Importing Furniture from India: Buyer Guide
· 6 min read
The end-to-end process for importing hospitality and contract furniture from India — enquiry to quote, samples, Incoterms, ports, documentation and lead times.
Start with a specification, not a catalogue number
Importing well begins with a clear brief: what you’re furnishing, the quantities, the finish and the destination port. Because we build to order rather than sell from stock, the more precise the drawing or reference, the tighter and faster the quote.
A first enquiry doesn’t need to be perfect. Send the piece, the rough quantity and where it’s shipping — a person follows up to fill the gaps.
Quote, sample, then commit
You get a project quote against your specification, not a shelf price — the same chair costs differently at five units and at five hundred, so quoting per run is the honest way to do it.
Before a container is committed, order a sample run. You approve the real piece — joinery, finish, upholstery — and only then do we set a production date and hold it.
Incoterms decide who does what
We quote EXW, FOB or CIF. EXW leaves collection and freight to you; FOB puts the goods on board at an Indian port with export clearance done; CIF adds sea freight and insurance to the destination port.
For most first-time buyers, FOB or CIF from Mundra or Nhava Sheva is the simplest — the export paperwork and loading are handled at our end.
Packing, fumigation and documents
Solid-wood furniture ships by sea in FCL (a full container) or LCL (shared). Every sea shipment is fumigated to ISPM-15 and export-packed, with the documentation prepared here.
Timber legality documentation is provided, and market-specific compliance (see the compliance guide) is confirmed per order so what’s on paper matches what’s in the container.
Lead times and what to plan for
A production date is given after you approve the sample, then add sea transit to your port. Build the sample-approval step into your programme — it’s where quality is locked in.
Plan quantities around a container: it’s usually more economical to fill one than to ship part-loads repeatedly. The MOQ and containers guide covers how to think about volume.