Are you thinking about importing furniture from China? Maybe you’ve already started and are now stuck on the next step. My aim with this article is to provide a helpful guide on how to import furniture from China.
HOMVND is a professional easy-to-assemble furniture supplier in China that provides custom design services, especially in industrial furniture for online sellers. If there is any question about sourcing furniture, welcome to contact us.
Why Importing furniture from China?
Many countries export furniture worldwide, such as Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States, and Vietnam. China has had the most significant volume of furniture exports for the past ten years. It is well known for its high quality and low price.
China has a complete range of furniture. Each industrial and manufacturer has its specific field, from low-end to high-end areas, such as Hotel Furniture, Office Furniture, Home Furniture, and outdoor furniture.
No matter how the market changes, China will remain the world’s factory within the foreseeable years.
Pre-considerations of importing furniture from China
Know your business model and sales volume
If considering importing furniture from China, you must consider whether it is profitable to do so first. If you have never done any import business before, you may want to consider your business model and sales volume first, as most factories are mass-produced and will not accept small orders. So if you have stable sales channels and high sales, importing furniture is a good choice because you will get lower costs and more profits. Or you will face higher purchase costs and the risk of inventory backlog.
Customs & Duties of importing from China:
When you decide to import furniture from China, it is essential to understand the import duties, customs fees, and customs clearance documents your government requires. You can find this information on the government customs website or trade tariffs page. Typically, you can search for tariff rates by HS code or product description. It may be difficult for new importers to navigate this issue on their own, but if you ask your supplier to assist you with providing this information, they will be happy to assist you with these details on an individual basis. The standard customs clearance documents are 01. BILL OF LADING (B/L), 02. COMMERCIAL INVOICE, 03. PACKING LIST, 04. ARRIVAL NOTICE. If your local customs requirements differ from these documents, you need to inform your supplier in advance so that they can provide you with all of the necessary documents upon arrival.
8 steps of importing furniture
Is the furniture import license necessary? No. It is a common misconception that having an import furniture license is essential for importing furniture from China. Generally, your freight forwarder will handle cargo transportation and all customs clearance procedures for you.
Here is the process (take FOB as an example):
1. Ask the supplier for a quote
2. Price negotiation
3. Confirm the sample (if necessary)
4. Confirm the order
5. The supplier arranges production
6. The supplier handles China’s export customs clearance
7. Payment of sea freight and freight forwarding arrangements for transportation
8. Do the import customs clearance
Ensure that all commercial invoices, packing lists, lading bills, and other required documents are correct. These are essential documents for you to go through customs clearance procedures and pick up the goods.
Types of Wooden furniture in China
When importing furniture from China, you must understand the raw materials of the furniture you need. When confirming the order, the supplier may use his commonly used wood or lower-cost wood if you do not specify the raw materials. According to raw materials, wooden furniture can be divided into two categories: solid wood and wood-based panel-type furniture.
10 common types of solid wood furniture:
Solid wood furniture is made of natural wood, and the surface is usually painted with a layer of varnish to highlight the natural color and pattern of the wood.
Solid wood furniture usually has the following 10 types:
Mahogany-The material is stiff, wear-resistant, solemn, classical Chinese, and the price is high.
Pine-The wood grain and knots are apparent, and the color is mild. Durable and practical
Oak-Light color; hardwood and very wear-resistant
Rubberwood-High plasticity is easy to change color, produce insects, and decay. But its cost is lower.
Walnut-The color is deep and stable. The wood grain is bold and majestic. The luster is moderate. The material is medium to stiff, anti-wear; resistant to bending, and durable.
Cherrywood – has a fine texture with bright brown or red color. It is a kind of high-grade wood.
Betula with wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant and is not easy to deform and crack. But it is easy to process.
Ash-The texture with Better bending performance is beautiful and clear, perfect for a modern and simple style.
Beech-The color is soft and elegant. The wood grainline is smooth. It is very suitable for simple home decoration.
Teak– The teak log presents soft charcoal gray or light brown, excellent for a bright and straightforward home decoration design style.
