Let’s imagine your church has decided to purchase new church chairs, either to replace older chairs or to transition from pews to chairs.  In today’s world of course, you begin by searching for your chairs on the Internet.  After a few keystrokes you are scrolling through more church chair websites than you thought would ever exist.  The number of manufacturer and dealer websites are staggering.  You quickly ascertain that new chairs for your church is going to be a challenging project.

At Church Furniture Partner, we recommend to churches across the country that obtaining “sample chairs” is an integral part of the process.  Most manufacturers have “sample chair programs”.  They may charge $25 or $35 for the sample to help cover shipping, but overall they make it quite easy for churches to obtain sample chairs.  They desire that their products be well evaluated by churches who hopefully will become their customers.  Providing affordable sample chairs is simply an important step in doing business.

Last week I was visiting a location where there were actually two sample chairs sitting side by side.  One was a chair manufactured for Chairs4Worship.  The other was a Hercules church chair.  Looking at them side by side provided a stark contrast from an appearance standpoint.  The Chairs4Worship product was the least expensive chair in their line, but from a visual standpoint seemed obviously superior to the Hercules product.  We have previously reviewed the Hercules Chair here, and this additional opportunity to compare these chairs only adds weight to that review.

Here’s the interesting piece of information though that prompted this article.  The Hercules Sample Church Chair had cost the purchaser $88!  While in comparison most church seating manufacturers provide sample chairs for $25-$40, to obtain one from Hercules can cost your church three to four times that amount.  A dealer can choose to subsidize that amount for a church, but that is the cost from the manufacturer.

We have been discussing why this practice in place.  However, when we observe the Hercules Church Chair next to most chairs from other manufacturers, the practice may make sense.  It’s hard for us to believe that many churches would choose the Hercules Chair when such a side by side comparison of chairs takes place.  Perhaps by charging this price for a sample, such comparisons take place less than they would otherwise.

At Church Furniture Partner, you will find that your church may even be eligible for a FREE sample church chair!  If you’re beginning the process of searching for quality and affordable church chairs, we’d love to come alongside your church.  Please contact us for more information.