When people buy furniture, there are a few problems always occurring. For instance, parts are missing; quantity is incorrect; color is wrong; there are flaws like scratches, cracks, holes on the surface of the furniture. People must be get mad when they receive it. To those people overseas, it’s much more difficult for them to handle the after-sales service because the whole process is very time consuming and cost consuming. Therefore, how to avoid problems becomes extremely important. As an experienced furniture purchaser and sourcing agent in China, I would like to share some points that cannot be ignored and will help get rid of problems when you buy furniture.
Before sourcing furniture, finding a good furniture supplier is half success of the battle. We should identify which supplier is good or trustworthy. When we enter the furniture shop, we can check their shop layout. If it’s small or old, we can hold the mind first. Maybe their price for furniture is cheap but they may not have enough strength for after-sales service. In spite of this, we still need to have a look at their products. If the details like finishing and seam are perfect, that’s good for the time being. After that, checking whether they have good service or not is the most important aspect. We can talk to them and ask about their after-sales service. If their attitude is very sincere, there is chance to consider buying their furniture.
After we confirm the items that we want to buy and take pictures of them, we need to think highly of contract. Making agreement and signing contract help protect our right. If suppliers don’t have official contract with company stamp, receipt is acceptable. Except price, quantity and product details like material and color, the elements that should be written on the contract too include the way of packing, delivery date and delivery address. If we want to customize the color or size, it’s necessary to mark down customized details. To guarantee the parts of furniture like screws are enough, we can ask the supplier to provide extra more for us and write this on the remark. As for the packing, furniture with glass or marble should be packed with wood frame or wood box. Some furniture like cabinet and bed frame which could be warp should be with flat package or pack with wood frame. For painting legs of table, chair or sofa, they should be protected separately with foam. Right packing keeps furniture from damage. About the delivery date, don’t forget to consider Chinese holiday and better decide the date before or after the holiday.
QC is an effective way to find out problems and solve problems. We can do it during the production or after delivery to designated warehouse. If it’s not convenient for you to do it in person, you can ask or hire Foshan market guide in China for furniture sourcing or other cities where you bought furniture from to help you. To do the QC, first of all, we must check whether the quantity of furniture is correct or not. For those furniture with legs, we need to confirm they are in the package as well. And then we begin to check the details like shape and color comparing with photos we took before. After that, we should make sure furniture doesn’t have flaws by checking finishing, seam and each part of that furniture. If we find some problems, we cannot pay the balance to suppliers unless suppliers help solve the problems. That’s why we need to find good suppliers with good service. Good supplier tries their best to solve problems. Bad supplier always has excuses. If we are not lucky enough to have good supplier, contract or receipt helps us out.
When those furniture are ready for shipping, we need to check whether the imported country has the requirement of fumigation and think about how to arrange container loading. Countries like New Zealand, Australia, New Caledonia, America, and European countries have strict requirement of fumigation for furniture with wood material. If you are from one of these countries, remember to arrange the fumigation. When it’s ready for loading, settling furniture in right way keeps damage away. Some furniture is required to be face up in the container like chairs while sofa should be put vertically. Heavy furniture cannot be on the light furniture. Fragile table top with wood package should be put on the side. Furniture with sharp part cannot be put together with fabric or leather furniture. Lastly, we must make sure the container is loaded as full as possible not only for saving shipping cost but also for protecting furniture from falling down and getting damaged.
You will require help of an experienced China quality inspection company like MoreFar Global if you are importing furniture for the first time or you do not want to loose money. Because many a times customers do not get what they pay for and end up loosing a lot of business. A good China quality checking company can help you here.
Following these steps strictly, we won’t feel helpless when we get our furniture any more.