Following our review of Costco leather sofas, I thought it might be helpful to take a closer look at Abbyson Living, one of the big furniture partners of Costco.
My conclusion on Abbyson?
They offer good quality furniture at a low price point. Abbyson does cut some corners in terms of construction, but ultimately, they provide a good budget furniture option. I advise buying Abbyson furniture from Costco to take advantage of the generous return policy.Â
If you have any experience with Abbyson Living furniture, please leave a comment below or feel free to email me personally at tom@bestleathercouches.com
Summary:
Abbyson Living was formed as a family first furniture company and today, several generations have grown the business into a major ecommerce and dropshipping player. Quality is a concern here as Abbyson creates budget pieces that sacrifice quality.Â
Key Features:
overallÂ
Quality
Value
Warranty
Reviews
What's The Background Of Abbyson Living?
For Abbyson, furniture has always been a family affair. Â The company was founded in 1989, when Abby Rafieha found inspiration in his travels.
He was particularly inspired by Tibetan culture and soon began importing different types of furniture and rugs.Â
In 2001, Rafieha opened Abbyson's first retail location and evenutally his three sons, Yavar, Doddy and Rodd joined the business.
The company has experienced rapid growth, growing from a global drop shipper working with big name furniture retailers, to now offering their own e-commerce platform at Abbyson.com
Abby's son Yavar Rafieha is the CEO of Abbyson, with brother Doddy and Rodd also members of the executive team.
Is Abbyson Living Legit?
Abbyson Living has been operating for over 30 years, mostly operating as a dropshipper for online furniture stores.
Based in Woodland Hills, California, the company employs more than 300 employees and generates over $80 Million in revenues annually.Â
Abbyson has also sold through its own retail stores for many years, with some recent highlights including the launch of a 50,000 square foot retail showroom in High Point, North Carolina.Â
They officially launched their own e-commerce platform at Abbyson.com in 2020. Abbyson is also a preferred furniture partner for Costco. One of Costco's reasons behind partnering with Abbyson is for their control over the entire supply chain, from design to manufacturing and logistics.Â
Abbyson is listed on the Better Business Bureau website with poor ratings, albeit on a low number of only 26 reviews.
Does Abbyson Living Manufacture Its Own Furniture?
Abbyson designs its own products and has exclusive manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, Malaysia, Shanghai, and Italy. Â The majority of leather furniture however is imported and/or manufactured in China.Â
What's The Quality Of Abbyson Living Furniture?
Abbyson's focus is on stylish furniture at an affordable price. The good thing, is that the majority of Abbyson's leather sofas fall within a budget range of $1500 to $3000.
The bad being that Abbyson does cut some corners on quality in order to produce such low cost furniture. As an example, let's take a look at a budget leather couch, the Torrington Leather Sofa, which sells for under $2000.
Torrington Leather Sofa From Abbyson Living Retails for $1799
If a leather sofa is priced for less than $2000, we must pay close attention to the craftsmanship and the materials used.Â
On this Torrington sofa, the details from Abbyson show that a Top Grain Leather is used for the seating areas. But, that also, a leather match is used on sides and back.
What Is Leather Match?
"Leather match" uses "real leather" only on the seats, inside backs and inside arms. The rest of the piece is a matching vinyl. To get the leather and vinyl to match perfectly, the leather hides are sanded down, completely removing the natural grain pattern. An artificial pattern, matching the vinyl, is then embossed onto the hide. A dye is added to match the color of the vinyl and a clear protective coating goes over the dye and artificial grain.Â
(See our guide to high quality sofa construction here)
Thus, Abbyson is able to create an $1800 sofa by using less leather and more vinyl. Unfortunately, this sofa is not going to have the same sort of longevity as something that is made with all top grain leather.
Abbyson use what they call 'kiln dried hardwood'Â for its sofa frames. The problem in many instances is that this kiln dried 'HARDWOOD', is just another name for 'engineered wood', which is not a very high quality frame.Â
Other than that, they use a sinuous spring cushioning system along with 2.2 high density foam cushioning.Â
For some customers looking to sacrifice quality, Abbyson sofas are certainly an option on a limited budget.
What Sort Of Leather Does Abbyson Living Use?
Abbyson uses Top Grain leather for its leather sofas, which is the industry standard for most leather furniture. However, most pieces do use a 'leather match', which utilizes a vinyl material on the backs and sides of the sofa.Â
Swatches are available by sending an email to swatch@abbysonliving.com for any specific piece on their website. Abbyson informs customer to include their name, address, phone number and the item description that corresponds with your selection.
Is It Better To Buy Abbyson Sofas At Costco?
