All you need to know about wholesale furniture in China
Created by: admin | Published on:
July 14, 2019
Wholesale Furniture in China
Wholesale furniture in China is a big deal. So much so it can save your company a lot of money for high-quality products if you know where to look. In this article we are going to cover the following aspects:
- What is wholesale furniture?
- The benefits of directly buying wholesale furniture in China instead of back home.
- Things you need to consider before buying wholesale furniture from China.
What is wholesale furniture
Wholesale furniture is the practice of buying and selling larger quantities of furniture than what would be used for personal use. It is normally for business to business transactions (B2B). Wholesale is different than retail which is for consumer consumption or business to customer (B2C).
A wholesale furniture buyer is generally buying for one of these two reasons:
- Resale-They own a furniture store and buy in bulk with the intention of reselling it to consumers.
- Projects-where there is a need for large purchases of furniture such as hotels, apartment complexes, and offices.
These types of buyers can make a large profit from the huge discounts offered by wholesale furniture factories in China.
The benefits of directly buying Wholesale furniture in China instead of back home
It goes without saying when buying wholesale furniture in China you are going for the price, but how much cheaper is it? Well to give you a very rough guide price difference we are going to give you an example.
Based on this source from China to the USA pricing for a 40HQ container will be around 3-6000USD. Additionally, on a standard HQ container, you will be able to fit 2390 Cubic feet with a recommendation of not filling it up more than 90% or 2151 cubic feet.
At that size, we can fit 43 three seater sofas or 61 two-seater sofas.
Now for different types of furniture that 40 HQ price may be more expensive so we’re going to say $10,000 USD to be safe.
If we take the sofa in the image as an example this type of sofa costs between $120-150 FOB per 3 seater sofa. Add on $232 and this sofa will cost just over $350 USD per sofa to ship to America. (plus the cost to the final location)
As for the sofa cost itself, a general rule of thumb is the sofa in China will cost around 2/3rds the cheaper retail price. In other words, if a sofa costs $1000 in your local furniture retail market, in China it will cost around $250-350.
Aka that sofa above was sold to you in America for somewhere between the price of $500-$1000.
The wholesale price of this sofa is worth $120-150 USD
Check out other wholesale furniture costs
Now we choose a large type of furniture to show you even big furniture has a good profit margin. Yet on the other side of the scale, you can fit around 240 office chairs into one container and with a quick Alibaba check you’re looking at $30-50 per chair FOB. We’ll let you do the math for this one.
For some extra calculations based on the furniture you’re looking for then check out this link for different furniture sizes: https://www.movehub.com/advice/loading-40-foot-container/
Or perhaps you’re looking for some sofa factories yourself so check out our article on the top 10 sofa factories in China.
Ensure the same quality
Now you understand buying wholesale furniture in China can cost a lot cheaper what about the quality?
A simple way to help is when buying furniture from China make sure the factory follows your countries regulations and has the right certificates.
Follow that and you will have a greater chance that the quality is exactly what you paid for.
Reduce your risk of buying wholesale furniture even more
Most factories tend to have a MOQ (minimum order quantity). This can be scary if they’re expecting you to buy a whole container of just one product. Now, this is where your haggling and bargaining skills can come in.
Most factories will allow 3-5 different furniture products to be manufactured and sold FOB from them. By buying 3-5 products you can reduce your risk a lot if one product doesn’t sell very well.
However, this option also comes with its own problems. Factories tend to be only able to make one type of furniture which means that the container will have a lot of similar products inside. (If they’re offering many different types of furniture that is a red flag to watch out for).
A factory in China
Thankfully there is another way.
Buy from multiple factories and put it in one container, however, unless you have good relations with lots of factories many will jack up the price due to the low MOQ.
The best option for small to medium businesses
If you’re a small to medium business who needs to balance wholesale price with risk the best option for you is going through a trading company. Prices will be cheaper as good trading companies such as Simonsense have strong long term relations with those factories.
Not only that but you will be able to mitigate your risk by being able to put more variety of furniture into one or two containers.
Things you need to consider before buying wholesale furniture from China
When buying wholesale furniture from China there is a lot of things you need to consider such as source, price, and logistics.
Up above we have already covered price so next up we are going to cover the sourcing and logistics of buying wholesale furniture.
Source wholesale furniture in China online
If you’re interested in visiting China directly for wholesale furniture then we recommend reading one of these two articles:
However, in our opinion, there are only really 7 places online to find decent wholesale furniture in China from.
