Hey guys, I recently got the opportunity to try out a Herman Miller Aeron, it definitely wasn't mind blowing. But compared to other chairs that I have tried there simply is no competition. My current chair simply feels unusable after trying the Aeron.
I do believe the price point to be absurd (1850). Does anyone know of any good deals of this product (preferably sub 1500). Or is it worth it to buy refurbished/ 2nd hands for less than 900.
Not here to buy replicas, they do not feel the same. It would be the same as purchasing a cheaper office chair.
Your profile doesn't say where you are located however this NSW company sells reconditioned secondhand/used Herman Miller chairs.
https://www.thechairking.com.au/online-store/Second-Hand-Off…
Yea, they are the ones that I am referring to when I say refurbished. Do you have any experience with them?
Are they affiliated with The Sofa King?
Gumtree.
There's at least one seller in Western Sydney who had about a dozen, when I checked a few months ago. $500-900 depending on degree of wear.
I've been keeping my eye out on gumtree as well. All the ones that were available have seem to disappear. Do you think 2nd hand is worth it?
It's worth it if in good condition. I use them at work and they're awesome, so I recommended it to a friend years ago, who then got a second hand one on gumtree and have never looked back! Those things are durable and the new ones have some long 10 year (??) warranty.
Thank you!
2nd hand chairs are like 2nd hand cars - if you can get one cheaply that was only driven to church every Sunday by a little old lady, that's almost as good as new.
At the start of iso I bought a 2nd hand Steelcase chair from a dodgy warehouse in Auburn for $400. There was some discrepancy between the way the chairs were talked up in the Gumtree ads and what was actually available once I got there but I'm happy. The chair I bought has plenty of life left in the seat, suspension and back rest (a bit of visible wear on the arms is NBD).
Spot on!
Lucked on a Steelcase in good nick at a garage sale for $10 a few years back. Still my home office wheels.
I bought a used HM Sayl via Gumtree and it's been great. Ideally, you want to go test it out, sit in it etc. to make sure its legit and in good nick. If you're happy with it, go for it!
Thanks for your input! Another question, how did you bring the chair back, I drive a coupe and I'm not sure the chair will fit.
It fits in the back seat of my 2000 toyotta corolla putting it in sideways
I can actually fit 3 in if I put them with the base up and the seat in the feet area.
Make sure you get the one with the posture-fit back support. I tried the one with the old fashioned lumbar and its inferior.
I've tried the posture-fit back support and have not found it to be any good. That being said I have not tried older aerons.
Can't seem to edit previous comment:
Don't be put off by the age of these chairs though. They seriously last forever! Just make sure the mesh is in good condition as once that starts unraveling probably down hill each time you rub on it.
Definitely will inspect, might fork out the extra just for refurbished ones.
IMO having had these chairs (and mutliple different ones) for a long time - refurbished might just mean they vacuumed off the dust in the crevices, cleaned the mesh and plastic…… I doubt they replaced parts unless they had too…. and there wouldn't be any reason to unless the parts broke … which they usually don't. I think refurbished here is just marketting and a private seller could do just as good a job as second hand retailer. 0% chance they opened up the mechanism and did anything there (which isn't necessary unless something breaks anyway).
Genuine question but what exactly do you think when you hear the word refurbished?
In my head, my idea of refurbished is having all parts that need replacing replaced and that the chair should be functioning as a new at least for 1-2 years fault free. Obviously this might be wishful thinking as refurbished generally means the seller wants to make a profit.
@smako69: Unfortunately that doesn't apply to these chairs because:
So I wouldn't give any weight to the word refurbish at all - as most of the chairs will still be in great condition and I bet all the seller did was clean it and then claim it was refurbished.
Source: having owned multiple of these chairs and fixed things that need fixing (rarely ever needs fixing) ….
@fd9: Thanks for your input, it was very informative. Definitely gonna keep out and pay more attention for second hands!
@fd9: Update on what refurbished means with chairking -
"We don't have any left, but the most recent Aeron chairs we had were around 10 years old. They had had any damaged parts replaced with brand new genuine Herman Miller parts, including the gas cylinders, arm pads, lumbar pads, tilt cables and castors. We only sell Aeron chairs without any damage to the mesh."
It could be a good idea to buy second hand as the Aeron is an extremely well made and durable chair. Mrs BOGOF bought an Aeron new in 1996 and has used it almost daily as her working office chair. She recently had to replace the seat as the mesh had worn through. But this is the only part that has needed replacing. The chair still looks like nearly new. Another thing to consider, is the lumbar support. The original Aerons have quite a simple lumbar support which does work well, but the design of the lumbar support has been superceded twice over the years and supposedly has been improved, so check this out. If you look underneath the chair there will be a sticker identifying the year of manufacture.
Also, if you find an Aeron in good condition but the mesh seat has torn, don't be put off as you can buy a genuine mesh seat from Herman Miller dealers in Australia for $180, and are very easy to replace.
Thank you!
as you can buy a genuine mesh seat from Herman Miller dealers in Australia for $180, and are very easy to replace.
