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The furniture sourcing blog
From the first quote to the final room.
Practical guides to buying furniture from Foshan: compare costs, approve specifications, check quality and plan delivery. Pick a topic or search for the decision in front of you.
12 published articles 6 topics
Landed cost checklist: the twelve lines between a factory price and a usable room
A factory price is one line of twelve. Here is every cost between the factory and an installed room, who owns it and how to mark what is still unknown.
Start here
The decisions that shape the whole order.
Read these guides first for a clear path through cost, specifications, inspection, shipping and arrival.
What does DDP “door to door” actually include?
DDP usually ends at an address, not in a room. Nine last-mile steps decide whether your furniture is delivered, carried in, assembled and cleared up.
Factory, trading company or sourcing agent: who is in the transaction?
Up to seven parties can touch one furniture order. Here is what each one does, who invoices whom, and the five checks that tell a maker from a trader.
Inside a pre-shipment check: what we measure, sit on and photograph
A finished sofa is set up complete, measured against the drawing, sat on, and its seams, feet and paperwork photographed before anything is packed.
Sample to production: what to sign off before a deposit
Seven fields, one version. What an approval record contains, which decisions need a physical sample, and who should sign a fitted drawing.
A carton arrives damaged: what to record in the first ten minutes
Do not sign it clean. Photograph before opening. Report against item codes. The five steps that decide whether a damage claim has anywhere to go.
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Find the answer for your next decision.
Choose a subject to see every published article in that area. The topics follow an order from quote to arrival.
- How to read a furniture quote from China, line by line
- Landed cost checklist: the twelve lines between a factory price and a usable room
- From drawing to finished: a stone and metal console
- Sample to production: what to sign off before a deposit
- Inside a pre-shipment check: what we measure, sit on and photograph
- How an extending dining table is checked before it ships
- Delivery day in Orange County: from container doors to an installed room
- What does DDP “door to door” actually include?
- A carton arrives damaged: what to record in the first ten minutes
- Are Foshan Furniture Buyers Worth It? Fees, Quality & Risks
- Factory, trading company or sourcing agent: who is in the transaction?
All articles
The complete published library.
Newest first. Browse the whole archive here, or use the topics above to narrow it down.
12 published articles · page 1 of 2
How to read a furniture quote from China, line by line
How to read a furniture quote from China: what each line must state, what the price term leaves out, and the gaps that make two quotes impossible to compare.
Are Foshan Furniture Buyers Worth It? Fees, Quality & Risks
A filmed Foshan showroom tour shows what furniture buyers do, how supplier commissions can shape a route, and what to verify before placing an order.
From drawing to finished: a stone and metal console
One custom console followed in order: the dimensioned drawing, the metal frame after welding and polishing, and the piece delivered.
A carton arrives damaged: what to record in the first ten minutes
Do not sign it clean. Photograph before opening. Report against item codes. The five steps that decide whether a damage claim has anywhere to go.
Delivery day in Orange County: from container doors to an installed room
09:41, a 40 ft container is opened outside the house. 21:47, the living room is photographed finished. What happened in between, with the times in the frame.
Sample to production: what to sign off before a deposit
Seven fields, one version. What an approval record contains, which decisions need a physical sample, and who should sign a fitted drawing.
Inside a pre-shipment check: what we measure, sit on and photograph
A finished sofa is set up complete, measured against the drawing, sat on, and its seams, feet and paperwork photographed before anything is packed.
Factory, trading company or sourcing agent: who is in the transaction?
Up to seven parties can touch one furniture order. Here is what each one does, who invoices whom, and the five checks that tell a maker from a trader.
How an extending dining table is checked before it ships
Closed, it is a round table. Opened on the factory floor, it shows its slides, its folding leaf and whether the veneer matches across the joint.
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