Buying Furniture From China: A Step-by-Step Guide

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China has a huge furniture market that has a growing demand in the world. It is because of the high-quality furniture and affordable cost that large businesses and furniture importing companies come to China. Even though the furniture has low prices, the manufacturers and suppliers in China do not reduce the variety and quality of the furniture.

People are suspicious of things ‘Made in China’ thinking of them to be of poor quality. The Chinese furniture proved them wrong as it replaced even Italy in being the world’s largest furniture exporter. According to Data from Statista, a popular market and opinion research institute, China is the world’s leading furniture exporting country.

Global Furniture Export of Major Countries (2010-2016)

To help you with buying furniture from China, I have put together this guide that will help you to get the best office furniture. As you finish the guide, you will learn all the right techniques to buy furniture from China without paying huge sums of money and wasting your energy.

What Makes China The Best Place To Buy Furniture

China has worked hard to make its furniture industry grow. Today, it has its own furniture industrial zone and contributes to 39% of the world’s furniture imports. How China’s furniture is good:

Economical

Whether you are looking for furniture for your house or a large company, the huge variety of furniture in China will help you with both. The market is full of versatile furniture that is of high quality and reasonable price.

You can compare the prices of a set of chairs or tables with similar making from China and Europe, and you will be amazed at the huge cost difference for the same thing. Another shocking fact is that some of the furniture that is sold in Europe comes from China! This means you pay more than double the prices for furniture that you can buy from China at much lower rates.

If you are someone who doesn’t compromise on quality and doesn’t want to get robbed of your hard earned money, you know where to look for furniture next time!

Variety

Being a furniture factory, China has every style and design of furniture. There are more than 100,000 factories in China, and each provides you with countless options to choose from. In case you still feel you can’t find your true match, you always have the customization options.

You can even buy unique Chinese furniture without nails or glues that become loose and reduce the furniture’s life. The exceptional engineering in Chinese materializes in their furniture designs and styles that you will immediately like.

Quality

It is the quality improvement that has made China replace many of the leading furniture-exporting countries. The quality of materials and making of furniture has increased to even leave behind major European brands. The equipment and production can even be witnessed if you travel to China to choose the office furniture that will give you an idea of the workforce’s professionalism and dedication to maintaining China’s global furniture industry standing.

Furniture Producing Divisions In China

A clear understanding of China’s various furniture-producing regions is important before you import furniture from there. You will have an idea of the kind of furniture you will find in the individual region apart from knowing their strengths and weaknesses.

Being more aware of each helps in ensuring that you source and work with the right manufacturers. Going through all the provinces in China, I will simply jump to the points that the regions are known for. According to economic viability, China is conveniently divided into four regions that are:

The Pearl River Delta

The Pearl River Delta provinces include Guangdong and Fujian, with cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The region is known to be the harborer of the first free trade zones. The years of manufacturing and exporting have improved the region’s furniture-producing skills so much that Guangdong is considered the marketing center in China.

Guangdong uses its strength and utilizes modern information technology to continuously transform and improve the furniture industry’s level and maintain its production and sales advantages. The Shunde District of Foshan City has been designed to become a part of furniture production, sales, support, and wholesale.

Foshan is popular as an expert in producing dining furniture, flat-packed furniture, and other general furniture. A 10 km road in Foshan displays a unique range and designs of furniture from famous brands. Added to this is Lecong town which is a large furniture distribution center. In southern China, Jiangzhen has emerged as an important town in furniture production.

Yangtze River Delta

Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu fall under the Yangtze River Delta region. Here a wide range of furniture is manufactured. Many excellent furniture manufacturers are located in the Yangtze River Delta region. Manufacturers and furniture of every quality and skill level are found here.

It is also one of China’s fastest-growing clusters that enjoys a good manufacturing foundation that includes infrastructure, qualified labor, and distinctive history and culture. The region accounts for one-third of the country’s total furniture production.

The Western Triangle Region

The western triangle or central China includes provinces such as Shandong, Henan, and Anhui. It is a low costing region in China preferred by the Coastal companies due to the mature and convenient logistics foundation.

The Bohai Sea Region has a long history of furniture manufacturing due to its large resources and convenient location. It has a huge manufacturing and consumer base due to the intensive companies that make the industrial chain perfect. Bohai Sea Region is a low-cost region with high glass and metal furniture production.

The Bohai Sea Region

The Bohai Sea Region has a long history of furniture manufacturing due to its large resources and convenient location. It has a huge manufacturing and consumer base due to the intensive companies that make the industrial chain perfect. Bohai Sea Region is a low-cost region with high glass and metal furniture production.