In case anyone's wondering, it costs $205 at Living Edge now. Looks like prices have gone up.
Price seems to have slowly gone up since with the updated model. I bought 2 from Living Edge when EOFY sales and one standard version on gumtree or Ebay. The used one us now showing some webbing wear. Try some office furniture stores. Worth calling around as being in Sydney alot of companies update furniture, so alot get auctioned or sold to the office furniture stores to resell. Best to check out the chair although I think when I bought the used one it was with no inspection. You can also ask the seller for manufacture date as under base of chair to get an idea of age. As used or refurb doubt you will get warranty, but they arebuilt to last. Hence the price. 12year umconditional warranty which they do honour. Just make sure you keep receipt in that instance.
Thanks man, Definitely considering new if there is a good deal. 1850 is just a bit hard to swallow.
Yeah steep for current new ones. Sometimes sales at EOFY. When I bought my new ones they were $1350 and that was for the full polished alloy base and armrest with the lumber support. 10years ago. Still going strong. Only had arm rest replaced on one of them. Used 7 days a week for at leasr 8hrs plus. For some reason a chunk was breaking off. Could have been the kids or wear and tear. They came to house and replaced both rest and bracket. Even though only one arm had an issue. Suppose they could use the other as spares. Hard upfront cost, but over life cycle if you have it for the 12 years or more only about $150 a year.
if you have it for the 12 years or more only about $150 a year.
Or in our case about $75 a year
@BOGOF: I fully understand the case for and against. Not everyone can fork out the now almost 2k price for the standarrd one. But second hand an option. Or buy another good chair that will last 4 or 5 years, just not the $100 ones. They just wont likely have the same longevity and end up on the naturestrip for hard rubbish.
@BOGOF: Yes. I was just trying to clarify to OP our case. That if you can afford to buy new do so as the lifecycle far outlasts the use. Timeless design given how old it is. Not everyone can fork out that $1850 at moment even me. I actally think my new ones are now coming up to 15years. The used obe is 21years old.
After looking for about 3 months (last apr/may/june) best i could find was $1850 with living edge free delivery. That being said the comfort level was noticable after trying the mirra and a few steelcase chairs. Love it though, no regrets. Good business write off too.
ive had one for over 10 years, i would recommend it to anyone.
I bought about 10 of these for my previous company. That was more than 10 years ago and they all were in a very good shape when I left the company early this year.
When I was buying them, one colleague asked to add an extra one to the order for himself. The price was just under $1000 at the time and I thought he was an idiot to fork out $1k out of his own pocket.
Fast forward to this March, need to buy a chair for home office, looking at $1850 price tag, chatting to the same colleague and regretting not buying that chair myself 10 years ago.
You are unlikely to find good deals. As soon as covid hit, all discounts I saw disappeared, people are setting up their home offices so there's plenty of demand.
I was in the same boat as you! Tried the Aeron and Mirra 2 at Living Edge and nearly fell off the chair when I inquired about the price.
I scoured Gumtree for a few months and set up alerts. The good chairs on Gumtree get snapped up very quickly. The mediocre ones tend to hang on a for a small amount of time before disappearing.
For me the Aeron vs the Mirra 2 was the same comfort level (with all the adjustments and options fitted).
Stay clear of the Mirra 1's.
The Mirra 2's can be distinguished by looking at the back of the chair. They have an 'ET head' shape as part of their posture support. Whereas the Mirra 1's have a semi 2 prong star shape at the back.
After a few months, I snapped up a white Mirra 2 recently, fully optioned and because it was white, I asked Living Edge to price it out - came in at a whopping $2.3K!
The one I snapped up was on Gumtree at a fraction of the cost, within 24 hours of it being listed. It was in almost brand new condition, used occasionally by the seller in their home office.
I can not imagine using anything else now. The chair is ultra comfortable and well worth the second hand price I paid for it. Still have my old office chairs which I jump on occasionally to test the difference. It's like night and day. These chairs are unbeliveable!
Good Luck and let us know how you go!
These exuberant pieces of furniture are the first to go in a recession
I don't think the prices are gonna drop anytime soon. In fact they may even rise. But thanks for your input
UPDATE POST: Bought a 2nd hand Aeron for $400. No damage to mesh and no smells. Will update my thoughts and if there are any issues associated with the item in a months time.
Where did you get yours? How is it holding up?
Gumtree, theres cosmetic damage and scratches. The cushion below the mesh seat is falling apart but I have already ordered a replacement. My back pain has completely gone from using this chair, best 400 i have spent.
replaced seat pad. Seat pad was purchased on ebay for 20 dollars, unfortunately the size is smaller than the original but it does the job.
There's some people on gumtree who don't know the value of HM chairs. I've seen people selling HM aeron with armrest for $200, too bad it was picked up by the time I was there. I asked the seller if he knows the original price of the chair, he doesn't know it. He said the chair belong to his cousin but he have moved overseas.
Try replicas, they're usually a fraction of the price at a significant reduction of quality.