How long should a couch, bed or dining table last?

Furniture has the longest expected life of anything most homes buy. A sagging frame or a split seam in year three is rarely what a reasonable person paid for.

Under $300

4yr

$300 to $1,499

8yr

$1,500 and over

12yr

I Kept It's estimate of reasonable cover for furniture, by price paid. These are our figures, not the law's: the Act sets no number of years.

01There is no fixed number in the law

Neither the New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act nor the Australian Consumer Law says how many years furniture must last. Both ask what a reasonable person would expect, given what the product is, what it cost and what you were told when you bought it.

That is why the figures above move with price. They are the starting point I Kept It uses for every item you add, and they are deliberately conservative. A retailer, the Disputes Tribunal or a court may reach a different answer for your product.

02What counts

Sofas and armchairs
Beds and mattresses
Dining tables and chairs
Drawers and wardrobes
Outdoor furniture
Office chairs

03What moves the number

Construction matters. A solid timber frame is expected to outlast flat-pack particleboard, and price usually reflects which you bought.
Fabric and foam wear. Pilling and softening are normal; broken springs, snapped frames and failed joins generally are not.
Outdoor furniture is judged as outdoor furniture. It is expected to cope with weather, within reason.
A mattress comfort trial and the Act are separate things. A mattress that develops a permanent dip is a quality question, whatever the trial said.

04A worked example

A $2,600 sofa. A frame rail cracks at 30 months. The store’s warranty on the frame was one year.

At that price I Kept It estimates 12 years of reasonable cover. The manufacturer’s warranty has ended, but the claim against the shop that sold it has not. Put it to the retailer in writing, say it is a claim under the Consumer Guarantees Act, and say what you want: repair, replacement or a refund.

05What you need to make it stick

Proof of purchase, the date, the price, and a short record of what went wrong and when. Most people lose the receipt long before the product fails.

I Kept It keeps that evidence from the moment you buy: snap the receipt and it records the product, price and date, registers the manufacturer warranty, and shows how much of this estimate you have left.