CARGO · FURNITURE
Furniture shipping from China
Furniture almost always travels by sea: as LCL consolidated cargo from a few packages or as an FCL container, around 70 days. The reason is simple — this is light bulky cargo, you pay for volume, and sea freight gives the lowest cost per cubic metre. If the deadline is critical, rail covers it in 35–45 days. Fragile items — glass, mirrors, fronts — are crated at our warehouse in China.
What makes furniture a specific kind of cargo
Furniture has low density: a sofa or a wardrobe takes up a lot of space and weighs little. In consolidated sea freight and in containers the tariff is tied to volume — which is why per cubic metre furniture travels more cheaply by sea than by any other means. Air freight almost never makes sense for furniture: there volumetric weight applies with a divisor of 6000, and light bulky cargo is charged as though it were heavy.
The second characteristic is vulnerability. Glass shelves, mirrors, gloss and lacquered fronts do not survive carriage in the factory box alone: over a 70-day journey the cargo is handled several times. So we give fragile items additional packing, and we inspect the assembled consignment before it leaves China.
How to ship furniture
| Mode | Transit time | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Sea, consolidated cargo (LCL) | around 70 days | Consignments filling part of a container: a few sofas, a furniture set for a shop or hotel. You pay only for your own volume |
| Sea, container (FCL) | around 70 days | When the volume fills a container completely or almost completely. Loading at the factory, no handling en route — less risk for fragile items |
| Rail | 35–45 days | When the furniture is needed for a season or a site opening and sea freight no longer makes it |
We do not price air freight for furniture except in exceptional cases — volumetric weight means it does not pay off.
Packing and protection
Receipt at the warehouse
The factory ships to our warehouse in China. We receive the goods, check the number of packages, and measure and weigh each one.
Pre-shipment inspection
We examine the furniture before it leaves: completeness, condition of fronts and glass, conformity to the order. Breakage found in Ukraine can no longer be raised with the factory — so we check in China.
Crating fragile items
Glass, mirrors, marble worktops and gloss fronts are enclosed in wooden crating. This adds a little weight and volume but removes the main risk in this category.
Departure and customs clearance
The consignment travels by sea or rail, with status visible in the client portal. At the border we clear it ourselves or deliver to the terminal for your broker.
Documents and details
Furniture needs no permits such as sanitary conclusions — for customs it is ordinary goods. We prepare the standard package: invoice, packing list, bill of lading or consignment note and, where required, the export declaration on the Chinese side, even if the factory has no export licence of its own.
If you order furniture from several suppliers — fittings from one, carcasses from another — consolidation makes sense: all deliveries are gathered into one consignment at our warehouse and you pay for one shipment instead of three. And if a supplier works only through 1688 or Taobao, we can purchase the goods ourselves.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Quote · free of charge
Let us price the delivery of your furniture
Describe what you are ordering and in what volume — we will price sea and rail and fix the rate before departure.