You only mention a sofa, but there's a whole set for sale. Are you buying the whole set? The only thing I would say is, a room full of matching leather furniture is borrrring.

Having said that, we have a leather sofa that has worn like iron, and is now enjoying a second life as a family room sofa, now that we have moved it from the living room. It has been the most popular seating option in our family of 5 humans and 2 dogs, and it is still in great condition after about 8 years. (I just campaigned long enough for an ultrasuede sofa for the living room, DH finally gave in.)

Even if you buy a whole set, you do not need to use it all in the same room or even keep every piece. You could sell off the extras and be way ahead of the game.
Call the seller and make your deal asap. This is one worth grabbing!

My leather couch set lasted 17 years and only looked worn the last few months. It survived my 2 young sons for 9 years. It was not a high quality/expensive leather, but held up nicely.
FWIW, the leather we saw in many stores now is of inferior quality at an equal price point. The one in your ad should be better than the "affordable" kinds. Some of the cheaper ones look ok until you wander to the clearance section and see how they look when damaged. You can see how easily they ripped or the surface got marred.

We are getting a leather look fabric by Palliser, called Phoenix. It was much nicer than the cheap real leather. However, if the sofa set in that ad is still available, and it works for your house, I think that is a deal you can't pass up. You would be getting good quality for a deep discount. Sometimes, paying extra to get exactly what you want is not worth it if you can get close enough at a fabulous price/value. I'd jump all over the opportunity.

Hmmm......I am a self-professed Craigslist bargain hunter - I have funished two houses almost entirely with high end CL purchases. To be honest, this one does not grab me as being a very good bargain. I have no idea what brand it it - even though Pottery Barn or Crate and barrel may sell their leather at higher prices - you know what you are getting - without telling the brand, this looks like a knock off - CL bragvertising.

Just doesn't seem like a deal to me. It's still available with a repeat CL ad for a reason, don't you think? Since you aren't desparate, you could wait for a better bargain, unless you love it and are completely familar and comfortable with the brand.

Good luck!

Leather wears extremely well -- GOOD leather, that is. Are you familiar enough with leather to be able to tell if this set is GOOD leather or cheap leather?

From these pictures, it is not obviously good, and at $7K retail, it was not all that expensive for leather -- I'm thinking mid-range.

But for $2200 - it's a great deal, and I'd agree with the suggestion to sell off some pieces and get something different to complement the pieces you keep.

I don't know how to judge leather, but note the wording "Pottery Barn STYLE sofa". Style is the key word - I see that term a lot on Craigslist(Pottery Barn Style, Restoration Hardware style), leading people to think IT IS that particular brand.

It is a nice looking set, but not sure it is Pottery Barn. It could even be better than PB. I would ask what specific brand it is before going to look so you can research.

It is a great price. Look forward to hearing what you do.

Tuesday

Oops! I was so amazed at the pictures and the price, I failed to read that you had ALREADY seen the furniture and like it. That is great! I was also torn between fabric and leather at one time - for that price I would have gone with leather.

Tuesday

Great catch, Tuesday. I usually pick up on those scams pretty quickly and I missed this one.

Lowspark, google "Beautiful 4PC Pottery Barn Style leather sofa" and you'll find the same ad on Craigslists around the country.
Dee

lowspark, interesting that you should post this. I am a little suspicious about this particular ad because I live in the Dallas area and have seen the exact same ad. In fact I called on it a month or two ago and spoke to someone who said he was the son of the man selling the set. I asked about it but I'm sorry to say I can't remember what he said about it now. I ended up not going to look at the set because it was fairly far away and I just wasn't sure about the quality or if it was really legit. It sort of seemed too good to be true, so I figured maybe it was. I pretty much forgot about it until I ran across it on craigslist recently again. And now you're showing the exact same ad - pictures and all - listed in another city. Makes me really wonder. If you go to look at it, I'd be very curious to know what you find out and whether it is comfortable and well made.

Ok, wow. Yes, this exact ad is on craigslists around the country. That is totally disconcerting. I never thought to search that.

