Church Furniture “Private Labeling” will Cost Your Church Money!

A decade or more ago, our Save Your Church Money ministry began offering the Tux Lite Series of Soft Seating from OCI Sitwell to churches across the USA.  This series includes that Model 710 Club Chair, the Model 712 Loveseat, and the Model 713 Sofa.  At the time, these same items were being sold by Wayfair as well and we would regularly save churches hundreds of dollars on a purchase of the same items.  I would send churches links to the same products on the Wayfair website as Wayfair was using the same model numbers and manufacturer.

A couple of years ago though, those model numbers and manufacturer listings disappeared from the Wayfair website.  In their place, there appeared some new listings advertising the Wahcheechee Armchair, the Wahcheechee Loveseat and the Wahcheechee Sofa and they were listed on the Wayfair website as from the “Orren Ellis Shop”.

The practice of “private labeling” is becoming more and more prevalent as the ability to price-shop on the web, allows pricing to be compared.  So many larger companies are choosing to “private label” (put their own name on a product they are purchasing from someone else) to avoid being price-shopped.

I will let you determine for yourself if that is taking place with the products referred to above!  You can see here is the 712 Love Seat on the OCI Sitwell Site.  And here is the Wahcheechee Loveseat on the Wayfair Site.  Notice the specifications that are almost identical, the product image which appears the same, and the list of upholstery options that utilize the same color options/names.  You can then look also from those links at the Club Chair and Sofa listings from each website and see the same reality exists with those as well.  Quite telling isn’t it?

Now, what is even more telling is the potential savings that exists for churches.  Wayfair advertises these with free shipping.  So here is an “apples to apples” comparison below with our ministry pricing that also includes shipping costs to most locations in the continental USA.

Waucheechee Chair $1049.99 Tux Lite 710 Chair $749.99
Waucheechee Loveseat $1769.99 Tux Lite 712 Loveseat $1269.99
Waucheechee Sofa $2059.99 Tux Lite 713 Sofa $1469.99

Wayfair is a huge company that has marketed itself very well with “free shipping” offers and catchy jingles like “Wayfair has just what you need!”  They undoubtedly utilize many other marketing strategies to create sales.  You can decide for yourself if private labeling is one of those strategies.

But here is what I want you to know about our ministry, Save Your Church Money!

  • We Keep Our Overhead as Close to Zero as Possible!
  • We Build & Maintain Trusted Relationship with You!
  • We Know What Works & Lasts for Churches!
  • We Keep SYCM a Church-Focused Ministry!

And one other important fact to know:  There are hundreds of other church furnishing items where potential savings exists for your church!

Please contact us to discuss all of your church’s furnishing needs.