The Best Markets To Buy Furniture In China

Lecong Furniture Market

It is the largest wholesale and retail furniture market in the world. With over 5000 shops that display their unique collection of over 20000 furniture pieces, you will find 99% of all furniture types and styles in the world.

The furniture factories located here earn a lot in the area due to the increasing demand. The remarkable variety of furniture makes it possible to find any furniture type here, from fancy-looking furniture to ones giving a simple look.

Lecong has 20 big busy furniture shopping malls. Among the 20, the five most famous ones are

  • Louvre international furniture Exhibition Center
  • Red Star Macalline Furniture Exhibition and Wholesale Center
  • Lecong International Exhibition Center
  • Sunlink Furniture City (north section)
  • Shunde Empire Furniture market introduction (Royal)

Likou Furniture Market in Suzhou City (East China)

Likou furniture market is in Suzhou city, Jiangsu province. The furniture market is one of the largest in east China, where there are important factories too. It is the best alternative to the Lecong market. There are over 3000 furniture shops and 10 furniture shopping malls.

You will find a huge variety of home and office items that makes Foshan city a shopping hub. Apart from furniture, you will also find appliances and construction materials such as marble and ceramic.

Xianghe Furniture Market in Hebei Province (North China)

Xianghe furniture market makes it tough for you to decide on a shopping place. The place is filled with furniture that comes in every shape, size, and design. It is rightly the second-largest furniture market in North China.

You will come across 5000 brands, of which 1500 have set up showrooms. The place welcomes around 7 million people every year who come in search of different types of furniture. It is the best option for those who want to buy furniture from China directly.

How To Find Reliable Furniture Manufacturers in China?

Renowned and Reliable B2B Marketplaces

You have many ways to find yourself a reliable furniture manufacturer, given you know how to use those opportunities. One of these is the trustworthy B2B marketplaces. Don’t just go for any marketplace that is shown on your screen, instead go for legit ones such as:

Alibaba.com

Businesses choose Alibaba.com, the largest B2B directory and marketplace for China-based manufacturers. You will find thousands of factories, trading companies, resellers, and wholesalers, all on one platform.

You will find almost anything on Alibaba. Around 50% of the manufacturers promote their products on Alibaba, making it very easy for you to find furniture of the following type:

  • Home Furniture
  • Baby furniture
  • Commercial furniture
  • Furniture Hardware
  • Plastic furniture

You have the option of finding out manufacturers with registered capital company certificates and product test reports. If you are looking for manufacturers, you must avoid companies that use the term trading.

Alibaba is never short on products. In fact, the product list keeps on increasing, which can be easily seen with just a click. Although it is a great way to find a manufacturer, nothing can replace the benefit of a face-to-face meeting.

Made-In-China.Com

Another B2B marketplace in China is Made-In-China.com which launched in 1998 and quickly became one of the respected B2B platforms. It has 27 categories and 3600 sub-categories. You can be guaranteed and assured of quality products and suppliers on this platform. However, the platform has fewer products compared to Alibaba.

Global Sources- a leading B2B Platform

Another important B2B platform is Global Sources that is the main facilitator of trade with Greater China. It is also responsible for organizing export sourcing shows in Hong Kong with eight events annually. You will find the world’s largest electronics and mobile electronics shows.

Since Global Sources falls among the top B2B platforms, it works in cooperation with Shenzhen International Machinery Manufacturing Industry Exhibition (SIMM) and other related shows. Apart from electronics, you will find many furniture manufacturers promoting their products at Global Sources.

A factor that differentiates between Global Sources and the other two B2B platforms is that it promotes through trade shows and magazines that the other two platforms don’t. To save yourself from a huge variety of options, you can use Global Sources which has few but some of the best furniture manufacturers.

Why Purchasing From These Platforms Is Risky

Although these platforms are easy to use, they can not help you to make sure about the manufacturer. Also, some of them are suppliers who charge you more money by acting as manufacturers. You have to be very careful and alert not to get tricked unless you choose to work with suppliers.

Open the search engines, and your device screen would open the list of uncountable suppliers option for you. However, as easy as it is to find a supplier, finding a reliable manufacturer is difficult. But to guide you, I have filtered out the best ways to find manufacturers in China. They are:

Furniture Fairs

Once in a world where people were not so heavily dependent on the internet as they are today, buyers had only furniture fairs to rely on to find furniture manufacturers. It was hard to be played or tricked on the fairs as the Furniture fairs only had reliable manufacturers.

The old furniture fair traditions are followed today. Furniture fairs are even now one of the most important ways to find new manufacturers or maintain relationships with old ones.

What Makes Furniture Fairs Relevant For Your Search

Furniture fairs are the first places where you will come across furniture styles and designs that enter the market a month or two later. The face-to-face experience allows you to have a look at the products, along with meeting the manufacturer on your own. It is the most safe way to know the person you will be working with in the future.

