Patio Furniture Buying Guide

Choosing the right outdoor furniture is much more complicated than it used to be. Today’s emerging in-outdoor lifestyle gives you more factors to consider and questions to ask yourself.

1. Function & Usage – Are you creating an area for lounging or al fresco dining? Do you plan to spend a lot of time outdoors or infrequently?
2. Location & Specs – Are you furnishing a deck, patio, garden or poolside area? Does your architecture or landscaping affect what you need? How big is your outdoor space and what kind of traffic flow do you require?
3. Environmental Factors – What’s the climate like where you live? Is it rainy, humid or near the ocean? How hot and dry does it get? Is it windy or does it get really cold in the Winter?
4. Material Qualities – Which materials are best suited for this environment?
5. Maintenance & Care – Are you willing to put in a lot of effort to maintain your patio furniture?
6. Comfort Level – Do you prefer plush upholstered cushions, flexible slings or more rigid seating?
7. Quality Considerations – Are you looking for expensive high-end quality that lasts years or are you okay with replacing low-cost outdoor furniture every other season?
8. Personal Style – What design style suits your personality? Do you want your patio furniture to seamlessly blend with indoor decor or do you want a contrasting look and color palette outdoors?
9. Flexibility & Ease – Is your space small? Do you want the ability to rearrange outdoor tables and chairs for a variety of purposes?
10. Accessories & Accents – Do you need a patio umbrella or shade to block harmful UV rays? Would a fire pit provide needed warmth and ambiance? Is your outdoor space well-lit? What about rugs, pillows and other accents?
11. Protective Measures – Do you need protective covers or storage space to ensure your patio furniture stays safe in bad weather or during the Winter?

Buying outdoor furniture from an online retailer is distinctly different than purchasing it at your local store. There are a number of factors that you should be aware of when buying patio lounge and dining furniture from a website.

1. Color & Texture – Images on a website are backlit by your computer or smartphone screen, so the colors you see are often brighter than the items are in person. The quality and closeness of the photography may also restrict your ability to discern the texture of frames, fabrics and tabletops. You must accept that there may be slight variances in the look and feel of the items.
2. Comfort – Since online retailers typically don’t have a physical location, it’s difficult to determine how comfortable seating may be. You can get some idea by the dimensions and design specs, along with descriptions of the materials. However, you are rolling the dice a bit unless you have tested the particular chair or sofa in a showroom, someone else’s home or at a commercial property.
3. Assembly – Some items may ship in pieces and require minor or major assembly. Make sure that web retailers provide adequate instructions and identify any tools needed.
4. Shipping Costs & Service – Large patio furniture sets usually ship via a freight carrier on pallets. This can be very expensive if you ordered dining tables with glass tops, steel framed sofas or outdoor umbrellas with heavy bases. Most online retailers offer free curbside delivery, so be aware that you are responsible for getting everything to your backyard or patio. Some sites provide white glove services that will place your items, perform light assembly and remove packaging for an additional fee.
5. Availability & Lead-time – Online-only retailers don’t have physical locations with finished products, so orders are dropshipped from manufacturers’ warehouses. Just because an item is shown on a website doesn’t mean it is currently in stock. Backorders or customized orders may need to be produced in Asia, Indonesia or Europe before shipping to U.S. warehouses. This lead-time can vary by brand, product, customization and manufacturing country. Expect restocking and custom orders to take between four and fourteen weeks.
6. Return Policy – Manufacturers accept returns and replacements for defective items or orders damaged in transit. Many do not accept subjective returns (e.g. buyer remorse, slight variation in appearance, bigger than expected). If they do, there are always fees involved. Typically, you are on the hook for not only the cost to ship the return, but the initial shipping as well. Freight shipping is extremely expensive and can include residential delivery and liftgate fees on top of the simple shipping from point A to point B. A restocking fee is also usually imposed. Taken in total, these expenses can make up almost the entire cost of the order depending on the price point.
7. Customer Service & Reviews – Some online retailers provide great customers service while others simply want to process your order. Don’t rush into placing an online order for expensive outdoor furnishings without checking out who you’re buying from first. Read their About Us section and customer reviews. See if they’re rated by the Better Business Bureau. More importantly, consider how they respond to your questions and requests for documentation and imagery. Are they prompt and complete in their replies, or do your email and voicemail messages disappear into the great void?

The lesson here is that you should take the time to do your homework before buying sight unseen from an online store. There is risk in investing in patio furniture without seeing and feeling it in person, but you usually get better prices than brick and mortar retailers and have more options in one virtual location.

The word “best” is subjective depending on your objective and whether you’re buying outdoor furniture in person or ordering it from an online retailer.

1. Lowest Prices – If you’re looking for a great deal from a brick and mortar outlet, your best bet is to look from August until October. These stores are trying clear out space for Fall inventory so they price patio collections to sell quickly. You won’t be able to use anything until next year, but you can save a bunch. Many online stores may offer discounts at this time too. However, since out of stock items and custom orders often take from four to fourteen weeks, many websites have early Spring sales so customers can receive their outdoor furniture in time for the current Summer season.
2. Availability – If immediate gratification and risk avoidance is your thing, you should check out your local stores in March or April. That’s when they’ll likely start displaying their patio sets and you can get a sense of what they look like and how comfortable they are. Inventory levels start to grow at this time, so you don’t have to wait. Many online retailers have quick ship programs with plenty of stock of certain items in a specific color and finish options. If they’re in stock, you can usually get orders delivered within a couple of weeks. Like local stores, dropship warehouses are better stocked in the Spring than in the heat of Summer.
3. Variety – If you want a broad set of options or a specific look, the earlier you start looking the better. Physical stores have their largest array of styles and colors early in the Spring, so it’s better to get a jump on things than risk having your favorite color gone or find that there are only five matching chairs for your outdoor dining table that seats eight. They may replenish stock, but probably not every SKU. Online stores usually offer more variety in styles, sizes, colors and accessories than their physical counterparts. But it often takes many weeks before you receive your customized patio set. So, you just need to determine when you want to be able to use your furniture and work backward to figure out when is the best time to order.