Clearance office furniture has the obvious benefit of being priced at a significant discount from MSRP. You can find great deals by looking for not just slightly worn showroom pieces but also brand new items that are being discontinued. Shipments that are damaged in transit offer another source for cheap clearance items. You may be able to get other freebies thrown in with your clearance purchase such as free shipping if a dealer is looking to clear out warehouse space fast.

Whether or not purchasing these furnishings is the best idea for you depends on a number of factors:

• Is any wear and tear structural or just cosmetic?

If you don’t mind scratches and dents, showroom and slightly worn furniture pieces are a great deal. Just be on the lookout for situations where a piece of furniture is really damaged. For example, a chair’s lift cylinder might no longer work; or a desk might have drawers that won’t open all the way.

Buying your employees broken furniture may send a message that you don’t value their productivity. You are only getting a good deal if the item is still functional rather than frustrating to use. These same rules apply if you are looking at used office furniture. Gently used is fine – falling apart isn’t.

• Is the item being discontinued by the manufacturer or just by the local dealer?

Clearance office furniture that is from a discontinued line isn’t always the best thing to buy if you plan to grow your workforce. You may not be able to find components to repair or expand obsolete styles of cubicles when you need them. Check out the manufacturer’s track record for making their new products compatible with previous designs.

If all else fails, you may be able to turn to “cubicle clone” companies to provide OEM compatible parts. However, these aren’t always of the same quality as the originals. You may simply want to buy extra pieces of clearance furniture and store them for future use if having a matched set is important