Layer 1: the sticker price is not the comparison
A factory in China quotes you ex-works (collect it from the factory) or FOB (loaded on a ship at the Chinese port). Neither includes sea freight, insurance, Indian duty, clearing, or transport to your home. An Indian seller's price usually includes the goods delivered, sometimes installed, with a warranty and a GST invoice. Before comparing, write down exactly what each price includes. Also compare like with like: the same frame material, the same foam grade, the same upholstery, the same mechanism. A lower price for a lighter frame or softer foam is a different product, not a saving. Ask both sellers for a written specification and put the two side by side. Check the carton volume too, because freight is charged on space, and a bulky sofa costs more to ship than its price suggests.
Layer 2: landed cost at your door
To reach landed cost, first convert the factory price to CIF by adding sea freight and insurance to the Indian port. Then add duty and tax: as of September 2026, 20% basic customs duty and 5% AIDC on CIF, and 18% IGST on CIF plus those duties. That is about 47.5% of CIF. Then add the customs broker, port and container freight station charges, road transport, unloading and assembly. Freight rates have been volatile through 2025–26 and there is no published China-to-India lane index, so use a written forwarder quote, not an online average. If the landed cost is still clearly below an equivalent Indian quote, the import passes the second test. Many do not once freight and clearing are added to a small shipment.
Layer 3: the cost of problems
The complaints Indian furniture buyers raise most often are delivery slipping past the promised date, damage or pieces not matching the pictures, stalled refunds, cushions sagging within months, and slow warranty repairs. With a direct import, each of these costs you money, and none has an Indian counterparty. A cracked frame or wrong fabric cannot be sent back economically. A replacement part may need to be shipped with duty paid again. A covered item without a BIS licence can be held at the port, with storage charges accumulating. Put a realistic allowance for these risks into your comparison. If you cannot tolerate a piece arriving damaged or late, weight this layer heavily. Also count your own time: chasing a forwarder, a broker and a factory in another time zone is work that an Indian seller's price already covers.
When importing does come out cheaper
Importing tends to come out ahead when the volume is large enough that freight per piece falls, when the product is standard rather than bespoke, when the categories are outside the Furniture QCO or the factory holds a valid BIS licence, and when there is an agent in China to inspect before loading. Commercial fit-outs and developers furnishing many identical units are closer to this profile than a family furnishing one flat. A GST-registered business that can claim IGST as input tax credit also has a lower effective duty than a homeowner. If your situation matches most of these conditions, run the numbers carefully; if it matches few, the saving is likely to disappear. Even then, keep a contingency for delay and damage rather than spending the entire apparent saving up front.
How to run the comparison yourself
Take one piece, for example a three-seater sofa. From the Chinese factory, get a written quote with the incoterm (ex-works, FOB or CIF), dimensions, carton volume and full specification. From a forwarder, get freight and insurance to your nearest port. Add 47.5% of the resulting CIF for duty and IGST, then add the broker's written estimate and local transport. From an Indian seller, get a written quote for the same specification, including delivery, warranty terms and who handles after-sales. Then list what each option does if the piece arrives damaged, late or faulty. Compare the totals and the answers together. The cheaper option is the one with the lower total after problems, not before. Repeat the exercise for your two most expensive pieces; they usually decide whether the whole order makes sense.