Shipping Taobao furniture to Singapore

Furniture is big for its weight. Air and sea by kg both charge the higher of the actual weight and the volumetric weight (length × width × height in cm ÷ 5,000), so a bulky carton gets charged for its size anyway. One cubic metre counts as 200 kg by air: S$1,700.00. The same cubic metre by Sea LCL is S$138.00.

LCL means "less than container load". Your cartons share a container with other shipments and you pay for the space they take, door to door. Our sea freight page compares it with sea by kg.

• No extra-long or extra-heavy fee. On air and sea by kg, a parcel over 140 cm long, or 70 cm or more on two sides, or over 40 kg, adds S$60.00 per shipment. A sofa or bed carton is usually past those sizes. The fee isn't charged on Sea LCL.
• Sea by kg stops at S$90.00. From 34 kg chargeable, by kg would cost more than that, so the shipment goes by LCL anyway.

1. Find the packed size, not the product size. Listings usually show the size of the furniture itself. The carton is bigger for an assembled piece and much flatter for a flat-packed one. Ask the seller for the packed size (包装尺寸), the number of cartons, and the gross weight (毛重).
2. Work out each carton: length × width × height in cm ÷ 1,000,000 = m³.
3. Add up every carton from every seller in the shipment.
4. Round the total up to the next 0.1 m³ and read the price from the table above.

The CBM calculator does the sums if you enter each carton size, and the homepage calculator lets you add items one by one. Treat the result as an estimate with 20–30% room: the final volume is measured when the goods are loaded, and a wooden frame, if you add one, makes the packed size a little bigger.

Not sure it's worth shipping at all? The furniture cost check puts the Singapore price next to the China price plus shipping and import tax.

The carton sizes and prices below are assumptions for the arithmetic. Yours will differ, so use your seller's packed sizes. Import tax is 9% of what you paid for the furniture, not of the freight.

A whole room, from six sellers. The sofa and the bed set above, plus a coffee table (110 × 65 × 20 cm), a TV console (180 × 45 × 50 cm), a flat-packed dining table (150 × 90 × 16 cm) and four chairs in two cartons of 60 × 55 × 90 cm:

As one shipment the freight is 3.3 × S$138.00 = S$455.40. If the furniture cost S$3,200.00 in all, import tax is S$288.00, and the invoice comes to S$743.40.

The last column of that table adds up to S$745.80 if every seller's order ships on its own. Together it's S$455.40: S$290.40 less freight for the same furniture. Each separate shipment pays at least the S$90.00 minimum, and a piece just over a step pays the whole step. The TV console shows it: 0.405 m³ is a touch over 0.4, so alone it's charged as 0.5 m³, S$138.00.

• Use the same warehouse address for every seller, on Taobao, Tmall, JD, 1688 or any other shop. Parcels that arrive early are stored free for 45 days, counted from each one's arrival. One shipment goes to one Singapore address.
• Made-to-order pieces can take longer than that. We can't keep goods beyond 45 days, so tell us early on WhatsApp and we'll plan around it. Order the slow pieces first and the quick ones later.
• Send your order list when everything has arrived. The shipment is then sealed and measured, and nothing can be added. Anything late goes in a new shipment.
• Work the tier out again each time you add a piece. A S$90.00 estimate for one item no longer holds once the total passes 0.4 m³.

These are the rules that apply to big pieces, and which of them touch a Sea LCL shipment.

• Extra-long or extra-heavy fee (S$60.00, once per shipment): for a parcel over 140 cm long, or 70 cm or more on both length and width, or over 40 kg actual weight. It applies to air and sea by kg. It doesn't apply to Sea LCL.
• 500 kg per m³: on LCL we charge the higher of the measured volume and the weight ÷ 500. Light, bulky furniture isn't affected. A dense piece can be: the coffee table above with a 90 kg stone top measures 0.143 m³, but 90 ÷ 500 = 0.18 m³, so it's charged as 0.2 m³. That's still S$90.00 here, but on a bigger load it can move you up a step.
• Any single piece over 60 kg: the Singapore courier may charge about S$200–300 if they decide special equipment or extra hands are needed to load and unload it. It's the courier's charge, paid to them at delivery. It isn't on our invoice, and we can't tell you in advance whether it will apply. Asking the seller to pack heavy items as several lighter cartons, each under 60 kg, lowers the risk.
• Postcodes starting with 09: S$35.00 for delivery, on any method.

We call it door to door, and for most orders it is. For bulky furniture, these conditions decide how far the courier brings it. Please read them before you buy.

• It must fit your lift as packed. The courier delivers to your doorstep only if the item fits into the building's lift in its carton, crate or wooden frame. If it doesn't, it's unloaded at the ground floor. The courier won't wait while you unpack it and won't carry it up. Tell us before we ship if a piece may not fit.
• The way to your door must be clear for a trolley or pallet jack: no steps, narrow gates or obstructions. Otherwise the courier isn't obliged to bring it to the door, and you'd arrange your own movers.
• Unpacking, assembly and disposal aren't part of the service. The courier leaves the furniture as packed. We don't carry it inside, position it, assemble it or take the packaging away, and we don't provide or recommend a crew for that. Please arrange your own help.
• Malls, offices and buildings with fixed delivery hours can only be delivered to at a specific time, and extra costs may apply, such as a second attempt, after-hours delivery or special equipment. Those are charged by the courier and we can't confirm them beforehand. Tell us before we ship.
• The courier sets the day and time. We can't book a delivery slot. For Sea LCL the courier messages you before delivery.

The lift check and the full wording are in Delivery conditions and clause 7 of our Terms.

• Good packing starts with the seller. For glass, mirrors, ceramic or stone, ask for a wooden crate (打木架 / 木箱), foam on all edges and corners, and a tabletop packed apart from its base.
• What happens at our warehouse: every parcel is scanned, weighed and measured. We don't open parcels or look at the contents. With a large piece we see only the outer packaging, and we tell you if it's obviously damaged.
• A wooden frame can be added at the warehouse on request. It costs about S$40–80 per m³, confirmed once the goods arrive, and it adds a little to the packed size.
• Fragile items aren't covered for breakage, with or without a frame. That includes glass, mirrors, ceramics and natural stone, which can crack even when handled carefully.
• Other goods: by default, compensation is 3 times the shipping fee or the declared value, whichever is lower. For fuller cover you can add a premium of 10% of the declared value. Scratches, small dents and marks that don't affect use aren't covered. See our Terms.
• If something arrives badly damaged, tell us within 24 hours of receiving it, with an unboxing video and clear photos.

Furniture is Normal goods. If anything in the shipment has a battery, the whole shipment is Sensitive: same price, but it must be declared. Not sure about an item? Search it in Can I ship this? or read prohibited items.

Sea LCL takes about 2–3 weeks (est.) from dispatch at our Guangzhou warehouse to your door, with Singapore customs and local delivery included. Add the time your sellers need to make and deliver each piece within China. Sea shipments leave weekly, and things slow down after 11.11, through November and December, and over Chinese New Year. More in how long shipping from China takes.

1. Get the packed sizes from your sellers and estimate the volume.
2. WhatsApp us and reply Address for our warehouse address and your Paotui code, and add it as the delivery address in your shopping app.
3. Order. Sellers deliver to Guangzhou. Follow each parcel on Track Parcel.
4. Send your order list when everything has arrived: Sea shipping (CBM), Normal goods, your tracking numbers, your Singapore address and phone number, and the total value of the goods.
5. Pay the invoice by PayNow or bank transfer: freight plus 9% import tax on the goods value. We ship, clear customs and deliver.

The full walkthrough is in how to ship from China to Singapore, step by step.