Buyers looking for a price list for Chinese office furniture usually get one of two answers: a suspiciously low number, or no number at all. Neither is useful. What is useful is understanding what moves the cost, so you can budget a real project.
The six cost drivers
- Specification level — material, hardware, mechanism and finish quality. The largest single factor, capable of changing price two- or three-fold within the same product category.
- Quantity — unit cost falls with volume, but not linearly. The drop is largest between a sample order and a container-scale order.
- Customisation — non-standard sizes, colours and configurations add tooling, setup and production time.
- Packing method — knock-down packing reduces volume and freight but increases site assembly; crated joinery does the opposite.
- Freight and duty — sea versus air, container utilisation, port and clearance costs, inland delivery.
- Site costs — installation labour, unloading, storage, and rework caused by late or incomplete information.
Where the money actually goes
On a typical open-plan office floor, workstations and seating account for the majority of the furniture value, with storage and meeting room furniture following. Executive areas and reception joinery usually represent a small share of quantity but a disproportionate share of value per unit.
This is why specification strategy matters. Spending the finish budget on the visible floors and keeping the operational floors on a disciplined, consistent specification produces a better result than upgrading everything uniformly.
Budgeting method for an imported package
Budget the delivered cost, not the ex-works price. A practical structure is: product cost, plus packing, plus freight to port, plus insurance, plus duty and clearance, plus inland delivery, plus installation. Each of those lines is real and each will surprise a project that omitted it.
| Cost line | What it depends on |
|---|---|
| Product | Specification, quantity, customisation |
| Packing | Knock-down versus crated, protection level |
| Freight | Volume, weight, port pair, sailing frequency |
| Insurance | Declared value and route |
| Duty and clearance | Destination country, tariff classification, documentation |
| Inland delivery | Distance, access, unloading equipment |
| Installation | Category, complexity, labour availability at site |
Why no supplier can give one rate per workstation
A rate per workstation only means something when the specification is fixed. Otherwise it is an average of a range that may span several multiples. A credible supplier will ask for the specification and quantities and then quote; a supplier that quotes immediately without them is quoting a guess.
Getting a real number
Send your BOQ or specification with quantities and your destination city. A costed, line-by-line quotation against a defined scope is the only figure that can be compared, budgeted and later checked against what was delivered.