The best furniture store for you is one that lets you try before you buy, has a clear and free return process, delivers to your actual front door, stands behind its products with a real warranty, and charges a fair price that doesn't depend on waiting for a sale. Style matters, but these are the things that decide whether buying a sofa or bed is easy or a headache.
Most furniture regret doesn't come from the wrong colour. It comes from a sofa that won't fit up the stairs, a return policy you only read after delivery, or a "sale" price that turns out to be the normal price. Those details rarely show up on a store's homepage, so you have to go looking for them.
This guide is the checklist we'd use ourselves. We run a furniture company, so we've included how Cozey answers each question. Use the same questions wherever you shop.
On This Page
- The Checklist at a Glance
- Can You Try It Before You Buy?
- Returns and Trials: Read the Fine Print
- Will It Fit in Your Home?
- What's Included in Delivery?
- What Happens After You Buy: Warranty and Care
- Does the Price Change for Sales?
- Red Flags to Watch For
The Checklist at a Glance
The Checklist at a Glance
| Question to ask | What a good answer looks like | How Cozey answers |
|---|---|---|
| Can I see and try it in person? | A showroom near you, or samples you can hold | Stores in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, Edmonton opening November 18, 2026. Free fabric swatches online and in store |
| How long do I have to return it? | At least 30 days for furniture, longer for mattresses | 30 days for furniture, 100 nights for mattresses |
| Who handles the return, and what does it cost? | Free pickup or a clear, fair process, written down before you buy | Free returns on furniture in its original boxes. Free scheduled pickup for mattresses, no box needed |
| Will it fit through my door, up my stairs, into my elevator? | Box dimensions published for every product | Sofas ship in compact boxes. Every box size and weight is listed on the product page |
| What does delivery include? | A clear answer on where it's dropped off and what it costs | Free shipping to all 10 provinces. Door or lobby delivery, with scheduled in-unit delivery in select areas |
| How do I set it up? | Simple assembly, ideally without tools | Our sofas assemble without tools |
| What does the warranty cover? | Several years, covering defects, in writing | 5-year limited warranty on furniture, 15-year limited warranty on mattresses |
| Can I replace one damaged part? | Replacement parts or covers, not a whole new piece | Modular: replace the part, cushion or cover that needs it |
| Is today's price the real price? | The same price all year | No sales, ever. One price in store and online |
Can You Try It Before You Buy?
Summary: Sitting on a sofa for five minutes tells you more than any product photo. If a store has no showroom near you, look for fabric samples and a return window long enough to decide at home.
Seat depth, firmness and back height are hard to judge online. Two sofas with the same dimensions can feel completely different, and the right one depends on your height, how you sit and whether you like to lie down on it. Fabric is the same: colour and texture change with the light in your room.
Three things help:
- A showroom you can actually get to. Try a few configurations, not just the display model. Sit the way you'd sit at home.
- Fabric samples you can take home. See them in your own light, next to your floors and walls.
- Help that doesn't feel like a sales pitch. A good store will help you plan around your floor plan, not just push the biggest sectional.
How Cozey does it: You can walk into any Cozey store without an appointment, and every store has fabric swatches to take home. You can also book a free one-on-one design consultation on weekdays. If there's no store near you, free swatches ship to your door, and our trial lets you decide at home.
Returns and Trials: Read the Fine Print
Summary: The length of the trial is only one part of it. Ask who pays to send it back, whether you need the original packaging, whether there's a fee, and whether you get your money back or store credit.
Furniture is big and expensive to move, so return policies vary more than in almost any other category. Before you order, find out:
- When does the clock start? On the day you order, or the day it's delivered?
- Who arranges and pays for the return? Free pickup, a prepaid label or your own trip to a depot?
- Do you need the original boxes? Some furniture can be repacked. A mattress can't.
- Is there a fee? Restocking or return shipping fees can take a real bite out of your refund.
- Refund or store credit? And how long does the refund take?
- Are some items final sale? Custom orders, floor models and clearance often can't be returned.
- For mattresses: is there a minimum? Some trials require you to sleep on it for a set number of nights before you can return it.
How Cozey does it:
Returns and Trials: Read the Fine Print
| Furniture | Mattresses | |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | 30 days from delivery | 100 nights |
| How to return | From your Cozey account or through our Customer Happiness team | From your Cozey account or through our Customer Happiness team, who schedule a pickup |
| Original packaging | Needed for a free return. Without it, a 15% fee may apply | Not needed |
| Minimum before returning | None | None |
| Refund timing | 3 to 7 business days after we receive and inspect it | 3 to 7 business days after we receive and inspect it |
| Exchanges | Available for a different size or model | Foam and Hybrid can be exchanged for each other |
We ask you to keep sofa boxes because our furniture is designed to be repacked in them, which is what keeps returns free. If you've already recycled them, contact us and we'll help.
