It can sell massive furniture and online. Solid Oak demonstrates it

I know personally Călin Pop for almost 3 years, but I've been reading him since he started writing on Massive Oak. He is the one who showed me that you can sell solid oak furniture online. I know young people will say "why not?", as they buy everything on the net. But solid furniture is bought more by middle-aged and older people. They are the ones who feel the need to get their hands on it, see it and think for a few days afterwards whether to buy it or not.

The surprise is even greater knowing that Mobel Amadeus, the online store through which solid oak furniture is sold, sells mainly tables and chairs. How can you buy a chair, an armchair, without seeing if it fits you! How could you not want to sit on it in front of the massive, 3, even 4 m long table? And yet Calin sells them. They can be returned, you'll tell me. Yes, but can you imagine what it means for the beneficiary to return such massive and bulky pieces of furniture? And I don't think the people who buy furniture don't think about that. And yet they buy it! Why? The reasons, from my point of view, I have explained at length below.

Calin is very close to the world of wood, I can say right in the middle of it

Calin writes about wood on Massive Oak for more than 7 years. He lives in the world of wood, loves it and when he wants to know something, he does his research. When you're looking to buy a table or some chairs and want to research beforehand what they should look like, what pluses or minuses they may have, you may come across articles in Massive Oak which explains how to build a table, how to place the legs to get the maximum usable area or what is the minimum space a person needs. All this information, which you get for free, gives you confidence that the man knows what he's selling.

The wood Călin talks about is from all areas, not just furniture. Reading the articles you can tell he appreciates well crafted solid wood, craftsmen who prefer old handmade joints, decent innovation, interesting combinations, well done work. He promotes companies and craftsmen who work well whenever he gets the chance. All of these things make you think of someone who appreciates things well done, and you know that in very few cases would such a person agree to sell something he doesn't appreciate in the first place.

Direct relationship with the factory

Online sales are made directly by the manufacturer or by a retailer. Mobel Amadeus is somewhere in the middle. Călin doesn't work in the factory, but the factory in Baia Mare, where much of the furniture he sells is made, is family-owned. He has permanent access to the factory and knows exactly how furniture is made. Furniture that is mostly made for export.

I remember a conversation with him some time ago. He was telling me how selling furniture online was kind of a gamble. He wanted to prove to his uncle that this type of furniture could also be sold online. His uncle told him he was sure he wouldn't sell anything all year, but he let him "play". Even after a year, when he showed him the results, his uncle didn't want to accept the idea. He told him he was lucky. Except that "luck" has been around for a few years.

His family relationship with the factory allowed him to know everything about how furniture is made. This gave him "ammunition" when talking to customers, being able to answer any questions. Or, when the salesman tells you everything you want to know about the product that caught your eye, why wouldn't you buy it?

Flexibility and willingness to find solutions or solve problems

I appeal to another memory. When we first met I was writing mainly about wood finishing, having been involved in this field for a long time. Calin had a problem with some tables in a client's restaurant. In trying to solve the problem he came across articles about finishing defects and contacted me. I understood from the discussion that the problem was due to the wrong storage of tables by the beneficiary. He had bought the tables long before they were put in the restaurant and by the time they opened, he had stored them in an improper space. Although it was not his fault, he did his best to fix the problem, even paying for it out of his own pocket.

In my opinion, this is the recipe for success. If you show willingness to solve people's problems, especially in this world of ours where you are often on your own, you win a lot. Those you help will feel the need to share this because, I repeat, in our country it is not considered normal. And so others will gain confidence.

Customisation of the offer

Customisation of the offer is another side of flexibility. The message on the website tells you that you can choose the colour and finish you want from a catalogue, that there are standard sizes, but on request, the offer can be customised. Everyone who visits the site understands that they have multiple choices. There is no rigidity, just the desire to find the optimal solution for one's home or restaurant. Colours can be matched and sizes adapted. You can choose the leg of another table for the one whose top caught your eye, or you can replace a wooden leg with a metal one.

Lots of combinations are possible and Călin is willing to tell you this from the start. You don't feel confined, you don't feel that if you don't want to, that's it, otherwise you can go somewhere else. And you can see this in reviews received.

Honest public presentation of successes as well as problems

Among the topics addressed on Massive Oak are also those related to furniture sold by Mobel Amadeus. Not just to talk about designs, finishing possibilities, standard or custom sizes, but also to present both successes and problems he has had and what he has done to solve them.

He sometimes talks about happy customers, shows photos of the furniture in the customer's home, and you can tell he's built a relationship with the customer. And that helps, it gives confidence to others. But he also tells us if he has encountered a problem and what he has done to solve it. Admitting mistakes, contrary to what some people think, makes you more human and brings you closer to the customer. The message is "I'm human too and I can be wrong. But I'm doing everything I can to fix that mistake.". Who doesn't give credit to such a man?

A formula for success

Over the years I have followed several businesses that dealt with selling furniture online. We've seen the success of the big international manufacturers, and the best-selling furniture is the simple, Scandinavian design that young people prefer. We've also seen massive furniture companies close up shop online for lack of sales. Calin has succeeded, despite selling hard-to-sell furniture. And that's because he didn't let it sell itself, but invested heavily in informing the market. He talked about oak, solid wood furniture, joinery and construction solutions and so convinced that he knew what he was selling and what a quality product meant.

People need convincing and what convinces them is information, honesty, transparency and availability. If you only know and don't tell the customer, you don't know. You have to find channels to reach the customer and through these channels to convey as much information as possible. This is how you will manage to sell even things that are impossible to sell on the net, as Călin managed to do. Congratulations and good luck, Călin!