I did see and sit on the sofa/chair/loveseat. They are comfortable and very nice. And Yes it's Pottery Barn style. The guy I talked to sent me this info: "www.davincisofas.com the model is the Santa Fe". Also the son of the guy who bought it. Also they have two sets, one on display at a local delivery warehouse, one apparently in packaging and never opened.

But honestly, I know nothing at all about leather (or furniture in general) to be able to know if this is good stuff or not.

I would only keep the sofa and loveseat in my fam room. The chair/ottoman would either get put in a back room or sold. At least, that was my plan. But now, I'm very curious about the fact that there are clearly tons of these all over the place. I'm wondering, what's the deal!? Too good to be true? Yeah, that's what I'm thinking...

Aaahhh -- Which means the $7K 'retail' price is phony too. Which really means it's a set of cheap leather furniture -- so NOT the good stuff.

And now the add has been flagged and removed --

If you're considering leather - and I would - I'd get educated on it. Go window shopping at some high end furniture stores and inexpensive places and compare the leather. Or go to a place that specializes in leather and ask them to educate you -- Most will be happy to. Once you can see the difference, you'll be in a position to evaluate.

And I'd stick on Craigslist -- There are bargains to be had.

I have found that things on a whole are just not made as well as yesteryears. I love leather and have always had it in my family rooms. These days it seems the leather and structure quality is the least of your worries, it's the darn cheap cushions they use that get all squashy and lose shape. My set isn't real high-end but the sofa alone was I think around $2,300 although I got it on sale at Baers. Not sure how long it's going to look good.

I bought a Restoration Hardware Leather Sofa and Chair on CL for $750 seevarl months ago. The set had a manufacture date of 2007 and was in impeccable shape. A others have said - there are real bargains to be had on CL - but stick with quality brands - and verify the brands upon inspection. RH, C&B, PB will all be marked as such. Knock offs will not be.

Not all knock offs are poorly made. Lowspark saw it in person and liked it. I would not care if it were a real name brand or not if I inspected it carefully and the quality was there. If they can reproduce PB, RH or C&B for a lower price, then why not consider it? I am not talking low end copies, but something that is similar and yet not charging more for the name recognition and advertising.

Of course, if it is not a name brand, I would look it over with a fine tooth comb and be very careful. You can get a lemon with a name brand, but you know the basic standard to expect. This would be more risky, but that should not disqualify it.

Lowspark, did you decide to get that leather set? Sounds like their craigslist ad wasn't exactly honest, but you seemed to like the furniture when you saw it. I personally like the look of it but was a little suspicious of that ad and so never went to see it. So I'm just wondering if you bought it and if so, if your're happy with it.

Good leather wears wonderfully, and as a bonus, many cats don't like it. Bad leather wears like tissue.

I have had my present navy blue leather sofa and chair for 27 years and it has worn like steel. It seems as though every dog I have owned has loved the left side of the sofa to lay on. I have loved this sofa (even though it is time to purchase a new one. We did buy this one at one of the best dealers in our area. The chair looks like it is brand new. It has withstood 5-6 dogs and a child and still does not look bad at all. Would I do it again? You betcha I would!

Wildlifephotomom, I bet they don't make them like that anymore! If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know, because I have been thinking about getting leather also. There is a shop in town that does custom leather sofas, but I don't know much about them. I need to do some research.

I bought a leather sofa and loveseat about 10 years ago, and paid around $4,000.00 for the set at a leather furniture store. These are our main sitting room couches that we watch TV and eat on, sometimes sleep on, have cats, raised teenagers with, etc and they still look pretty new. I bought black leather, because I thought it would be timeless. The type of leather you get will make a big difference in how it wears. I got a pebbled leather, like a really lush Michael Kors handbag, not the smooth/shiny leather, which I think shows scratches easily. I originally thought I could change the look with throw pillows, but they have a tendency to slide off and it didn't work out like I thought, but they are wearing like iron. The way we live, fabric upholstery would look awful very quickly.

I have the Maxwell Sleeper Sofa from Restoration Hardware and I love it. Its incredibly deep, and fabulous for napping. I got it in Brompton Brown, which looks already worn in. The dog runs around on it and any scratches he makes just blend right in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Maxwell Sofa