In no particular order:
Alibaba.com
Do we need to say more? Alibaba is probably the most famous online store for buying anything from China. We probably mention it in every other article we write.
It is a great place to search for your wholesale furniture but always remember face to face you will get a better deal.
Aliexpress.com
Aliexpress is the retail branch of Alibaba however it is also a great place to find lower MOQs at almost factory prices. It is a good place for dropshipping businesses but not as good as Alibaba for wholesale.
We recommend for those who are looking for a much lower MOQ which Alibaba frequently doesn’t offer.
Made-in-china.com
Made-in-China is an alternative option to Alibaba, with the same basic idea. When looking at wholesale furniture from Alibaba it’s a good idea to also look at made-in-china to see which one has the better deal.
Dhgate.com
Dhgate.com is the Chinese version of eBay and is aliexpress.com’s major competitor. Between aliexpress and Dhgate they’re your top two places to go for dropshipping/low MOQ orders for buying furniture.
However, Dhgate has one major drawback and that is there is a much greater risk of getting lower quality imitated furniture. This is due to more relaxed regulations compared to other sites.
Globalmarket.com
Globalmarket is one of the most trusted places to buy furniture from accredited manufactures thanks to its business model being based upon M2B or manufacture to business.
You should definitely take a visit to their website when looking for wholesale furniture.
Globalsources.com
If you are looking for high-quality wholesale furniture this website needs to be on the top of your list. It’s been open since 1970 and is again one of the most trusted places to search for products.
Their major advantage is their strict vetting service which only allows reliable and higher quality providers onto its site.
Simonsense.com
Of course, we have to put in a shameless plug-in for us. Can you really blame us?
But sometimes the best option is to go through an online sourcing company such as ourselves. Why? We know the market, we know how to get you the best deal not only in purchasing but in the whole logistic chain.We are confident we can save you money when you buy your wholesale furniture.
If you don’t believe us, check out our other blogs and contact us for a free one-hour open consultation where we will answer any questions you may have.
One of Simonsenses customers
What to do to ensure high quality for your wholesale furniture from China
Before purchasing furniture from China make sure your logistic side of things is in order.
Especially things such as quality control which here at Simonsense we split into three parts:
1. Factory audit
Finding furniture online has never been easier yet without a factory audit how can you be sure the factory in China can make the furniture for you?
Here at Simonsense, we cover these aspects for you:
- Factory profile checking (General information)
- Production capabilities
- Factory facilities, including the condition of machinery and equipment
- Production Workflow and organization charts
- Quality assurance system & related certificates
Without a factory audit, you cannot be sure the furniture you are paying for is the furniture you will get.
2. Order processing
Once you have done a factory audit and have purchased your wholesale furniture from China the next step is order processing.
When you buy from China there are a lot of things which can go wrong without supervision. Trust us this comes from experience. Our recommended approach is to make sure you cover these aspects:
- Monitor material preparation.
- oversee the production schedule.
- supervise trial run and mass production.
- Coordinate on the inspection schedule.
- Troubleshooting
By doing the correct steps you can ensure the best quality furniture possible arrives at its final destination.
3. Quality control
After a factory audit and order processing, another important part is quality control. This again can be split into 4 major sections:
- Incoming inspection
- During production inspection
- Pre-shipment inspection
- Container loading supervision
Without boring you quality control is a whole other topic which you can check out on our quality control page. There will give you a complete overall of what is needed to make sure your wholesale furniture is in perfect condition before you receive it.
The logistic chain needed to buy furniture from China
When buying wholesale furniture from China, in general, there are 12 major logistic points to think about if you want to do it yourself:
- Samples
- Quality
- Container size
- Coordinating with a freight forwarder
- Delivery terms
- Cost calculation
- Shipping documents
- Shipping time
- Inspections declaration, custom clearance
- Cargo consolidation
- Loading monitoring
- Other issues necessary
Logistics is the least thought about when buying furniture from China but is often the biggest trouble. This is why we recommend checking out our complete guide for buying furniture from China to help understand the different stages.
We also recommend if you don’t have a big team to work with experienced third parties such as Simonsese when buying wholesale furniture from China.
Conclusion
When buying wholesale furniture from China there are a lot of different websites to help you find the right furniture and get a great deal. However, to get the best deal possible make sure your logistic and quality control is in working order or be prepared for some surprises along the way.
About Simonsense
Simonsense is a sourcing company that specializes in furniture. Simonsense has had over 10 years of experience in the furniture industry and supply chain market to help their customers find the best possible deal in terms of price and quality. Contact Simonsense today for a free one-hour consultation and see how we can help your business today.
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