offers a huge selection of affordable furniture on its website.

While you won’t generally find much of it displayed in their stores, Home Depot’s furniture can be either delivered to your home or to a nearby store, usually for free. Shop by price range, materials, color, rating, or more in the easily-customizable website filter.

Ikea

No self-respecting list of places to buy cheap furniture would be complete without mentioning Ikea, the world’s favorite Swiss furniture retailer. Ikea offers pretty much any type of furniture you can imagine for discount prices but, the trade-off is that assembly is often required.

If you’re lucky enough to have an Ikea near you, it’s definitely worth visiting its massive showroom, which is an experience in itself. If not, it’s still possible to find all of Ikea’s offerings on the company’s website - even if you end up paying for shipping, you’ll still likely get a much cheaper deal than those offered by many competitors.

Wayfair

Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online furniture retailers and offers products from over 20 million different suppliers around the world. Think of it sort of like Amazon, but specifically for every home good and piece of furniture you can imagine.

Much like Amazon, Wayfair’s prices range from high-end to affordable, with great deals and discounts sprinkled in between. While you’ll find plenty of great search categories on the Wayfair homepage, be sure and check out these sections for deals:

• Surplus Sales - Items up to 50% off
• Closeout Deals - Last chance discount offers
• Open Box Deals - Huge savings on items other customers have returned

Home Goods

If you’ve yet to discover Home Goods, then you’re in for a treat. While the Massachusetts-based home furnishings chain is most widely known for its massive selection of home decor products, Home Goods also offers plenty of incredible deals on furniture.

While the selection may not be as broad as what you’ll find on sites like Amazon or Wayfair, the furniture Home Goods does offer is both high-quality and very budget-friendly. If you’re looking for things like accent furniture, lighting, or decor, then Home Goods is your next favorite store begging to happen.

Etsy

Although Etsy may not be the first place you’d think to look for budget furniture, you might be surprised at how many unique and vintage finds the online marketplace now offers. Etsy’s seller policy states that in order for an item to be eligible for a site listing, it must be either handmade or vintage - a rule that even applies to furniture.

If you’re looking for something unique, whether a handmade coffee table or a vintage accent chair, it’s often possible to score a great deal on Etsy if you’re willing to take the time to really search for it. Just make sure you always read the product descriptions thoroughly so you don’t end up accidentally buying dollhouse furniture or DIY furniture building plans!

Temu and AliExpress

As we mentioned at the top, there are affordable furniture brands and then there’s genuinely cheap furniture. If you’re feeling adventurous and want to look into the latter, then head to Chinese-owned websites like Temu and AliExpress.

Both are popular sites commonly used for dropshipping, which is basically when a retailer marks up items from a cheaper site and then sells them on a different site like Amazon. While you should be prepared to dig through plenty of subpar offers, if you have the patience of a seasoned garage sale shopper, it’s occasionally possible to find incredible deals.

Is it cheaper to buy furniture in-store or online?

The truth is that whether you should purchase furniture online or in person will largely come down to what you’re shopping for and where. If the store you want to purchase from doesn’t have a location near you or only exists online, then shopping in person may not even be an option.

But if you can check out the furniture in-person before buying it, it’s always worth it doing so. There’s nothing worse than having a large piece of furniture delivered, only to discover that it’s not at all what you’d imagined.

Before you swipe your card, however, make sure you also look up the price of the item online. You may be able to find it cheaper at another retailer or, in some instances, even on the same store’s website.

Some stores occasionally offer lower prices online, but make sure you also take any applicable delivery fees into account. Another reason it’s a good idea to check online is that an interesting study by Consumer Reports found that furniture shoppers spent more money when shopping in person than they did online.

Who knows whether this goes back to peer pressure from salespeople or simply having more time for online deal hunting? Regardless, it’s worth considering if you’re looking to stay on a budget.

Should I buy furniture with cash or financing?

No matter how great a deal you find, there are certain pieces of furniture like coaches or beds, that are hard to spend less than at least a couple hundred dollars on. That’s why many furniture stores off financing, which allows you to pay for a large purchase over time.

While it’s almost always best to pay cash if you can afford it, there are situations in which financing comes handy. Many furniture stores offer interest-free financing for a set amount of time, such as 6 months or a full year.

Just be aware that such arrangements usually only stay interest-free if you can pay off the full amount of your purchase by the time the intro period expires. Otherwise, you may end up having to pay interest on the entire purchase, even on payments you’ve already made.

Does financing furniture hurt your credit?

In some instances, financing furniture may also affect your credit. The first is fairly obvious - if you’re late on your payments or default on your loan, it will be reflected in your credit score.

Additionally, some financing programs may require a hard pull on your credit which can lower your score slightly, at least temporarily. Financing a large purchase may also affect your credit utilization, the ratio of the credit you have available vs. the credit you’ve used, which accounts for up to 30% of your credit score.

What are the pros and cons of purchasing furniture using cash versus buying on credit?

Here’s what to consider when deciding whether to sign up for a furniture company’s financing plan. While such arrangements can work in the right circumstances, it’s important to make an informed decision.

Cash Furniture Purchases

Financing Furniture Purchases

What credit score is needed to buy furniture?

Another perk of paying for your furniture in full upfront is that no one will care what your credit score is or whether you even have credit. When it comes to financing, this question can be a little trickier to answer.

Some furniture financing programs do not require a credit check, while others pull your credit much like they would if you were applying for a credit card. In the case of the latter, you’ll probably need a minimum score of around 650 - just be aware that the lower your score, the higher your interest rates will likely be.

Conclusion

We hope this has helped point you in the direction of some of the best cheap furniture stores and answered your questions about the best way to buy furniture. If you do choose to finance your next furniture purchase, just make sure to read the fine print in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises down the line!

The responses below are not provided, commissioned, reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any financial entity or advertiser. It is not the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.