What goes into the price of a ₹98,000 sofa

Our channel-back three-seater sofa costs ₹98,000. That is more than many sofas in Ahmedabad showrooms, and customers fairly ask why. Here is roughly where the money goes.

The frame comes first. It is made from seasoned teak, joined with mortise and tenon and dowels, glued and screwed, never stapled. Teak for one sofa costs about ₹22,000, and two joiners spend around three days cutting and assembling it. Under the seat we use rubber webbing and hand-tied springs rather than a sheet of plywood, which keeps the seat from going flat. Webbing, springs and steel fittings come to about ₹6,000.

Next is the cushioning: high-density foam for the seat, wrapped in a softer layer and a cotton sheet, with fibre-filled back cushions. That is about ₹9,000. The fabric, 14 to 16 metres of upholstery cloth, ranges from ₹8,000 to ₹20,000 depending on what you choose. Our upholsterer then spends four days on cutting, sewing the channels and fitting everything.

All labour together, about twelve days of skilled work, comes to about ₹28,000. The rest covers the workshop, the delivery van and two people to carry and place it, the five-year warranty on joinery, and our margin. You can bring the price down by choosing a simpler fabric or a two-seater, which is ₹74,000. What we will not do is replace the teak frame or the springs with something cheaper, because those are what make a sofa last twenty years.