Johannesburg, Thursday January 12th, 2017-- Today, Furnitureshop.co.za introduced a revolutionary new way to connect furniture shoppers and craftsmen all across South Africa. Through Furniturespot, artisanal craftsmen get access to an online platform and shoppers finally are able to order their one-of-a-kind furniture with incredible ease. Why compromise, and buy expensive imported furniture from a big company, when you can have your furniture custom-made by local artisans at a fair price? Because local is lekker!

Only the best craftsmen are given access to the platform. Furniturespot’s makers make all types of furniture including tables, cabinets, chandeliers and even custom made braais.  

Furniturespot.co.za helps customers realise their furniture ideas by connecting them to talented artisanal craftsmen. Customers can upload a picture of their desired furniture they have seen on Pinterest or somewhere else. Furniturespot will send the customer three different quotations. Based on price and previous reviews, the customer decides which craftsman to take for the job.  

The founders of Furniturespot, Wouter and Lizet, spent months to find the best craftsmen Johannesburg has to offer for their platform. Wouter: “It took much more time than expected. We drove hundreds of kilometres in the city of Johannesburg. These artisanal craftsmen are difficult to find because they don’t have a website and there is no rating system available where you can pick the best furniture makers.”  

The founders got the idea when they were redecorating their home but couldn’t find what they were looking for. “It was either too expensive, too big, too small or just not the right colour. To create exactly the pieces we had in mind, we went custom. But we couldn’t find furniture makers to be trusted. This is how we got the idea to start Furniturespot.co.za,” said Lizet.  

Stimulating the local economy

Furniturespot.co.za wants to stimulate the local economy by bringing more business to craftsmen. Lizet: “When you go shopping at one of the major furniture stores you will find that most furniture is imported, and with a quality that is average at best. We believe that the lack of trust and the inconvenience to order custom made furniture are important factors for people not using local talent. Our platform connects talented artisanal craftsmen with all those customers looking for that one-of-a-kind piece of furniture. Furniturespot.co.za supports the “Local is lekker” movement.  

The website takes away the fear of trust that so many people have when they are looking for a furniture maker. Furniturespot’s craftsmen have been screened by Furniturespot on quality and trustworthiness. Wouter: “Customers want to go to a one-stop-shop they can trust”. Custom made is much more affordable than what people would think. Wouter: “Everybody thinks that custom made pieces are expensive. I would say it is quite the opposite. Our makers are much more affordable than your mainstream furniture shops, because we have cut out the middlemen. And when it is custom made, the pieces meet our customers’ exact specifications. Why buy something not quite right when you can have it custom made?”  

About

Furniturespot.co.za is a new online marketplace in South Africa for custom made furniture. Furniturespot.co.za has built an exciting platform for turning customer furniture ideas into reality by connecting them to the best artisanal craftsmen South Africa has to offer. By delivering great customer service through creative and manufacturing expertise at an affordable price point, furniturespot.co.za is making custom made furniture accessible to everyone. At furniturespot.co.za we bring one-of-a-kind ideas to life.