Wood-based panel-type furniture
Panel furniture usually refers to furniture made of particleboard, plywood, and MDF board. The surface can be covered with wood veneer and made into any pattern and color you want.
Panel furniture usually will match with hardware. It is detachable, fashionable, and affordable. It is currently the mainstream type of hot-selling furniture on all e-commerce platforms.
Particleboard is usually made of branches, small-diameter wood, fast-growing wood, sawdust, and other materials mixed with glue. It is a popular raw material, economical, environmentally friendly, solid, and durable.
Plywood is a wood-based panel series composed of thin veneers cut from peeled trees and mixed with adhesive in a stable form.
MDF wood is made by fusing sawdust and glue through pressure and heat. Its advantages include low cost, easy processing, uniform material, and good physical properties.
3 ways to find a Chinese supplier
Furniture and household goods trade show
The exhibition is one of the fastest ways to get to know a supplier. Although its cost is relatively high, it is undeniable that it is the most efficient. You can quickly grasp the fashion trend of furniture every year and hold the direction of sales. Most importantly, you can confirm the details of many products or orders face-to-face on-site. The following furniture and household products exhibitions will help you:
China International Furniture Expo
Furniture China (Shanghai)
Time: 2021.12.28-12.31
Venue: China-Shanghai Shanghai New International Expo Center
Exhibition-Furniture China was held once a year. The last exhibition has a total area of 350,000 square meters, 3,500 exhibiting companies. And the number of exhibitors reached 166,479. The organizer set up E5 hall to further attract more original design enterprises and new brands to support authentic design. Exhibitors from all over China covered various modern and classic civil furniture, outdoor garden furniture, commercial office furniture, and hotel furniture. Furniture styles range from European-style to American style, from neo-classical to classical upholstered furniture.
CIFF Guangzhou
Time: March 18-20 2022 March 28-30 2022
Venue: China Import &Export Fair Pazhou Complex / No.382 Yuejiang Zhong Road Haizhu District Guangzhou China (Poly World Trade Center Expo / No.1000 Xingangdong Road Haizhu District Guangzhou China)
China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou) was founded in 1998 and is held in Pazhou, Guangzhou, every March. The scale of the exhibition is about 750,000 square meters, with more than 4,000 exhibitors and 357,809 professional visitors. It is the world’s largest and most influential large-scale home furnishing fair. The complete furniture industry chain and application scenarios have become a unique feature globally, covering civil furniture, garden outdoor furniture, office and commercial furniture, hotel furniture, ornaments, home textiles, furniture production equipment, accessories, and accessories.
CIFF Shanghai
Time: From Dec-11, 2021 until Dec-14, 2021
Venue: No.168 Yinggang East Road, Shanghai, China
The China National Exposition was founded in 1988 and had a history of forty-five sessions. The exhibition has dramatically facilitated the trade needs of buyers and suppliers, so the annual show has been unable to meet the purchasing needs. Therefore, the exhibition will be held in Guangzhou and Shanghai in March and Septe year since 2015. The Shanghai exhibition occupies the entire space of the China National Convention and Exhibition Center, reaching 4 billion square meters. More than 2,000 brand suppliers cover all areas of the furniture upstream and downstream industries. Whether it is an exhibition in Guangzhou or Shanghai, you are worth seeing.
HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair
Time: the next exhibition will be held from 27-30 April 2022 (Wednesday-Saturday).
Venue: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
This Fair is one of the most popular exhibitions in Asia. It is held once a year. More than 300 suppliers from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and India will attend the exhibition. Due to the epidemic, the organizers canceled the performances originally scheduled for 2020 and 2021. Therefore, they transformed it into the form of an online network. However, in 2019 and 2018, the number of buyers attracted by the exhibition exceeded 236,000 and 230,000, respectively. The product range displayed in the collection includes Furniture, Home appliances, Interior decor, gifts and crafts, home textiles, printing, and packaging supplies.
