To want a knock-off so badly?
Here’s the original. $300 vs. $3000? Yikes.
Covetable
How Wrong Is It
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Style: May '08
Goody
April 28, 2008 at 8:33 pmlove it!
oh so gonna copy you on this one!!
Ros
April 28, 2008 at 9:12 pmHoly cr*p that’s a beautiful chair!! I would be rushing out tomorrow to get it if my husband hadn’t made the comment, “For that price it had better have lips that kiss my butt every time I sit down.”
Renee Nordholm
April 28, 2008 at 9:19 pmWith 15% off purchases over $300 and free shipping? I mean how could you not! ;)
Courtney
April 28, 2008 at 9:29 pmI am in need of a new office chair like no other! If only this one came on wheels like it’s grown up sibling.
Aimee
April 28, 2008 at 10:04 pmHey, as long as you like it, and the price is right, who cares if it’s a knock off? Go for it if you can afford it!
Kylie
April 28, 2008 at 10:09 pmThe original is of course gorgeous, but go for it!! The knockoff is gorgeous as well!
Silvia
April 28, 2008 at 11:46 pmI was looking for a desk and a new chair for my new office and I was just thinking of something white ..but this goes beyond my imagination…it’s perfect!
Silvia
Renovation Therapy
April 29, 2008 at 5:54 amI have yet to have a good experience with any furniture bought via Target…everything I’ve bought from there furniture-wise has arrived smashed, dented or fallen apart within 6 months. Kinda makes Ikea stuff look heirloom-quality.
Do you have any used office furniture outlets around you? Maybe you could start scoping them out or getting to know the staff…
Beth
April 29, 2008 at 6:59 amHow Wrong Is It…
…to like the knock-off better than the original??
Never would I ever pay $3000 for the Eames!
Sad that Renovation Therapy hasn’t had good luck with Target–I, on the other hand, have never had a problem. I think the extra $2700 makes it worth a shot, anyway. :)
J
April 29, 2008 at 7:31 amNot at all! I love the white.
Kwana
April 29, 2008 at 7:33 amYou just HAVE to get it!
Anna @ D16
April 29, 2008 at 7:41 amDon’t do it unless it’s just for the looks! Trust me on this, the quality will not be good enough to justify the $300 price tag (WAY too much for a knockoff from Target). Also, I can say with near certainty the ergonomics of the original will not have translated to the knockoff.
Alternatively, you can buy 4 originals on eBay (for what amounts to the same price each as the knockoff), re-sell the other three individually for a nice profit, and use the extra money to have the remaining one reupholstered in white leather.
You can thank me later! ;)
Natasha
April 29, 2008 at 9:08 amWhen purchasing any chair I will be sitting in for hours every day, I always actually want to sit in it first. Is it comfortable? If the Target model is indeed comfortable, then by all means get it. I mean, who is going to come over to your house and flip the chair to look for the Herman Miller label?
Jasi
April 29, 2008 at 9:51 amJust vow to purchase the original when you’ve made your first million. Supporting the art is important when you have the means. If not, go for the knock-off, baby, with head held high that you have good, if not expensive, taste.
Erin
April 29, 2008 at 12:16 pmI actually like the white one better, but without trying it out first, I’d be skeptical. Good luck, I hope it’s as nice as it looks.
Chrissy
April 29, 2008 at 2:03 pmI say do it. Its perfectly natural to want (and own) a knock off or two.
Laura
April 29, 2008 at 7:47 pmLittle known fact, Target also operates an office furniture and design business. There’s a showroom in downtown Minneapolis and a single store near the mall. This is likely something from that and not part of Target Store’s ready to assemble furniture line. ie. it might be better quality….
Goody
April 29, 2008 at 8:36 pmthis product line “Darius” is actually sold by numerous office furniture dealers and retailers, so I would have to concur that this is not a target brand but an actual brand.
and target seems to be selling it for a slight discount over the other online sellers.
i think its lovely and i can not wait to get it. i am actually going to get the one with the wheels.
Nicolette
April 29, 2008 at 10:32 pmYou are not alone. After loving the pale blue HM for ages, I fell for the black version at Staples. My guilt over buying a knock-off was quickly put aside when I paid less than $100 for it on sale!
Making it Lovely
April 29, 2008 at 11:06 pmAnna, if I had a spare $1200 right now, I’d act on your genius idea! Alas, all of my money is going toward the National Stationery Show right now.
