Lately it seems every car owner wants to swap his front bench seat for two buckets, or upgrade his existing bucket seats to a more stylish, comfortable or sporty set.

To a lot of folks, the swap sounds easy: simply unbolt the old seat and bolt in the new one. But auto upholsterers know that retrofits are rarely that simple. In fact, most require a lot of careful planning.

To help make the process smoother, we identified 7 factors to consider before agreeing to swap a customer’s seats. Overlook any one of these factors and you might just find yourself in a bind.

1. Should you buy OEM or aftermarket?

Although the aftermarket offers a wide range of seating options, often times the better choice is an OEM set from a donor vehicle. In addition to the superb engineering and structural integrity of OEM seats, their parts are also more readily available – which makes repairs quick and comparatively inexpensive. If you buy seats from a salvage yard, they’re also likely to cost less. Just make sure they’re in good working condition before making the purchase.