Canton Fair Phase 2 (Guangzhou)
Time: From April 23, 2022, until April 27, 2022
Venue: No. 380, Yuejiang Zhong Road, Guangzhou, China
The Canton Fair (China Import and Export Fair) is one of China’s largest and most comprehensive trade fairs. It is also the most recognized exhibition for buyers from all over the world. There are more than 25,000 exhibitors and 200,000 buyers from all over the world. It is worth mentioning that exhibitors’ booths are not easy to get, and a series of procedures such as application and approval is required. Therefore, participation in the exhibition itself is also part of the company’s strength display. The Canton Fair is divided into three stages every year. In the second phase of the Canton Fair, many furniture, decorations, and gift suppliers will participate. It is also the first phase with the most significant number of buyers from European and American countries. If you are in the home furnishing industry, you must not miss it.
Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition
Time: From March 17, 2022, until March 22, 2022
Venue: No. 1, Zhanzhan Road, Baoan District, Shenzhen
Shenzhen International Furniture Fair, also known as SHENZHEN CREATIVE WEEK, was founded in 1996 and held 36 sessions. After 25 years of development, this exhibition has become China’s first design-oriented professional furniture trading platform. Since more than ten years ago, the show has begun to integrate design elements from Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain, the United States, Japan, and other countries to realize the docking and cooperation between international design and furniture manufacturing. Continuous design innovation makes it unique in all furniture exhibitions in China.
IDFFHK
Time: May 13 – 15. 2022
Venue: Hall 1 Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Unlike the furniture fairs mentioned above, International Design and Furniture Fair Hong Kong is a “boutique design” fair, aiming to promote design appreciation to the audience and stimulate greater creativity. In addition to regular buyers, there are many professional interior designers, real estate developers, creative hotel designers, etc. Therefore, it is also a signature forum for well-known professionals.
The essential Google Search
The website is the business card of a company. On the supplier’s website, you can view the company’s strength, product range, design capabilities, serviceability, etc. On the other hand, the more potential suppliers you find, the easier it is to understand the industry price of the product accurately. So, never say no to any method that allows you to get a supplier.
Go straight to the target search.
Direct online search is one of the methods we often use. The commonly used supplier names are usually supplier, factory, manufacturer, wholesaler, etc. However, please do not search only by industry terms (furniture + supplier/wholesaler). Make sure to search keywords you used that contain product or purpose words. Of course, the words “China” are also essential:
E.g.:
product name + (supplier, manufacturer, factory..) + in China
China + product name + exporter.
Features Search
You can search by a specific feature of the product. For example, if you want to find a supplier of “Amazon’s hot-selling mail-order packaging furniture,” you can search for “KD furniture supplier for Amazon from China.” You can also search by product style, material, product application, and other characteristics to achieve the search purpose.
The Advanced Search
If you don’t want to rush to find suppliers directly, but want to see all kinds of furniture styles, then I recommend you to try Google’s advanced search. You can quickly search the catalogs of different suppliers or popular design works through the search command.
E.g. :
Furniture catalog file type:pdf
Furniture design file type:pdf
You can change different keywords according to your needs and before “File Type.” This simple and fast search will save you a lot of time.
B2B e-commerce wholesale platform
Compared with the exhibition, the procurement method of the B2B platform is more economical and convenient. You can browse hundreds of suppliers at your desk or home. The platforms with the most Chinese suppliers are Alibaba, Made in China, and Global Sources.
Alibaba
Alibaba is the world’s largest B2B trading platform with a massive number of suppliers and product resources. Buyers can search for companies and products they want to know about on the website. You can also communicate and place orders online, which is convenient and fast. On the other hand, if you can’t find the product you want, you can post product requirements, also called RFQ. A suitable supplier will soon give you a quotation.
Made-in-China
Its popularity and user volume are not as good as Alibaba. However, it does not affect that Made in China is one of the “most popular B2B websites” for buyers. After more than 20 years of development, MIC has a complete e-commerce system and sufficient supplier resources, allowing him to permanently occupy a place in the world of B2B platforms.