In fact, I probably won’t be buying the $300 knock-off either. Even if it is gorgeous, and (relatively) cheap. The chair I have now (IKEA’s Patrik) is still in good shape, and I should just try to slipcover it.
I’ve always planned on getting the Eames desk chair when I’ve ‘made it’. Perhaps I should stick to that plan!
ell
April 30, 2008 at 7:02 amI see you’ve made up your mind! Good choice! I read this post yesterday and didn’t have time to comment. Not to knock anyone who doesn’t have a problem purchasing knock-offs – I have to say it’s not for me. When I was young I worked in a small, family operated curtain store which sold; besides curtains, a number of household products. I was very young around 17 years old my first job out of high school. The store had an assortment of very high end custom drapes, bedspreads, kitchen curtains, and shower curtains. I worked with much older people some European. Many of my European co-workers always told me/taught me that it wasn’t the quantity of the product but the quality. Many of these lovely people are not with us today but I certainly learned throughout the years that they were indeed right. You get what you pay for. And today it’s better to either accept a good piece of hand me down furniture than purchasing something that will last you a couple of years. My daughter now 26 years old tells me her friends do this with not only furniture but clothing as well. She tells me if I can’t afford it I’ll just have to wait untill I can. She says this with a smile because she knows by then they’ll be new things to pick and choose from.
Tammy
April 30, 2008 at 9:58 pmUntil design is more affordable, the general public [and beyond] are forced to search for similar designs with smaller price tags. $3,000 for an office chair is beyond ridiculous. It is things like this that make many people in the overall population believe that good design is only for the elite and forces those of us individual designers to work even harder to prove we can take on projects of any size to make them work on time and on budget. I say, go for it! It’s about design, not name. [by the way, I’m Tammy…i stumble into your blog now and then. thanks for writing!]
Ryan Green
May 1, 2008 at 9:49 amI actually like the looks of the knock-off more than the original, but $300 is still a lot – specially when spending $3,000 on one chair seems like a fantasy :)
However, I always think about my grandparents when I am tempted to buy a pricey knock-off. They had the greatest pieces of furniture in their house. They still had the couch they bought as a wedding present 50 years later! It had been reupholstered a few times, but it looked and felt like it was brand new. All these pieces were expensive and it took time to fill up their house, but it’s so nice to be able to save up and buy something special that will last literally a lifetime.
Jen
May 2, 2008 at 11:56 amSo pretty, and I can’t believe they ripped it off! But I want one! How comfortable are they though (that’s my only question).
Thanks for posting this!
simplygrove
May 4, 2008 at 12:10 pmGotta love a knockoff! Sometimes it is like buying a painting that someone copied from a real artist so in that case its a no no. But sometimes it is so worth and makes so much more sense!! Im not sure what it is in this case but I really like the chair.
Thy
May 5, 2008 at 7:40 pmHow about an even cheaper knock-off that has casters at Staples? lol, it’s only in black though: http://www.staples.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaplesProductDisplay?&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&productId=193818&cmArea=SC2:CG32:CL161514
dawbis
June 11, 2008 at 7:38 ami don’t know if this is the same chair we purchased over the past weekend, but it looks like it. we found ours in a burnt orange leather at a store called motif and it is very comfortable. i did not know it was an eames knock off though!
Andrea
December 31, 2008 at 3:02 pmVery, very wrong, especially coming from designers and design buffs.
Target should be ashamed of itself for producing a product from a design it doesn’t hold a design patent of, and also for ripping off naive consumers who think a knock-off is the same as an original and end up with a ill-conceived chair which breaks up easily and gets thrown in the trash in no time.
Regarding not paying the original price… I wouldn’t (and can’t afford to) pay for it either, but would prefer to look for a vintage one on eBay, or embrace the work of a lesser known designer, with a more agreeable price tag.
It’s a very sad world when someone can’t release their creation into the world without someone else wanting to make a profit out of it.
How would anyone here feel if every time they received their paycheck 30% or 60% of their hard-earned money went to a perfect stranger?
sarah
February 7, 2009 at 3:49 pmMy boyfriend just bought me a used original that used to be burgundy but has faded to… PINK!! I love it- it is old and worn and very comfy. I wish I had seen this post earlier, because he had purchased a “lot” of them (12) but sold 10 right away. The one he has left is kind of grungy…
Laura
June 27, 2011 at 11:24 amI can’t afford the original either so I bought a knock off and I don’t regret it. Mine is from Amazon – made by Zuo Modern. It’s really comfortable and looks fantastic. It required minimal assembly and arrived very well packaged.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UQ6ESU
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