Choosing without your room
Showrooms in Foshan are large, bright and high-ceilinged, which makes most sofas look smaller than they will in an Indian apartment. Colours shift under showroom lighting. Depth and seat height, which decide comfort, are hard to judge without the rest of your room. Take a measured floor plan of each room, including door widths, lift dimensions and the path from the building entrance. Photograph fabric swatches in daylight and ask for a cutting to take home. Write down seat height, seat depth, arm height and overall size for every piece you shortlist, and check each against your plan the same evening. A piece that does not fit through your lift or door is not a bargain at any price. Sit on each shortlisted piece for several minutes, the way you would at home, rather than perching on the edge.
Consolidation, agents and payment
A typical trip ends with orders at several factories. Each factory ships to a consolidation warehouse, where an agent checks the goods, packs them into one container or a shared container load, and arranges export paperwork. The agent's inspection is your only chance to see the finished piece before it leaves China, so agree in writing what the agent will check and whether you will receive photographs. Factories usually want a deposit and the balance before loading. If a piece fails inspection, you need leverage while money is still unpaid. Ask how delays at one factory affect the whole container; a late piece can hold every other piece in the warehouse. Keep copies of every factory invoice and packing list; your customs broker in India will need them to match the goods in the container.
BIS and duty when the container reaches India
As of September 2026, the Furniture (Quality Control) Order 2025 covers work chairs, general-purpose chairs and stools, tables and desks, storage units, beds and bunk beds. Covered pieces need a BIS licence held by the manufacturer and the ISI mark. A Foshan factory without an Indian BIS licence cannot legally supply these into India, and goods without a required licence can be held by customs. Static sofas, settees and reclining seats are reportedly outside IS 17632; confirm against the standard. Motorised furniture falls under IS 302 (Part 1):2024 from 1 October 2026. Duty is 20% BCD, 5% AIDC and 18% IGST on the duty-inclusive value, about 47.5% of CIF. Check the current notification on egazette.gov.in or bis.gov.in, and confirm duty with a customs broker.
Damage and delay in transit
Your furniture will be handled at the factory, the consolidation warehouse, the Chinese port, the Indian port, the container freight station and on the truck to your building. Upholstery can be crushed, frames can crack and mechanisms can be knocked out of alignment. Humidity inside a container can affect wood and fabric over a long voyage. Freight rates and transit times have been volatile in 2025–26, and China's Golden Week holiday in early October and the Chinese New Year period close many factories and slow shipping. Ask whether transit insurance covers partial damage or only total loss. Plan for the container to arrive later than first promised, and do not book your move-in around its date. Photograph every carton on arrival before signing for delivery, and note visible damage on the delivery document.
No after-sales in India
The factory's warranty, if there is one, is enforceable in China. For a Mumbai homeowner that usually means no practical warranty at all. A failed recliner motor, a broken mechanism, a sagging cushion or a split seam has to be fixed by someone in India who did not make the piece and may not be able to get parts. Motors and mechanisms are the hardest: an Indian technician may not be able to source an exact replacement, and shipping one from China attracts duty again. Before you buy anything with moving or electrical parts, find out who in India will service it. If no one will, treat that piece as disposable when it fails. Keep the factory's contact details, model numbers and photographs of labels on the mechanism, which help any technician trace parts.