As noted, Abbyson is one of Costco's furniture partners. Abbyson has the most sofa shelf space over at Costco, in front of Simon Li and Prospera Home.Â
Abbyson also has their own ecommerce platform, so some might wonder if they should go straight to Abbyson's website or purchase products via Costco.Â
Overall, it appears that Costco offers a slightly lower price vs Abbyson.com, probabaly due to the power of Costco's retail channel.Â
For example this sharp leather piece from Abbyson, the Brady sofa is on sale for $2399 at Costco while it's $100 more over at Abbyson's website.Â
Abbyson Living Brady Leather Sofa
However, Abbyson does offer frequent discounts and you might actually be able to purchase the sofa cheaper at Abbyson based on the current discount status.Â
Note that if the price is the same, I would definitely opt for buying the piece at Costco, just based on their warranty policies and excellent customer support.
Abbyson Living Sofa Reviews
Costco offers good intel into reviews on the Abbyson Sofas. Using the Brady sofa as an example, the piece has a 3.4 out of 5 rating from Costco customers.
Abbyson Living Brady Leather Sofa
 Several complaints about the overall quality of the Brady sofa.
We have sat on it only a few times, and can already see that the leather on the seating area is not going to hold up
The Rayen leather sofa has more reviews to examine- it gets 4 out of 5 Stars at Costco. A few things to point out before I dive into the customer reviews. Costco provides far more details than the Abbyson website.
Rayen Leather Sofa from Abbyson Living (At Costco)
Costco's product detail is how I determined that Abbyson is actually using 'engineered wood', which they covertly disquise as 'kiln dried hardwood' on their website.Â
Most of the reviews are quite favorable.Â
Very nice furniture. Great quality. Seating is higher from the ground which makes it easier to get up from sitting which is great for older folks. Seating is also firm yet comfortable.
This is a very modern and beautiful sofa. The leather is very soft and comfortable. It has a wide leather back and seats, and the overall minimal stitching is luxurious. I bought the beige color and it brightened up the mood in my living room.
The color is fantastic, best described as a ‘warm gray’. It’s also a little darker than picture. It’s very comfortable, and with the back cushions being removable it’s easy to put someone up for the night. Great job Costco!
The only major complaints I could find were in regards to comfort level and the sofa being a bit 'stiff'.
Abbyson furniture is also sold over at Overstock, where I dug a bit more into the reviews there. A lot of complaints about leather cracking and peeling, which is what I would expect on a sofa made with 'leather match' materials.Â
Abbyson Richfield Leather Sofa Set
The Abbyson Richfield Leather Sofa set gets a 4.2 out of 5 Stars, so not a bad rating at all. But, based on some of the comments, I'm skeptical that these sofas would stand the test of time. And the positive reviews could very likely turn negative as the furniture wears down.Â
Within a year this couch was peeling and looks like it 10 years old. I love the style but it wears out too soon
I purchased this sofa set and the extra 5 year coverage for them within a couple of months of having the set one of the couches began to peel off the edges and show spots
We purchased this home in 2013. It held up for about 2 years before it started to really show signs of wear. Over the past year, it has really broken down and looks awful. The cushions you sit on are just destroyed around the seams.
We purchased this leather furniture three years ago, and, as shared by other reviewers, the piping has frayed badly, and the "leather" has begun peeling in other areas. Because this is such a common occurrence, I contacted Overstock to see if there was any recourse. They referred me to Abbyson, the manufacturer. I sent them a message one week ago, and there has been total silence from them.
Abbyson Living Power Recliner Reviews
Abbyson Living sells a wide range of different leather recliners. I've heard from a few readers that have purchased from Costco and I just wanted to provide some feedback.
While some have said the build quality seems okay, there are many complaints about the positioning of the power recliner itself. For example, with the Palermo Leather Power Swivel Glider Recliner shown above, one reader told me that he couldn't get the footrest in a position that would mimic an actual ottoman footrest.
Plus this particular leather recliner is made with a leather match on the back and sides...so not the best quality but at the price point ($600), you sort of get what you pay for.Â
Does Abbyson Living Offer Discounts?
Abbyson offers frequent discounts, ranging from 10% to 20% off retail price. If shopping at Abbyson, I encourage you to follow their Facebook page or also check their clearance section.Â
What Sort Of Warranty Does Abbyson Living Offer?
Abbyson Living offers a one year limited warranty covering any manufacturing defects.Â
Sofa frames are warranted to be free from defects in workmanship, materials and construction for THREE (3) years.
Abbyson warrants all leather against defective materials and workmanship for ONE (1) year.
Do you have any experience with Abbyson Living, good or bad?
Please let us know in the comments section below.Â
Purchased this 2019 from Overstock supposed to be Top Grain Leather Chesterfield Armchair?
Peeling should not happen to top grain leather, have tried to contact Abbyson was told that I would get a return phone call nothing yet.
Where are you located—
Extremely unhappy with our purchase, this is supposed to be quality learher.