However, as with other things, there is a problem when going to the furniture fair. You will find things to be more costly. First, you will have to visit China, and then you will have to deal with the supply chain back home on your own. You have to deal with all the details on your own, and since the fair lasts only days, you won’t be able to know more about the company you plan to work within such a short time.

There are only two time periods in which exhibitions are held in China; these are March and August/September.

March

· Shenzhen International Furniture Exhibition (SIFE) that is held from March 19th to 22nd
· International Famous Furniture Fair (3F), held from 16th to 20th
· China International Furniture Fair (CIFF), held from March 28th to 31st

August/September

  •  International Famous Furniture Fair (3F), held from August 11th to 14th
  • China International Furniture Fair (Shanghai)
  • China International Furniture Expo

Since the exhibitions occur at two different periods, you will have to attend both to find the best furniture that you are looking for.

Using Search Engines

If you can’t travel all the way to China, you have got search engines to help you make your choices. But the internet is a whole new world where it is easy to get lost. Therefore, to find what you are looking for, you can search on ‘Google’ or other search engines such as ‘Yandex.com’ or ‘bing.com.’

Some of the manufacturers and suppliers have good websites from where you can know if they are professional or not from the design and layout of their website. You can do the following to know if a particular manufacturer is right for you or not.

Create A Datasheet

Create a spreadsheet to record data that will help you determine if a specific manufacturer would make a suitable choice for you. Make columns such as:

  • Name of the company
  •  Contact information
  • The scope and business scale
  • What kind of furniture does the company deal with
  • Additional notes

You will notice that you will have a large list of potential furniture suppliers and manufacturers once you have made your spreadsheet. The factors that are important in your list must be the factory’s size and the furniture types. With the size and furniture types known, you will be able to know who you are dealing with.

The right Keywords Are Essential

You must use the right keywords for your search. Only the keywords help you with finding out what you are looking for. Instead of using the wrong words, type the words that directly take you to your search. For instance, it would be better to write ‘China Furniture Manufacturers’ rather than furniture manufacturers.

Getting In Touch With The Furniture Manufacturers

Done with the list?! Now move to contact the suppliers to get better information about the company and its scope. Use Email to communicate with each of your options. There are other apps as well that you can use to get in touch with the manufacturer.

You can use WeChat which is used by almost 1 billion users and is a popular app in China. You can make calls, send videos, or chat on the app. Do not use Whatsapp as it is blocked most of the time, so you may not be able to get through to your manufacturer or supplier.

Once you have made your contact, you can plan a sourcing trip with a legit guide to help you through the furniture maze of China!

Money Transfering Methods

Your method of payment or transactions depends on the amount you need to pay and the quantity of furniture that you are importing. Although Chinese suppliers are trustworthy, you need to do your part and be careful not to get tricked. The common ways of payment are:

Online Escrow

Online transfers are right for smaller transactions. For instance, if you are paying below $5000, you can use different online escrow services. As online payments do not involve any agreements or paperwork, there is always a risk of future confusion and fights.

International Wire Transfer

An old method, international wire transfers are used for small and medium-sized transactions. According to this method, the buyer can pay part of the money before production begins. Later after the completion of the goods, the whole amount according to the terms of the contract is paid. Here, both the supplier and the buyer are at risk. If any of the two refuses to fulfill his part of the agreement, the other party suffers a loss.

PayPal

PayPal is like a credit card payment with the difference that you don’t have to show your credit card details. By attaching your credit card to your PayPal account, you can pay the supplier using your email account. A small amount is cut from the account of the supplier that is also charged from the imported. PayPal is suited for smaller payments.

Western Union

An easy alternative to PayPal is Western Union. It is, therefore, liked by Chinese suppliers. The only problem is that the company does not receive the cash. It is instead handed to another person who then pays the company. However, it is the fastest mode of payment and charges only a small fee.

Cash

As with other methods, this too is risky. Cash is paid in cash to the suppliers by either the importer or his/her representative. It is advisable way only if the buyer has complete trust in the supplier. Direct cash payment can be used for both large or small sums of money. Cash payment can help you with getting discounts.


Letter of Credit


A letter of credit is the most secure way to make large payments to the supplier. Since the bank charges you higher amounts, this method of payment is used only for the larger amounts. The banks include paperwork which makes this method a safe and secure way.

Conclusion

Although these platforms are easy to use, they can not help you to make sure about the manufacturer. Also, some of them are suppliers who charge you more money by acting as manufacturers. You have to be very careful and alert not to get tricked unless you choose to work with suppliers.

Amy Chen

Amy Chen

A top office chair supplier from China

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