How to sell furniture online: dimensions, freight and returns

Buyers measure furniture before they buy it, holding a tape against a wall, a doorframe or the narrow gap beside the sofa. Give width, depth and height separate fields. Descriptions cannot be filtered.

Add what applies to the piece. Chairs need seat height and arm height, beds need the mattress size and the clearance beneath the frame, which decides whether storage boxes or a robot vacuum fit underneath. Shelves, stools and bed slats need a stated weight capacity per shelf or seat, because a careful buyer looks for that figure before anything else.

Record assembled weight and diagonal depth too. A sofa that fits the lounge but jams on the landing becomes a return, and the number that would have prevented it takes a minute to measure.

Phone screens change colour. A walnut veneer reads orange on one handset and grey on another, and a stone linen passes for beige under a warm bulb. Offer a swatch order for every finish, so a buyer can hold the sample against the floor, the curtains and the sofa already in the room.

Give each finish a short code, such as WAL-DK or LIN-STONE, and print it on the order line, the picking slip, the carton label and the invoice. Workshop and warehouse then read one thing. Walnut Dark stays Walnut Dark.

Say how long a made-to-order finish takes, and mark every piece that is cut or upholstered after the order arrives, so the buyer knows the wait before paying. Fabric and veneer vary between batches. State that a later reorder may differ slightly from the first, and keep spare swatches from each batch for comparison when a buyer complains about a mismatch.

Flat pack rarely ships in one box. A wardrobe may need four cartons. Record the carton count for each piece, then the length, width, height and weight of every carton, because freight quotes and parcel limits are worked out from them.

Label cartons 1 of 4, 2 of 4 and so on, and list what sits inside each, from panels and rails to the bag of cam locks and dowels. One record then drives the carrier booking, the packing slip and the checklist a customer ticks off when the boxes arrive on the doorstep.

Attach the assembly guide to the listing as a PDF with an exploded diagram, and link a short build video where one exists. Buyers who see the job before paying argue less afterwards, and support takes fewer calls about a missing screw or an unclear step.

Parcel networks cap weight and length. A sofa frame can break both limits. Mark each carton as parcel or pallet freight from its longest side and its weight, then let mixed orders split into two shipments that the buyer sees before paying.

Freight brings choices a parcel never did. Will the driver leave the carton at the kerb, carry it to the room or take the packaging away, and does it need two people? Offer each service as an option at checkout, and capture a delivery appointment, a tail lift flag and a phone number the driver can ring on the day.

Remote postcodes take longer to serve. Put those rules into the checkout and make the delivery quote right before the buyer pays, so upper floors and distant addresses are priced honestly.

A sealed carton can go back. A built wardrobe cannot. Furniture needs a returns rule with separate cases for sealed cartons, built pieces and made-to-order items, written before the first order and not argued over the phone.

Sealed cartons come back inside a normal returns window, with the carrier booked to collect them from the buyer’s door and the refund released on arrival. An assembled piece needs inspection first. After that, arrange a collection, or offer a partial refund when the buyer would rather keep the piece and live with the fault. Made-to-order pieces are often final. If you do, say so before checkout. Consumer rules differ between countries, so check the ones where you sell before you write any wording about final sales on a product page or checkout screen.

Ask for photos of the fault before you agree to anything, and refund only after the piece has been checked by someone who knows the range. Show the rule on every product page. Before launch, work one sofa order and one table order through the rule, from the buyer’s first message to the carrier’s collection.