Used works best when you design around what’s available, not the other way around.

Are Used Cubicles Worth It?

Often, yes—used cubicles can be a strong value if the used inventory matches what you actually need. The biggest drivers are quantity, footprint, panel height, timeline, and whether your company expects to grow or expand soon.

Modern office setup with partitioned workstations and plants. Kansas City Office Design

The 6 Questions We Ask First (Before Finishes)

We start with the practical constraints first—because used inventory is limited and first-come, first-serve.

1) How many stations do you need?

Used works best when there’s enough volume to match your layout and keep the system consistent.

2) What footprint/dimensions do you need?

Footprint matters because used inventories tend to cluster around common sizes. The most common footprints we see are 6x6, and a common height we sell is around 50". If you need something uncommon (example: 4x6), used gets harder fast.

3) What panel height do you prefer?

Height preferences narrow inventory quickly—so we confirm this early.

4) When do you need it by?

Even though it’s “used,” it still has a timeline: disassembly, loading, shipping, unloading, staging, and installation.

5) Are you expecting growth in the next year—or is this a 3–5 year solution?

This is a big one. If the plan is to use the cubicles for 3–5 years and fully depreciate them, used can be a great fit. If you expect growth and ongoing add-ons, we may compare used vs new more carefully.

6) When you say “cubicles,” do you mean a paneled system—or open benching?

A lot of teams say “cubicles” when they actually mean benching stations. Clarifying this avoids pricing and layout mismatches.

Why We Don’t Start With Aesthetics

Aesthetics are important—but in used furniture they’re usually the last filter, not the first. If we narrow finishes too early, we can accidentally eliminate every viable option. The smarter process is:

confirm inventory that fits footprint/height/function
then narrow down finishes from what’s realistically available

When Used Stops Being the “Affordable” Option

Used systems are affordable because you’re buying an existing inventory at a discount. But adding lots of new parts to “make it perfect” often doesn’t make economic sense:

individual new parts can cost 2–4x more than the used components
if affordability is the goal, heavy supplementation can erase the savings

When we get into this situation, we compare:

the true cost of used + needed new parts
vs
new system pricing with volume discounts, warranty, and easy expansion

When We Recommend New Instead

We typically push toward new systems when:

the footprint is uncommon or highly specific (like a 4x6 requirement)
the client expects used to look and feel like brand new
the company expects growth and needs easy add-ons/expansion
warranty and long-term flexibility are worth the cost tradeoff

Modern office with workers at their cubicles in a well-lit room with large windows. Kansas City Office Design.

Modern office space with cubicles, humanscale liberty chairs, and large windows. Netsmart. Kansas City Office Design

What Used Cubicles Really Look Like (and How to Make Them Look Better)

Used is used. Most inventories don’t originate from your location—they’ve been:

disassembled → loaded → shipped → unloaded → stored → installed again.

So it’s normal for used systems to have:

small nicks
fabric or trim discoloration from sunlight
wear that won’t show in a spreadsheet but will show up on install day

To improve appearance, we often recommend (and can include in pricing):

having a cleaning service steam-extract the panels after installation

Once the system is installed and cleaned, most teams are surprised how good it can look in the new space.

Why You Often Need to Buy More Inventory Than You’re Installing

Layouts change. Used inventories often come from pods or runs that don’t match your new plan.

A single station can use more parts than one station inside a pod of four. That means you may need to buy extra inventory to have enough panels, connectors, and components to build the layout you want.

This is also why the “per-station” cost can be higher when building singles vs building pods.