Advice on importing furniture
 

We have a few contacts in Java and Bali and we are wondering if anyone has experience of importing furniture (to stock a house rather than sell commercially).

Quality notwithstanding (we know that there are some really dodgy producers out there), can anyone give me an idea of whether this would make financial sense bearing in mind customs duties, shipping and any other extras?
We would be talking about beds, sofas, occasional cabinets etc etc.

Thanks

Re: Advice on importing furniture
 

Assuming you're taking about hardwood furniture here - rosewood, teak, blackwood, etc.

I'm not sure if it's made any financial sense for us. I think it's more a matter of taste and personal preference. We like hardwood furniture of simple designs, both Asian and Western, traditional and modern. So when I was visiting family and friends in Hong Kong, I ordered a full house of custom-made hardwood furniture. The shipping & miscellaneous handling cost was about 30% of the total cost of the furniture - dinner tables & chairs, sofas, bookcases, bedside tables, chests of drawers, coffee tables, corner tables, and some outdoor furniture. We didn't order a bed because we were worried about the large pieces of timber cracking during shipping.

If we had spent the same amount of money (cost of furniture, shipping, fumigation and customs) in Brisbane, we would've gotten some lovely furniture as well, but it would've been a different style. You can get Chinese and Indonesian furniture here, but the choice is more limited.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mrs JTL

Re: Advice on importing furniture
 

Australia has been inundated, with cheap Indonesian , furniture most people are unaware that , this is made from Rain forest timber, which when sent to the southern states, cracks after the first dry summer. ;) ...... :beer: mm

Re: Advice on importing furniture
 

That's a very good point there.

I just checked that Leaver's headed for Perth. I personally wouldn't ship any furniture there as the climate is so different from where the furniture is made. Perth's a bit too dry and lots of the furniture would crack over a long period of time as a result of repeated expansion and contraction. The only reason I felt safe about shipping furniture from Hong Kong was because Brisbane's got similar weather / level of humidity. However I've also been told that if you could get hold of furniture made of really old timber, you'll be fine even in cold and dry climate.

Cheers,
Mrs JTL