ICYMI: A Guide to Getting Twitter-Inspired Office Furniture on the Cheap

Kevin Hurler
·4 min read
Twitter gutted its office (and staff) for parts.
Twitter gutted its office (and staff) for parts.
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Elon Musk’s Twitter era feels like an absolute fever dream, especially now that an auction of the San Francisco office’s furniture has completed. Items across the board went for thousands of dollars, with a statue of Twitter’s iconic logo selling for $100,000.

The auction, hosted by Heritage Global Partners, began last month as the company, under Musks’s tutelage, tried to trim the fat of a seemingly sinking ship by selling furniture and laying off thousands of employees. Starting bids for various office furniture like magnetic dry erase boards, high-top tables, and wooden chairs were in the ballpark of $25 to $50. After the auction finished, the listed furniture wound up selling for thousands of dollars.

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To the people that spend a month’s rent on an office chair—whether it’s because you’re a musk fanboy or it was for the lulz—you got played. Sorry about it. Especially considering Twitter and Heritage Global Partners won’t even pay to ship your bounty.

With that said, I am a man of the people, and the Twitter office does have some cool furniture, it’s just that none of it is worth thousands of dollars. So, in celebration of budget furniture, I tried to find eight cheaper alternatives to some of the furniture Twitter has parted with.

The final prices that were reported for the furniture that was auctioned off are reflective of the auction before closing on January 18. Prices were obtained using the WayBackMachine since the auction website does not disclose the final prices.

JOB’s Bacco Chairs, $175 per chair

The Target dupe.
The Target dupe.

A set of four Bacco chairs from JOB’s went for $700, which is $175 per chair. These chairs have a dark grey fabric seat with walnut color legs. Target has a nearly exact clone in its Project 62 line for $65 per chair or $260 if you buy four, which is way less than half the price of the auction.

OHIO Design Rectangular Coffee Table, $500

The cheaper version features legs that are connected at the bottom.
The cheaper version features legs that are connected at the bottom.

The OHIO Rectangular Coffee Table was 5-by-2.5 feet and ran for $500 on Twitter’s auction, but slightly smaller versions will have much smaller price tags. I found a used one on Kaiyo from West Elm for only $214, and a brand new one on Wayfair for $185.99.

Thrive Interiors Design Occasional Chair, $1,150

West Elm’s copy lacks the Twitter office chair’s light wood frame.
West Elm’s copy lacks the Twitter office chair’s light wood frame.

A stylish light blue armchair with light wood arms from Thrive Interiors went for a big $1,150 during the auction. The dupe of this one does ask you to sacrifice the hickory-esque arms but is saving you nearly $1,000. At West Elm, this dupe only costs $179.

Maple Table Top with S.S Base on Wheels, $1,850

This knockoff version is uglier, but much cheaper.
This knockoff version is uglier, but much cheaper.

I have no idea why Twitter has so much heavy duty kitchen supplies, but I assume this wooden tabletop with a rolling metal base falls into that category of office furniture. The table went for at least $1,850, but Global Industrial has a slightly uglier albeit much cheaper version for $537. This dupe is the exact same size as the original and about a third of the price of the auctioned piece. Global Industrial also carries a smaller, even cheaper version that looks more like Twitter’s table.

Knoll Womb Chair, $3,000

The copycat doesn’t save you much money, but the cheaper version does come with an ottoman and more color options.
The copycat doesn’t save you much money, but the cheaper version does come with an ottoman and more color options.

The Knoll Womb Chair has a weird name, but is allegedly a very comfy chair that envelopes you in a velvety hug. The Twitter office womb chair went for $3,000 and cheap ones are hard to find, but Overstock.com carries a nearly identical one for around $2,350. While you’re saving around $700, you’re still shelling out a couple thousand BUT the cheaper one comes with an ottoman.

Knoll Generation High Performance Task Chair, $750

An exact replica was hard to come by, but you’ll save a ton of money if you sacrifice some aesthetics.
An exact replica was hard to come by, but you’ll save a ton of money if you sacrifice some aesthetics.

I don’t know why someone would pay $750 for an office chair, and a quick Google search tells me that a “task chair” is just a fancy phrase for an office chair. Regardless, finding a clone of the Twitter office task chairs was difficult, but Quill.com offers gray task chairs for a little over $100.

DWR Raleigh Sofa, $2,500

The Stilt Danish Mod Sofa is a near exact match.
The Stilt Danish Mod Sofa is a near exact match.

$2,500 isn’t the end of the world for a nice sofa, like the DWR Raleigh Sofa that Twitter was auctioning off, but there are cheaper options out there. The Stilt Danish Mod Sofa by Kardiel, for example, is about half the price at $1,299. It is currently out of stock on Houzz.com, however.

Custom Twitter Logo Statue, $100,000

How about a fun DIY project instead of wasting a college tuition’s worth of money on a statue?
How about a fun DIY project instead of wasting a college tuition’s worth of money on a statue?

Twitter was somehow able to score $100,000 for a statue of a bird that was allegedly made of foam board. Plywood and blue paint are less than $50. Do the math.

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