Online sofa wholesale guide to sourcing, purchasing, shipping, haulage and storage
Why the hassle with importing, according to online sofa wholesale?
Opening a furniture store could have been your dream for a long time, it may have been something that just happened without thinking. You may have found some cheap stock and enjoyed making the sales. Whatever the reason was for you to find yourself selling them, you have now got a business and you are selling sofas and beds.
You want to make a name for your brand and you want consumers to choose your stock over others. The first place you have to start is finding the stock that you can put into your catalogue. Our collection is here to help you start.
There are numerous manufacturers, suppliers, and traders. All of which can offer you something appealing. If you are feeling brave then you could complete the process yourself but this is a long and strenuous process with little offered for guarantees. Online sofa wholesale is the way to go. We will show you why.
We are importers, distributors, and online sofa wholesale. This means that you can buy directly from our collection and cut out the middle man.
As we buy in bulk to achieve the best prices, we can pass on the savings to our customers. In this way, you are getting a discount on your stock and you can deliver unrivalled prices to your buyers, which will give you an advantage over other stores.
Importing furniture to the UK can be a strenuous task with many hoops to jump. There are many thoughts to consider; from finding a reliable manufacturer to shipping your goods, to receiving them in your store. Our job is online sofa wholesale and we go through this process every day so that you do not have to. If you insist on following the process from start to finish though, this may help.
Finding a manufacturer
The best way to find a reliable supplier who can make the stock that you want to sell, to your specifications, is most likely to work out if you fly to the country of manufacture and see the suppliers in action. The face to face and seeing first hand who they produce their stock can provide a trust and ongoing relationship that provides some stability for your business.
Failing this, you could ask the factory to produce their audit reports. Audit reports are issued by a third party, with no interest in the actual sale of the product. Some of these have been carried out by other businesses and can be found online, otherwise, you could arrange for one to be carried out yourself. Other reports that you should look out for include product test reports and compliance documents. This incorporates compliance with substance regulations.
Many furniture manufacturers from abroad are unable to show these documents and this can be a warning sign that you need to move on to another factory.
Shipping
Once you have found your manufacturer, checked compliance and contracts, you will need to decide on the size of the container that you will need to buy. If the imports are coming from China then ocean freight is the only viable option to get your stock to you.
As a general rule, they come in sizes of 20 feet, 40 feet, and 40 feet HQ.
Prices for shipping to the UK fluctuate daily and can cost anywhere between £300 and £5000 per container. If you are tired of being ripped off by sofa importers, try us with our best price guarantee and remember that we buy in bulk so that we can lower costs and pass them onto you.
Not only are there different sizes but you need to decide whether you will use a full container or share it with other importers. Less than container loads are known for arriving in their destination country damaged. This is due to the number of people that will be handling your goods.
As we specialise in online sofa wholesale we ensure that each sofa is bagged and boxed to reduce any possibility of damage. For this reason, our collection offers a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty for damaged or faulty sofas.
If we do let you down on reserved stock then we will give you £250 each time. Online sofa wholesale ensures that the originating supplier is given very clear instructions about how the furniture should be packed and what materials they should be using to ensure that your stock is safe.
Remember that if your stock gets damaged on its way then you cannot return the damaged pieces or request a refund from your supplier. Therefore using online sofa wholesale will allow you to choose from stock that we have already imported and checked for quality and damage. If however, you are still sure that you want to do it yourself, make sure that you get adequate insurance.
It is also important to ensure that your products are inspected for quality before leaving the originating country. The inspectors will be checking that the sofa matches your requirements, including dimensions, labels, colour, material, weight, water resistance, fire resistance, and packaging materials. As a rough guide, an inspection will cost £300.
Paying duty
On top of the shipping costs and the inspections, anything that is imported into the UK will incur a charge for VAT. VAT is payable at every stage of getting your stock to your store. UK duty is also added to these costs. At present, the rate for duty is 3.5% and the VAT is 20%. This is expected to inflate due to the pandemic.
Onward travel
Once your sofas have landed in the UK, and you have arranged the customs clearance. This can be arranged yourself if you are collecting the furniture, however, this is something that our online sofa wholesale includes. The importer is responsible for providing a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of landing, and any other document.
Instructing an online sofa wholesaler to import your sofa or bed takes the pressure off of you to ensure that everything is in place. Do not forget that if you use someone else or collect it yourself you will need to take into consideration the costs of haulage, port handling, and administration charges. Also, make sure that your VAT number or EORI number is on hand as it will be needed.
Why you should use us
We have a full range of sofas and beds that are already in the UK which you can choose from without the hassle of importing. With over 30 sets, you are sure to find what you want here.
You can be the first to know about what we have coming in as we can send you instant notifications of incoming stock. Not only this but we have our best-price guarantee which means that you can rest assured that you are not being ripped off by sofa and bed importers.
Buying from online furniture wholesale, who have so much experience in importing sofas and beds will save you a lot of time, as instead of having to source your own manufacturers and checking their compliance you can tell us your requirements and we will order entire containers for you using our already tested and proven contacts.
If you do not have room to store an entire container then store them at our depot and pick them up at your convenience. With our minimum order set being only 3 sets, we can arrange for you to have what you need when you need it and all you have to worry about is making a good impression on your customers. What is stopping you?
