Define what your budget has to cover
Begin by deciding where your project starts and ends. Are you furnishing an empty but finished home, replacing selected furniture, or combining movable pieces with fitted cabinetry? Record the existing items you will retain and the site work being handled locally. Otherwise, a supplier can quote a different project from the one you have in mind.
Use separate columns for products, customization, coordination, inspection, packing and logistics. Keep unpriced items visible. A blank freight line does not mean freight is free, and a destination service should not be assumed merely because a sales page uses “one-stop”.
Do not set a universal percentage saving against overseas retail. A defensible comparison needs matched dimensions, materials, upholstery, service scope, quote dates and delivery points. We do not publish an average whole-home price without those inputs.
Use a delivered-cost worksheet
The following is a comparison structure, not a list of current market prices. Obtain figures for your actual order, route and destination. A local broker or service provider should confirm the destination items it is responsible for quoting.
| Cost line | Evidence to request | Keep separate from |
|---|---|---|
| Furniture and cabinetry | Itemized quote with quantities, materials and finish codes | Design fees and site work |
| Customization and coordination | Written service scope and revision assumptions | Manufacturing unit prices |
| Inspection and correction | Inspection scope, report and any reinspection fee | Supplier sales support |
| Export packing and consolidation | Packing method, handling charge and storage assumptions | Ocean or air freight |
| Freight and insurance | Dated route-specific quotation and named handover | Destination clearance and local handling |
| Destination charges and taxes | Quote and product details reviewed by the responsible local provider | Supplier product subtotal |
| Delivery and installation | Access assumptions, crew scope and assembly plan | Arrival at a port or warehouse |
| Contingency | Your separately recorded allowance for unresolved scope | A supplier guarantee |
For each quote, write the currency, validity date, payment schedule and delivery basis beside the total. Do not mix an old freight estimate with a new product quote and present the result as a confirmed all-in price.
Add your own quoted amounts
Enter amounts in one currency. The calculator only adds your entries; it does not estimate prices, freight, duties or taxes. Unentered charges remain excluded.
Compare quotations on the same brief
Send the same room schedule to every candidate. When an alternative is proposed, ask for a side-by-side specification rather than accepting the word “equivalent”. A change from a removable cover to fixed upholstery, or from a defined veneer construction to an unspecified panel, can change what you are buying even if the room photograph looks similar.
Separate necessary changes from optional upgrades. Record whether the change affects neighbouring items, packing volume, assembly or the delivery schedule. This prevents a series of small substitutions from turning one approved proposal into several incompatible versions.
Our recommendation is to maintain one decision log with item ID, issue, agreed change, cost effect, schedule effect and approval date. A tidy spreadsheet is more useful than searching a long chat history after the order is in production.
Resolve the gaps before committing
Before accepting commercial terms, request a list of open items. Confirm who can approve substitutions, what happens if an item fails inspection and how a disputed item affects the rest of the shipment. Ask the supplier to explain its cancellation, storage and change process in plain language.
Trade terms should identify a named delivery point and align with the written logistics arrangement. ICC’s official resources are a starting reference for the allocation of delivery tasks, costs and risk; they do not substitute for a complete project agreement.
Keep the scope of any final price comparison explicit: “these products, with these materials, delivered to this point, under this offer, on this date”. That gives a future reader something verifiable instead of an unsupported savings claim.
Sources & verification
Source pages checked 21 October 2026. Supplier statements describe their own offerings. Availability, prices and project scope must be confirmed directly. Our planning advice is editorial analysis, not a product test.