Donna M.

If you are wondering whether you should sell your products through Houzz, it's important that you know the good, the bad and the ugly about Houzz.

The Good: We tried it and sold about ten items over about an eight month period, and some were big ticket items. Their site is easy to upload images to and as they pay a lot for Google product listing ads. So sales are possible.

The Bad: You will likely lose money overtime by signing up with Houzz. First, our traffic on our regular site took a dive after signing with Houzz. That's probably a function of search engines seeing duplicate descriptions of your items and so one cancels out the other, so be careful. Second, while our normal returns/damage rate is less than 5%, with Houzz is was 50%! So we lost a lot of money! The issue is that Houzz allows customers to report damage anytime within 5 days, even if the item was shipped White Glove, unpacked, inspected and signed off on by the customer as being in perfect condition. In this case, you have no ability to file a claim with the shipping company because they have proof that the item was in good condition when it was delivered.So if the customer decides they don't like it, they can scratch it or break a part of it - and still return it at no charge to them. So you not only have to eat the cost of shipping it to the customer, but also the cost of shipping it back - even though it was delivered in perfect condition. And if they just want to return an item because they don't want it, they have 30 days (meaning they can use it for a photo shoot or special occasion) and you can't charge a restocking fee (even though most manufacturers will charge you one!). Also, even if a customer throws away the box and your policy clearly says items must be returned in the original box, Houzz still requires that you come and box it up and take it back! Houzz is set up so that they are the only ones who really make money because they accept no liability for the outcome of these policies that result in losses. As a retailer, you are screwed!

The Ugly: Houzz is a corporate bully that pushes small retailers around and if you don't just bend over and accept the losses (and even scams) that result from their negligent policies, they will close down your account. This is a true story that just happened. Recently, a customer bought a $6,300 cabinet from us through Houzz and we paid $500 to ship the item White Glove. The customer inspected the cabinet with the driver, initialed the delivery paperwork in four places concerning the condition and accepted it. Then suddenly she claimed it was damaged which the White Glove carrier denied since they inspected it with her and would have told her to NOT accept the item if it was damaged. The box had been discarded by White Glove carrier so we had to jump through hoops to find a way to return this very expensive cabinet (at our expense) to the manufacturer for a refund. It took two weeks to get a Return Authorization from the manufacturer and set up return shipping without the box - and in the meantime, Houzz refunded the customer in full before it was picked up! The company that scheduled the pickup of the return were given a box by the customer that they discovered was actually filled with scrap metal. When they tried to return it to the customer and get the real cabinet, she claimed she had moved the night the box was picked up and didn't have the cabinet. We reported all of this to Houzz and showed the photos of the box filled with scrap metal. But Houzz REFUSED to pay us for the cabinet that their customer did not return. Essentially, their customer stole the cabinet after they were refunded, and Houzz put all the loss on us! There was no cabinet to prove any damage to the shipper, nor was there a product to return to the manufacturer. Houzz told us they had no responsibility to pay us for the cabinet that their customer did not return. Their policy of allowing damage claims despite an item being signed after a thorough inspection - and refunding a customer before an item is returned is what enabled this customer to steal our $6300 cabinet!

Only after I threatened to take Houzz to court and file a theft report with the police did they agree to pay something - but nowhere near what I was owed and the legal guy was smug, condescending and threatening. I told them that the only acceptable outcome, according to our attorney, was to either return the cabinet or pay the amount we were owed, to which they said they would only pay the full amount if I agreed in writing not to file a police report or talk about this story publicly - and they said since I was demanding to be paid what I was owed, they would close down our account. Of course, I agreed to stop using their platform which has resulted in serious losses and the theft of a beautiful cabinet, but I DECLINED the money because I will NOT be silenced!

Small retailers and artisans put the heart and soul into their work and need to know that Houzz is a corporate BULLY that treats small businesses with utter contempt. Their policies enable abuse and result in huge losses. DO NOT USE HOUZZ!