Wayfair reported better quarterly earnings than Wall Street analysts had been expecting. The mostly-online home goods retailer is bucking a slowdown in furniture sales — it’s pointing to its loyalty program and an expansion into brick-and-mortar stores as reasons why it’s bucking the broader trend.

But note that the quarter for which it was reporting wrapped up at the end of September, just before new tariffs hit upholstered furniture, cabinets, and vanities in October. 

Those import taxes are just one of several headwinds that are buffeting home furnishings retailers. 

Home goods sales have been in a bit of a funk because of the pandemic, said analyst Ygal Arounian at Citi.

“Consumers, you know, coming out of covid, bought pretty much everything they needed for their homes for a number of years,” Arounian said.

People were stuck inside, furnishing home offices and zhuzhing up their Zoom backgrounds. They were also moving a lot, with mortgage rates at historic lows. That feels like a long time ago.

“Existing home sales are still at record lows, and rates have come down off the highs, but you still haven't seen this big tick up in housing market activity,” said Arounian.

The frozen housing market is probably the biggest factor dragging down furniture demand, said retail consultant Katherine Black at Kearney. But she said Wayfair has done better than the rest of the sector by selling smaller housewares like bed linens, throw pillows, and hand towels.

“That's not dependent on a new home, that's dependent on a consumer wanting to refresh their space,” Black said.

They might be sick of the coastal grandmother vibe they went all in on during lockdown. But even the redecorating might stop once consumers feel the full effect of tariffs.

“I think everyone's bracing a little bit, holding their breath a little bit for what might be to come,” Black said.

Most furnishings are imported and subject to country-level tariffs. Then there are the specific tariffs on upholstered furniture, cabinets and lumber. But Wayfair is somewhat protected.

“Wayfair is somewhat insulated from that, because its vendors are bearing those costs,” said Zak Stambor, an analyst at EMARKETER.

It operates as a marketplace and doesn’t import goods itself.

“However, that will inevitably drive up the cost of goods that it's selling, which likely will cause consumers to think twice before they click the buy button,” Stambor said.

Prices on home furnishings have already increased 8% since March, according to Harvard’s Pricing Lab.