Have you ever wondered where’s the best place to buy wholesale furniture in the world? The answer without doubt goes to China, the largest furniture exporter in the world. Furniture imported from China is usually handcrafted without nails or glue, which makes it more durable and can last longer period of time. What’s rarely known is China has an entire town dedicated to furniture manufacturing and sales. The same as the Capital of LED – Guzhen, China seems to have an entire town/city dedicated completely to a specifica industry. Shunde, located in Foshan city in Guangdong province, is hailed as the Capital of Furniture as the district is home to inumerable amount of furniture factories and wholesale markets.
Where to buy wholesale furniture in China?
Lecong, the mega center of furniture manufacturing and distribution in Shunde, proudly houses a massive furniture wholesale market covering over 3 million square meters. Some prominent furniture wholesale markets in Lecong are Louvre Furniture Mall, Lecong International Furniture Exhibition Center, Shunde Empire Group, Sunlink Group, Tuanyi International Furniture City, etc. The sheer size is overwhelming, and it has attracted over 3,450 furniture dealers and over 1,500 furniture manufacturers.
At Lecong furniture wholesale center, you can find a vast array of household products ranging from bedroom furniture, living room furniture, dining room furniture, bathroom furniture, kitchen furniture, hotel furniture, restaurant furniture, café chairs, bar stools to sanitary ware, furniture accessories, material, etc. The furniture wholesale markets are in full swing all the year around except Chinese New Year holiday.
What kind of furniture can you import from China?
Virtually you can import any knd of furnitue from China. It’s imperative to understand that manufacturers don’t produce all spectrum of furniture under one roof. Usully each furniture manufacturer specializes in one area. Some common furniture imported are as followed.
- Office furniture
- Hotel furniture
- Bedroom furniture
- Living room furniture
- Bathroom furniture
- Dining room furniture
- Outdoor furniture
- Children’s furniture
- Wooden furniture
- Metal furniture
- Plastic furniture
- Wicker furniture
How to ship furniture from China?
Furniture is usually shipped by sea considering the volume and weight. Common types of containers are 20 feet and 40 feet, FCL (Full Container Load) and LCL (Less than Container Load). The most preferrable option is FCL if your furniture is more than five pallets. If your furniture is less than five pallets, it’s better to to with LCL, which means sharing container space with others. Though there’re ports in Foshan, most exporters tend to ship via the ports in Guangzhou as there’re more vessels at better rates.
How to pack furniture for international shipment?
It’s crucial to use high quality packaging materials for international furniture shipment. Furniture must be loaded on ISPM pallets. The key point is to provide graphic instructions to your supplier detailing how to pack, and carry out pre-shipment inspection before loading the container.
What are the regulations for importing furniture into the US and EU?
Furniture to be imported into the US and EU must meet certain criterias.
US
APHIS
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has regulated that certain types of wooden furniture must be orginnated from APHIS approved suppliers, importers must get pre-import approval and the wooden furniture must go through heat treatment or fumigation procedures.
CPSIA
Mandatory to children’s products including furniture for children younger than 12 years old, CPSIA has listed some requirements for importers: ASTM lab testing, CPSIA tracking label, Children’s Product Certificate (CPC), testing lab, registration card, etc.
Fire safety standards
If you’re importing furniture into Califonia, make sure it complies with the regulation of California Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117).
EU
REACH
REACH regualtes chemicals and heavy metals used in furniture. It’s suggested to get your furniture cover tested to make sure it complies with the regulation.
Fire safety standards
The fire safety standards vary depdning on the use of the furniture, whether it’s used for commercial purpose. Some EN standards of fire safety are:
- EN 1021-1
- EN 1021-2
- EN 597-1
- EN 597-2
- EN 14533
Tips for importing furniture from China
Are you ready to venture out and import furniture from China? Our tips will get you covered from all the risks.
- If you’re importing wooden furniture, make sure you follow the rules of destination country as some countries require permit to import wooden furniture to avoid illegal logging and invasive of foreign insects. For example, all wooden furniture imported into the US must go through sanitization process
- Check the anti-dumping policty of destination country as some furniture from China is subject to anti-dumping policies coz of the low prices.
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