Desk Depot

Bought a used office chair here. Checked out their selection of office chairs for about 20 minutes, trying to be sure I found one that fit my needs. I knew there would be no returns, but I felt pretty confident that I wouldn’t be buying:
1. A broken chair
2. A chair that smells of human waste
I sat in what can only be known as the ‘Feces’ chair at his location. I didn’t notice the smell there. It wasn’t until I got home and sat in this thing for an hour — then stood up. I’ve never smelled something so awful — it actually made me feel physically ill. Not that it mattered at this point, but the back rest was also discovered to be broken — though I adjusted it in the store and didn’t find this to be the case until I got home.
$ 250 down the drain… On a positive note, the owner seems nice BUT — He obviously doesn’t check his inventory before sale. Buyer beware.

I originally went into Desk Depot because they were open on Saturday and I needed a 10′-12′ table for my break room. The owner, Richard, was there and asked what I was looking for and walked me around to help me find something. He knew what he had in stock and showed me around and asked questions to better understand. I was shocked in a great way when he quoted me a price for a used table at $ 350! Sold! I also bought several brand new chairs. He was very pleasant and easy to work with. We set a delivery date and the delivery was within the window provided and the guys that came worked quickly and were very aware of keeping the table and our floors protected from any scratches during the moving process. They also took away our old table and chairs. Couldn’t ask for better! Will definitely go back for any future office furniture needs.

Last November I went to Desk Depot looking for a used Herman Miller Aeron C desk chair for my son. Richard did not have the size I wanted in stock so he took my name and phone number. Consequently, I was pleasantly surprised when he called at the beginning of February and said he had just acquired a fully functioning C which was available for sale. I drove over immediately to get it and my son is very happy to have it. That’s what I call good customer service.

I’ve purchased office equipment from them several times, and have always been happy with what I’ve gotten – great value and great prices! Service was excellent! The owner was very patient while I muddled though the choices and finally picked the file cabinet I wanted. They helped load it on the my husband’s truck. When I got it home I liked it even better than where I was in the store. It’s a really good quality file cabinet and was EXACTLY what I needed!
Thanks so much.

I bought an office chair from Desk Depot last weekend. They had a huge selection — maybe 80 chairs or more, including a few matching sets of 8 to 10. Richard was very helpful. He worked with me for about 20 minutes, explaining the benefits of various chairs, across a wide range of prices from $ 60 to $ 120. He spent about 20 minutes helping me and even helped strap it into the back of my two-​seater. They’re also open on Saturdays, which is very useful.

Pros:
— the owner really knows how to fix chairs
Cons:
— the owner doesn’t know how to properly fit you to a chair
— very expensive for what you get (if buying used)
— chairs come with no information on their history: e.g. how long they were used, how they were acquired (was a startup liquidated? did a company decide to phase out all chairs over 10 years old?)
The owner of Desk Depot struck me as being very knowledgeable about how to fix chairs, and all their components. He did not seem to have much knowledge about ergonomics or the proper way to sit, or how to adjust a chair to fit you in the best way.
Desk Depot does not offer a return policy for any used chair they sell. Some used chairs they sell are still under warranty, and those are much more expensive (almost the same price as a new chair!) than the other chairs on their floor. Meaning, if you buy a used chair from Desk Depot, it is sold «as-​is» with no returns. This makes it doubly important to be absolutely certain you will be comfortable with the chair you get. (However, to be fair, most used chair places also sell chairs «as-​is» with absolutely no returns to limit their losses and liability.)
Here are some tips about buying used chairs that I’ve learned from making a very expensive mistake here:
You have to know what to look for when buying a used chair. Firstly, always look at a NEW version of the same chair before even considering buying a used version: that way, you will know what is «wrong» or «not quite right» about a used chair with an unknown history. Desk Depot did not carry new chairs that I could sit on to compare with a used chair on the floor.
Secondly, you can determine how much wear a chair has by simply kneeling down and looking at the seat from the side: the front of the seat should have padding of about equivalent height to the back of the seat. The more the front of the seat is smashed down, or that overhangs the base of the seat, the more used the chair is. The «smashed-​down» look is due to compression of the foam by either a lot of wear (a chair that’s been used for over a decade by many people) or abuse (putting more weight on the chair than it was built to take). I was shown two chairs that were the same model, and at the time I could definitely feel one chair had better padding than the other — what I didn’t know was that both chairs had poor life left in the padding. A new chair has padding that is uniform from the front of the seat to the back, as can be seen by doing a simple Google image search.
Thirdly, it really takes more than an hour to «test-​drive» a chair. Ideally, you’d want to spend at least 2 – 3 hours on the chair you want to buy, set up at a desk with whatever configuration you’re going to be using it in the most (e.g. a keyboard and mouse, rather than just a laptop; footrest; simulate the height of your monitor by stacking your laptop on an empty box). I only «test-​drove» the used chair I bought for less than an hour — however, I was very excited about it because the owner had convinced me that this was a good chair (I don’t doubt a new one would have been a very good chair). The result of this brashness is now I have an expensive used chair that I need to replace again; it is fine for about an hour, however it is horribly uncomfortable to sit in for more than that as the padding is almost gone at the lip and consequently cuts off circulation at the thigh. No matter how excited you are about a chair, be sure to test it for at least 2 hours!
I gave this place a 2-​star rating because Desk Depot has made it hard to find a good, used chair that is comfortable; they focus on your budget, not what chair is best for your comfort. Despite this, I would advise that as long as you have prepared yourself by shopping and testing different chairs in their new condition first, and are prepared to spend a good 2 hours trying out a used chair, you may find a real gem of a used chair. However, note that these gems will probably cost a lot more than you would expect (e.g. the used Aeron chairs, still under warranty, were only a few hundred dollars less than a brand-​new one).
The owner of Desk Depot is very knowledgeable about chair components, I wouldn’t hesitate to have him fix a chair. For an evaluation of which models of chairs best suit you, I’d recommend going to a place like Design Within Reach instead, which have representatives who are knowledgeable about ergonomics.