Global Source
Global Sources is the world’s first B2B online e-commerce international trade website, and it is also a professional exhibition organizer facing the world. After 50 years of development, it has provided an excellent procurement platform for international trade by verifying global honest purchasers and suppliers. The combination of exhibitions, digital media, trade magazines, and other channels provides buyers and sellers with more procurement plans and trustworthy market information.
How to choose the right furniture supplier
After the above several methods, you will be able to find many potential furniture suppliers. When you want to choose the most suitable one, you need to consider multiple factors.
Product range
What is the product range of this supplier?
Can they give me the perfect item?
You can never find a supplier that can provide a full range of furniture. As in every industry, the supplier always has its field of focus. If the product you purchase is consistent with the supplier’s field, you will get the best products at competitive prices. The following areas are the most common:
- sofa
- bed
- Medical furniture
- Upholstered furniture
- office furniture
- hotel furniture
- Bedroom Furniture
- Bathroom furniture
- Kitchen furniture
- Living Room Furniture
- Mattress
- Children’s furniture
- wooden furniture
- plate-type furniture
- outdoor furniture
- Metal furniture
- Plastic furniture
- Wicker furniture
Suppose you want to purchase different furniture types and don’t bother to sign contracts with many factories. It would be an excellent choice to find a trusted wholesale trader.
Mini Order quantity（MOQ）
Since the factory is mass-produced, the supplier has the minimum order quantity they are willing to provide. Generally, MOQ is different according to the size and complexity of the product. For example, the bed supplier’s MOQ is 1 piece, but the coffee table supplier will set the MOQ of 200 pieces.
Further, if you don’t mind using the manufacturer’s standard product sizes and materials, usually, you will get a lower MOQ.
Price negotiation
Negotiating with your supplier does not mean that you must get the lowest price. While negotiating the price, you may also consider other factors such as payment terms, delivery dates, service, and product quality.
Before the negotiation, you need to do research in advance, understand the industry price range of the product, and get your expectations.
Whatever you negotiate, it’s essential to sign a clear contract with the amount, price, payment, and delivery time.
Payment terms
The payment method is an essential item in the order confirmation. There are five standard payment methods in international trade: T/T, L/C, D/P, D/A, O/A. Among these choices, T/T is the most popular among suppliers. Usually, with 30% T/T before the production and 70% T/T before the shipment.
Whatever the payment you agreed, it is necessary to check the supplier’s company name and bank account carefully.
Product delivery time
When confirming the product delivery date, you should specify when the product arrives in your warehouse. The process includes factory production, factory-to-port transportation, shipping time, port to warehouse transportation.
In addition, you’d better let the supplier notify you of the progress during the production process to avoid delays in orders.
Services you can get
The furniture supplier’s service can also be one of the reference conditions for your selection. The excellent service of the supplier can significantly improve your efficiency and ensure the perfect completion of the order, such as fast quotation, ability, attitude to deal with problems, product design ability, etc.
Customize design ability
Maybe you want unique items to avoid price competition with peers. Or you want to make the product more prominent brand style. Perhaps you only have an idea and no product pictures. All of these require you to have a supplier with custom design capabilities. Many factories claim they can provide OEM/ODM; maybe they make simple changes and can’t design the products you want.
Quality control
Quality control is a vital link after order confirmation. Usually, you have three ways to ensure that the product quality is up to standard:
1. Go to the factory to inspect the goods in person.
2. The supplier is required to provide a detailed inspection report, including product detail pictures and videos.
3. Entrust a third-party company to inspect the goods, like SGS, MIS, ITS, BV, TUV, TUV, Y’S, ASQI, etc.
The greatest benefit of importing furniture from China is that labor costs are competitive. While timber is not the cheapest raw material, both its abundance and lower freight cost lead to lower overall costs for the production of furniture. Furniture from China also comes in a wide variety of options, allowing buyers and teams the ability to match products to a specific set of requirements and preferences. If you’re looking for custom-made furniture, take a look at our service page on finding a Chinese supplier for custom wood furniture.
