Common obstacles with shipping wooden furniture

When it comes to shipping furniture, you will come across many obstacles. From organizing your shipment, protecting the furniture, to hiring international furniture movers. Of course, the complexity of this process depends on the size of your shipment. But if you follow this guide, obstacles with shipping wooden furniture should be minimal. Here is how to organize international furniture shipping and what to watch out for.

Prepare a plan for shipping wooden furniture

Why are you shipping furniture? Maybe you are moving? Or you are a furniture manufacturer. Whatever is the case, your goal is to transport your furniture to the destination undamaged and on time. Of course, there are many ways to do so. However, the most important thing is to have reliable international household movers by your side. As they will do most of the work. Of course, there are things besides hiring movers that you have to think about. Things like scheduling, budget, packaging, storage, and more. Therefore, your first assignment is to make a plan. Take all things into consideration, learn the best practices, and establish a safe way to do it.  If you have a plan that you follow, things will be much easier. And you will be minimizing potential risks.

Make sure that you calculate your budget before you start shipping

Once you have a plan in your hands, you need to start thinking about your finance. If you are moving, the most expensive part of your move will be moving furniture. Therefore, if you can, you should get rid of excess or unwanted furniture pieces before your movers arrive. This will ease the entire moving process and lower your expenses. If, on the other hand, you are looking for import/export solutions for your furniture manufacturing company, make sure that you find a way to lower shipping expenses in order to increase your gains. Whatever is the case, make sure that you understand your expenses and that you calculate everything in your budget.

Make a list of items you are planning to ship

Another thing that you must do before transporting wooden furniture is to make a list of items you are planning to ship. No matter whether you are shipping your personal possessions or you are an import/export company, a list of items is something that you must have. Unfortunately, it is not so simple to write down every single item that you plan to ship. If you want to have an easier job, download one of the available moving inventory apps to help you. This is a much quicker and easier way to create an inventory list.

Find a reliable shipping company to transport your wooden furniture

Once you list your items you can start searching for a shipping company that will transport your stuff. When it comes to shipping wooden furniture internationally, having a reputable and reliable shipper at your side, such as Transparent International movers, is the most important part. Therefore, make sure that you devote enough time to do proper research and identify a suitable company. Of course, when it comes to the commercial shipping, shipping costs are equally important as your shippers’ reliability. Therefore, make sure that you compare different quotes before you decide to hire a shipping company. Also, if you are a manufacturer, it would be smart to establish close relations with your shipper so you can get better deals.

Documentation is one of the most complicated parts of shipping wooden furniture. Find a good freight forwarder to deal with it

Another obstacle that you will come across when exporting wooden furniture is import/export documentation and paperwork. Dealing with paperwork is probably the most enigmatic and complicated task for every person who is not dealing with it daily. So many invoices, permits, lists, certificates. And it all differs from country to country. Therefore, everyone wants to avoid this as much as possible. Of course, dealing with your own paperwork is a good way to save some money. But, only if you know what you are doing. If you try to deal with this without previous experience, you could suffer great losses and end up in big financial trouble.  Luckily, there are companies that specialize in organizing international shipments and dealing with complicated paperwork. If you think that you need help, make sure that you find a good freight forwarder that will help you.

Packing your furniture to protect it during transport

One of the most important things to think about when moving wooden furniture is protecting it from damage. Wooden furniture is sturdy and it cannot be easily broken. However, even though it cannot be broken easily it can be easily scratched or spoiled in some other way. Of course, the only way to protect your wooden furniture is to pack it properly. This means using quality packing materials and applying them appropriately. Of course, if you do not want to bother with this you can always hire packing and crating services to do it for you. Even though this will cost you more, if your furniture is going on a long trip overseas it is better to have them packed by professionals.

Make sure that your furniture is stored adequately

One of the things that you also have to think about when transporting wooden furniture is storage. At one point, your furniture will probably have to end up in some warehouse or storage facility. Of course, if it is going to be short term, then you do not have to worry much. But if you are planning to store wooden furniture long term, you need to make sure that the facility is offering adequate conditions for keeping wooden items. And that your furniture pieces are packed and protected properly.

Do not risk. Get proper insurance before shipping wooden furniture

Finally, when it comes to shipping wooden furniture, you never know what could happen along the way. And what obstacles you might come across. Therefore, make sure that you get proper insurance that will protect you from suffering losses.