In a word: Excellent! I was looking for an office chair, and I refuse to give my money to the big chain office stores. I was looking for something very specific — no arms, had to have an adjustable height, back, and seat position, and it would be nice if it rocked. The owner knew exactly what I was asking for and showed me a few different chairs at different price points. I picked one that I liked within a few minutes.
I got it home and found out that the mechanism to keep the seat height in position was broken, and it would rise whenever I stood up. I called back right away, and the owner said that I could bring it back and he would give me a different chair or repair it. By the time I got back, he had the same chair ready for me to swap out. I really appreciate that he made it right with absolutely no hassle.
This is a great place to find good quality, used office furniture with excellent service.

Richard and his team cannot be beat! Richard is a true artist, and can configure/​create anything you need for an office. Highly recommended!

I was looking for a large computer table that can holds two displays steadily. The choices in IKEA and Staples are limited and over priced. Finally I find this place. They have a huge variety of tables in different colors and sizes. And they can cut them into the right size!

My first time acting in a facilities role, Richard at Desk Depot helped me to configure and furnish our new start-​up office space in no time with beautifully re-​conditioned furniture. (The cat Chiquita provided supervision.) Richard’s son does the installations, doing it quickly and leaving it clean!
When all was said and done, I saved about 45% over all-​new, and my boss was extremely pleased with the results!
When you go, don’t be creeped out by the store — it’s a warehouse, kind of dark and dusty and filled to the rafters, but full of treasures. Richard will guide you through and find you exactly what you need, and you may even spot a chair, table or cabinet you can’t live without! (My hidden treasure was a beautiful storage cabinet with fold-​away doors.) If you can’t find exactly what you want, Richard can order new pieces out of his massive catalog collection.
I’ve referred other people to Desk Depot, and they had the same experience as I did — complete satisfaction.
Oh, and if something happens like your chair piston springs a leak, DD will stand behind their products. If you bring it in they’ll fix it free, only charging if they have to make a house call. LOVE these guys.

These guys are quite ridiculous to ask 500 for 10 years old used Herman miller Aeron chairs.
When I found brand new newer models online for 650, I asked the owner for a discount. He rudely told me to leave the store and said if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.
As a general tip, the whole place is run down and full of old, unusable items! Looks like nothing in the pictures.

Desk Depot is very close to where I work in Mountain View, making «location convenience» a big plus for me and my employers. That said, if you’re looking for a specific office furniture configuration — whether a set of pieces or a single table to fit an awkward corner — you will more than likely find it well worth the trip to visit regardless of where you’re coming from in the South Bay. This is definitely NOT your typical furniture store… it rather resembles a giant garage/​warehouse space filled with endless stacks of modular parts of desks, chairs, drawers, etc.
Yes, you can get pre-​fab and new items there, but the real treasure of this place is the seemingly infinite stockpile of used but sturdy stuff that the owner, Richard, will happily assemble for you in any custom arrangement you need.
On that note, be prepared for a delightfully anachronistic customer service experience, i.e., one in which the owner actually knows his stuff and will walk you through the process of choosing and designing your furniture solution. I actually found this a bit odd at first, having grown up in an age when store workers tend to either ignore you or accost you with «fake friendliness» and attempts to get you to buy things you neither want nor need. It was slightly jarring to encounter someone who did neither of those things, and as a chronic DIY-​er I found myself having to swallow my pride and actually make an effort to listen to this guy who clearly did have a major clue about what surfaces went best with which legs, etc. But I digress. Richard is awesome and so is his cat; they will make you feel welcome in short order.
Definitely (as another reviewer noted) bring the measurements of the piece you want (or the space it needs to fit in). And don’t expect bargain-​basement prices: this is the kind of place you go when you want something specific and nigh indestructible, not when you want something cheap. Oh and while some of the used items may appear dusty or show signs of surface wear, be careful not to judge them on this basis… much of it is SUPER high quality, Made-​In-​USA classic furniture the likes of which you can’t even get new without selling a kidney and/​or your firstborn these days. All in all, I would recommend Desk Depot to everyone and anyone seeking a custom office furniture setup, so long as they (a) are willing/​able to spend a bit and (b) aren’t horribly allergic to cats!