Will It Fit in Your Home?
Summary: Measure the path, not just the room. Doorways, stair turns and elevators stop more furniture than small living rooms do.
A sofa that fits your living room can still be impossible to get into it. Before you buy, measure:
- Every doorway on the way in, including the building entrance and your unit door.
- Stairwells, especially tight turns and low ceilings on landings. Spiral staircases and narrow walk-ups are the classic problem.
- The elevator, inside height and depth, and check whether your building requires you to book it.
- Hallway corners, where long pieces have to pivot.
Then compare those measurements to the box dimensions, not just the assembled ones. A store should publish both.
How Cozey does it: Our sofas are modular and ship in compact boxes, with each piece in its own box, so you're never carrying a full sofa through a doorway. We design sofa boxes to stay under 50 lb each so one person can handle them, and the box size and weight for every product is listed on its product page. Our sofas go together without tools once they're in the room. Mattresses ship rolled in a single box about 44" long.
This is the reason Cozey exists. Our first sofa was designed in Montreal for walk-ups and spiral staircases, where a traditional sofa simply doesn't fit.
What's Included in Delivery?
Summary: "Free delivery" can mean very different things. Ask where it's dropped off, whether you need to be home, how long it takes and whether old furniture is taken away.
Questions worth asking:
- Where exactly is it left? At the curb, your front door, your building's lobby or inside your unit?
- Do you need to be home? And can you choose the day?
- How long does it take? In-stock and made-to-order timelines can differ by weeks.
- Is it free everywhere? Some stores charge more for remote areas.
- Is setup included? And will they take your old furniture away?
How Cozey does it: Shipping is free across all 10 provinces, with rare exceptions in very remote areas. Standard delivery is by courier to your front door or your building's lobby, so you don't need to be home. In select areas, you can choose scheduled delivery to your unit on a specific date for a small fee, which you'll see at checkout if it's available. Our couriers don't assemble furniture or remove old pieces, so plan for that separately. If you buy in one of our stores, we ship the order to your home the same way.
What Happens After You Buy: Warranty and Care
Summary: A good warranty is long, written down and specific about what it covers. Just as important: can you fix one part when something wears out, or do you have to replace the whole piece?
When comparing warranties, look at:
- Length, and whether it's the same for the frame, cushions and fabric
- What counts as a defect, and what's excluded, like normal wear or accidental damage
- How a claim works: who you contact, what proof you need and whether they replace the part or the whole item
- Optional protection plans, and what they add beyond the standard warranty
And think about the next ten years, not just the first one. Can you buy a replacement cover if your toddler wins a fight with a marker? Can you add a seat when you move somewhere bigger?
How Cozey does it:
What Happens After You Buy: Warranty and Care
| What's covered | |
|---|---|
| Furniture | 5-year limited warranty against manufacturing defects. Because our furniture is modular, we replace the defective part, not the whole sofa |
| Mattresses | 15-year limited warranty, including permanent indentations of 1" or more |
| CozeyProtection+ (optional, sofas) | 3 years of coverage for accidental damage the standard warranty doesn't cover, like spills, stains and tears |
| Covers | Most sofa covers are removable and machine washable, and replacement covers are available |
| Growing with you | Add seats, a chaise or an ottoman to a modular sofa years later |
Does the Price Change for Sales?
Summary: If a store is always on sale, the "regular" price is mostly decoration. Look at what the item actually sells for, and whether you'd pay less by waiting.
Sales aren't bad in themselves, but they make it hard to know what something is worth. A few habits help:
- Watch the price over a few weeks. If the "sale" price never goes away, that's the real price.
- Be wary of countdown timers and "today only" pressure on large purchases.
- Compare the final price, including delivery, setup and any return fees, not just the discount percentage.
In Canada, a "regular price" in a sale ad is supposed to reflect what the item genuinely sold for, or was genuinely offered at, for a meaningful period. If you're comparing stores, the price you'd pay on an ordinary Tuesday is the honest benchmark.
How Cozey does it: We've never run a sale, and we don't plan to. You pay the same price in March, August or November, in store or online. The two ways to pay less are always available: refurbished pieces at 15% off every day, and Bundle & Save pricing when items ship together. If it helps, financing is available at checkout.
Red Flags to Watch For
- No published return policy, or one you can only find after checkout
- "Final sale" on regular items with no clear reason
- No box dimensions for furniture that ships in boxes
- A warranty that isn't written down, or one that only covers the first year
- Delivery promises with no detail on where it's dropped off
- A permanent sale with a countdown timer that resets
- No way to reach a person before you buy
None of these automatically means a store is bad. But each one is a question you should get answered before you hand over your card.