We Buy Used Herman Miller Embody Chairs

The Embody is worth checking before anything is booked

Of the Herman Miller task chairs we handle, the Embody is the one most often written off by mistake. It sat at the top of the specification when it was bought, and that position carries into the second-hand market: buyers look for it specifically, and a surplus batch can offset a meaningful part of a disposal budget rather than adding to it.

It also holds up physically. The pixelated back support, the seat structure and the tilt are all built for long service, and the parts that do wear — arm pads, casters, gas lifts — are the ones a workshop can replace. A chair that looks tired is usually a cleaning and parts job, not a scrap item.

What we look at when valuing a batch

Condition first. We check the back support for cracked or distorted segments, the upholstery across the seat and back for tears rather than marks, the tilt and forward-lean action, the gas lift, and whether the arms and base are complete. Grubby fabric and scuffed edges are refurbishment work, not damage.

Specification and finish come next. Fully adjustable arms and the more common neutral fabrics place quickly; leather and unusual colourways sit in a narrower market and are valued to reflect that.

Then quantity and consistency. A run of matching Embody chairs from one fit-out grades quickly and resells as a single product, which is worth more than the same number of chairs in mixed finishes and builds. Where a batch includes damaged chairs, we may still take them for parts and will be clear at valuation about which chairs we are buying to resell and which we are taking for components.

Getting a figure

Send a count, the finishes if you know them, and a few phone photos: the chair from the front and back, a shot of the label under the seat, and close-ups of the arms and any damage. That is normally enough for an indicative figure within one working day.

For larger volumes we visit, check a representative sample, and take in the practical side — lift access, loading bay, protected floors and permitted working hours — before issuing a firm written offer with a fixed price per line and agreed payment terms.

Other chairs we buy

We buy the wider Herman Miller range as well, and mixed batches are usually easier to place than split ones — so if your surplus includes more than one model, send the whole list.

• Sell used Herman Miller Aeron chairs
• Sell used Herman Miller Mirra chairs
• Sell used Herman Miller Sayl chairs
• Sell used office chairs — the wider seating list and what we look for.