Buying furniture from China is one of the most reliable ways to widen your selection and cut unit costs — China accounts for roughly a third of global furniture exports, and much of it is made in and around Foshan, in Guangdong province. But the sticker price on a factory quote is not what the furniture costs you. The number that matters is the landed cost: what it takes to get the piece from a workshop in China to a room in your customer's home, intact.

There are two ways to deal with landed cost. You can calculate every line item yourself — this guide explains all of them — or you can get a single DDP door price that folds the whole chain into one number. We'll cover both, so you understand exactly what you're paying for either way. (Sourcing specifically from Foshan? See our companion guide, how to buy furniture from Foshan.)

What furniture from China actually costs

A factory price is one line item in a stack of ten or more. Here is the full landed-cost picture. The ranges below are illustrative figures commonly cited by import guides, not a Slab & Scale quote — always verify the current numbers for your route and product.

Line item What it is Illustrative range
Factory / unit price The product itself, ex-works Varies by piece
Export packing & crating Reinforced packing so it survives transit A few % of goods value
First mile in China Factory to the export port ~$50–150 per shipment
Export docs & agent fees Paperwork to get it out of China ~$100–200
Ocean freight Sea shipping, shared (LCL) or full container (FCL) ~$350 LCL / ~$2,500–4,000 per 20ft FCL
Marine insurance Covers loss or damage in transit ~0.3–0.5% of value
Destination port charges Terminal, handling, docs at arrival ~$150–400
Customs broker Clears the goods through customs ~$100–250
Import duty / tariffs Set by destination + HTS code; rates change US furniture often ~0–7%, varies
Pre-shipment inspection Checking the goods before they ship Tiered
Last-mile delivery Port to the final room LTL cheap; white glove more

Illustrative only, drawn from publicly published import guides; not our pricing. Verify current rates for your shipment.

The trap is comparing a China unit price against a domestic retail price. The honest comparison is landed cost against landed cost. Do that and China usually still wins — but by a smaller, more realistic margin, and only if freight and damage risk are controlled.

Who pays for what: Incoterms, in plain English

"Incoterms" is just the rulebook for where the seller's responsibility ends and yours begins. You'll see these on quotes:

  • EXW (Ex Works) — you take over at the factory door. Everything after is yours.
  • FOB (Free On Board) — the seller gets it onto the ship; freight, duty, and last mile are yours.
  • CIF — seller covers freight and insurance to the destination port; duty and last mile still yours.
  • DAP (Delivered At Place) — delivered to your address, but you still pay the import duty.
  • DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) — delivered to your door with duty already included. Nothing extra on arrival.

Most factory and marketplace prices are EXW or FOB — which is why a cheap-looking quote can balloon once freight and duty land on you. A DDP door price is the one that's actually comparable to buying domestically, because it already contains everything.

Shared vs full container (LCL vs FCL), in plain English

If you don't have enough furniture to fill a shipping container, your goods ride in a shared container with other people's cargo — that's LCL (less than container load). Enough to fill your own container and it's FCL (full container load), usually cheaper per unit. On a do-it-yourself import you have to decide and book this. On a DDP door service you don't — shipments are consolidated for you and you just get a price.

Compliance you'd otherwise have to handle

A few rules catch DIY importers off guard, especially into the US:

  • Wood rules (Lacey Act, US). Wood furniture needs a declaration of species and country of harvest.
  • ISF filing (US). An "importer security filing" must be submitted before the goods sail; miss it and you're fined.
  • Duty classification (HTS code). The code you declare sets your duty rate — get it wrong and customs will correct it, sometimes expensively.

On a DDP door price these are handled as part of the first mile, so you're not the one filing paperwork or classifying codes.

How long it takes

Two clocks run. Production lead time — building your order — can be weeks, longer for custom pieces. Then transit: sea freight typically runs a few weeks port-to-port depending on route and consolidation, with last-mile delivery on top. For seasonal or launch inventory, work backwards from the date you need product in hand, not forwards from your order date.

Where to actually buy it

There's no single "best" channel — it depends on quantity and control:

  • Directly from a factory — best pricing and control, but larger minimum orders (MOQ) and communication through an export rep.
  • Through a sourcing agent — finds and vets factories for you; useful if you can't travel. Be clear whether you're paying for real vetting or just a markup.
  • On Alibaba — the default for reaching factories online, geared to bulk. Reliability varies by listing; use Trade Assurance and pay by deposit/balance, never full prepayment to an unknown supplier.
  • On AliExpress, Taobao, or 1688 — better for smaller quantities and one-off pieces.

Already bought on a marketplace? The hard part isn't the purchase — it's inspection and shipping afterward, which is exactly what our Alibaba & AliExpress furniture shipping path is for.

The two things that wreck the math

Almost every bad outcome traces to one of two gaps.

No inspection before it ships. When nobody checks the goods against your order, you learn about the cracked marble or wrong finish from an angry customer — after it crossed an ocean, when sending it back makes no sense. A pre-shipment inspection, documented with photos and video, catches it while the goods are still in China and the problem is still fixable.

Packing built for boxes, not furniture. Generic boxing is why marble, glass, and upholstery arrive damaged. Packing matched to the piece costs more up front and saves far more in damage and returns.

Common mistakes when estimating cost

  • Comparing a factory price to a domestic retail price instead of landed-to-landed.
  • Forgetting duty, port charges, and the customs broker — the quiet line items.
  • Budgeting curbside freight when the customer expects white glove to the room.
  • Skipping inspection to save a little, then eating a full shipment as a write-off.

The simpler path: one DDP door price

Everything above is the do-it-yourself version. Here's the other way.

Slab & Scale collapses the whole chain into one Delivered-Duty-Paid price to the final door, in two stages — a first mile and a last mile:

  1. First mile — China to a distribution hub in your market. Consolidated ocean freight, with import duty included — the price is duty-paid, so there's nothing to settle at the border.
  2. Last mile — hub to the room. White glove delivery to the final room, not the curb.

You don't pick FCL or LCL, classify an HTS code, file an ISF, or chase a customs broker. You enter your dimensions, inspection tier, and destination, and the calculator returns one door price.

Doing it yourself Slab & Scale (DDP to door)
Ocean freight You book FCL or LCL Included (first mile)
Import duty / tariffs You classify (HTS) and pay Included — duty-paid first mile
Customs / ISF / Lacey Act You file Handled
Inspection You arrange separately Your chosen tier, on video
Last mile You book LTL to the curb White glove to the room
What you actually do Juggle 10+ line items Enter dimensions → one price

Buying furniture from China comes down to two problems: choosing the right supplier, and getting the goods home intact. If you've got the first handled, get a quote — we'll price the second as one number, to the door.