I have a $3.5K sofa, well-built with elegant fabric, that did not fit in with my house after I moved.  It now sits in an outbuilding and my dog loves it.  I got a replacement on Craigslist for $350, and I like it just as much.<p>My lessons: (a) buying sofas is hard; (b) for me, nothing is forever; (c) it&#x27;s hard to generalize about the wisdom of various furniture purchase strategies.