This is a great place to find used quality office furniture; Desk Depot is an office liquidator. I purchased two Steelcase chairs (Think and Criterion) here at about ¹⁄₃ of the retail price. He also has a wide selection of Aeron’s and other chairs also.
The store is actually a large warehouse filled with chairs, desks, bookcases, and any type of office furniture you can think of.
Highly recommended! The chairs I bought were about the same price as the expensive ($ 100-​$ 200) chairs at Office Depot/Fry’s, but much more comfortable.

To say I’m picky about my furniture is an understatement. Given that, you can imagine how fun it was for me to go through about 10 – 20 different furniture stores when I moved to the area trying to find furniture that was exactly what I was picturing. Sure a lot of the stores had options for finishes, or attachments, etc. However when your basic measurement needs fall outside of the standards by an inch or so, you run out of options.
I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at Desk Depot, but after meeting the owner, I realized this was the kind of place I needed to be looking for my home office.
The owner has been in the business for decades, and knows the subtleties of every little thing you could imagine when it comes to desks and chairs, and many things you didn’t even consider, but should have (for example, proper heights for ergonomics, or what to look for to really make sure you are getting proper back support).
I ended up with a custom ordered desk for less than a new desk would have cost at Ikea which will end up fitting my measurements/​needs much better. Additionally, I got a good as new Steelcase desk chair with lots of bells and whistles for cheaper than anywhere else I could imagine. The chair wasn’t inexpensive per se, but when you consider the quality to a similarly priced chair at say, Ikea or Office Depot, there’s no contest.
Beyond that, the owner was incredibly pleasant to work with and even though I was just a single customer looking to furnish my home office and not a big company looking to order tens or hundreds of setups, he gave me his full attention and never once rushed me.
One tip to those who are coming to visit – do your measurements in advance and come with an idea of what you want in terms of space and functionality as it will make the process infinitely easier. I came prepared with all of my measurements which was a huge help as a starting point. Without that, you will likely be overwhelmed by the options. If you don’t have any clue what you want, consider visiting a few places like Office Depot and Ikea to get ideas, and then come here to buy.

It is a very interesting store. Full range from modern to 50′.
The owner and his son are helpful and friendly. Same as their cat, Chiqita.
The prices are very reasonable. I brought a 48″ round table and 4 chairs to go with it. Very comfortable and easy to clean. Guess what ! the whole set is not even ²⁄₃ of the price of Ikea and beyond comparison from Ikea flimsy quality. The only thing is you have to look carefully. The treasure maybe hidden in rows of rows of inventory.

Desk Depot is perhaps one of the most fascinating stores I’ve ever visited. Towers of used office furniture line the walls and aisles, going back decades. A beautiful dichotomy of new and old from companies like Steelcase and Herman Miller. If you’re a made in USA fetishist than this is a great place to outfit your office and maybe even your home.
Prices are quite reasonable. I purchased a great Steelcase desk from the ‘50s or ‘60s for cheap. They do deliveries too.
Someone else mentioned that prices for used here are on par with prices for new from IKEA. However, IKEA is garbage.
Quality craftsmanship comes at a price.

If you’re looking for something cheap, look elsewhere.
I don’t exclude it could be a great place if your budget is not so tight (i.e. large «boss» desks or entire offices to furnish).
The owner is really nice and there’s a lot of choice.
I was looking for a small computer desk for my new apartment, primary requirement: cheap (⁷⁰⁄₁₅₀ $).
The owner showed me a couple of 135 $ desks with drawers and a couple of 90 $ tables.
They were all visibly scratched and not in great conditions overall.
For that price I can buy NEW items from Ikea or Overstock.

i just got a chair and file cabinet from them, good price and good service.

Richard at Desk Depot is able to configure, custom order and deliver just about any office furniture request that you can dream up.
Over time I have ordered everything in our offices from him, including reception chairs, a reception desk, shelves and desks with special mesaurements, and this week I ordered a custom shelf/​cabinet to go over a small fridge to hide all of our kitchen items.
Give them a try — their prices are very competitive.

Another one of those joints where the business is clearly an excuse for the owner’s hobby.
Stacks and stacks of surplus office furniture ranging from excellent huge solid oak desks from the 40s, to 80s-​style conference tables. Chairs (I spotted a couple Aerons, even), file cabinets, bookshelves, you name it. They also have a selection of new furniture you can order from a catalog.
If something’s not quite right, the owner can replace a surface for you or do any other kind of carpentry so that you get what you want. Delivery is affordable and as quick as possible given the limited staffing.
There’s a very friendly office cat, so beware if you’re allergic.