So where do I start? Lets start by this. I welcome entrepreneurs trying to create new products and offering services to customers making lives easier. Pepperfry is one such site. It offers furniture, delivered right to your doorstep. Thats great right?
It would have been had it not been for the excessive greed that the company founders have. These guys have been single handedly responsible for changing the furniture pricing model across India. Look at this. The price of one sofa cum bed is set at(trust me on this on) ₹1, 46, 999, which after the discount is now being sold at a cool ₹84, 999. The question here is this-(1) who fixed the price and(2) why is being offered at 42 per cent discount. Mind you, these guys are like the erstwhile koutons or cantibilis(anyone remember them); always offering discounts on some crazy jacked up price. So the moot question is this. What is the actual price of the item. While there cannot be any answer for this, let me tell you this. I went to the furniture market in Delhi and got the exact same item(in sheesham wood) for ₹18, 000. The furniture makers told me that pepperfry and urban ladder(another scam site) make their furniture from here and then fix whatever arbitrary price they can think of.
I have no problem with enterpreneurs making money and offering value to the society-job creation, wealth creation etc., but when greed descends then there is no recourse. Making 500-600per cent profit on an item is criminal. I know many people who do not have access to quality furniture think that this is great but think of this. If you live in Assam, then a round trip flight to Delhi costs roughly ₹15000. Two night stay with food is another ₹10000(assuming you like comfort). Even after spending on this, you pay only ₹43000 and save at least ₹42000 on a sofa cum bed. This is just for reference but I hope everyone gets the point. The moral of the story is - AVOID PEPPERFRY AND SIMILAR GREEDY/SCAM SITES. Get local and buy from your local furniture maker. It gives them opportunities and arrests migration to big cities, resulting in decluttering of big cities.
Regards,
A fellow Indian trying to save your hard earned money