What it costs to sell furniture in China

For most furniture, skip the cross-border store and import through a Chinese distributor. If you want an online test first, JD Worldwide is the cheaper door: a US$5,000 flagship deposit, no annual fee and 5.9% of each sale. Tmall Global wants 110,000 RMB in deposit and annual fee before the first order. For most pieces, delivery will cost more than any of it.

Platform fees are the smaller number in this category, so they come first, and briefly.

Rates as posted on each platform’s rule pages, checked November 5, 2026. Dollar deposits at 7.1 RMB to the dollar.

The cost to sell furniture in China, platform by platform

Tmall Global files household furniture on the dearer of its two annual-fee tiers.

Tmall Global charges residential furniture (住宅家具) a 5% technical service fee and a 60,000 RMB annual fee, under the schedule in force from September 9, 2026. Source: Tmall Global (天猫国际), category annual fee and technical service fee rates, September 2026. https://rule.tmall.hk/?type=detail&ruleId=11005909&cId=625

The home category deposit is 50,000 RMB for a flagship, specialty or multi-brand store. Source: Tmall Global (天猫国际), platform deposit rules, May 2026. https://rule.tmall.hk/?type=detail&ruleId=8942&cId=625

There is a discount for stores that open by March 31, 2027, but home goods get it only in part, so ask the category manager before you count on it.

Stores in the 60,000 RMB tier that open between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027 pay 30,000 RMB a year for that period. For new stores, the home category qualifies only in part. Source: Tmall Global (天猫国际), 2026 annual fee incentive for new and second-year merchants, July 2026. https://rule.tmall.hk/?type=detail&ruleId=20010439&cId=625

JD charges furniture more than lamps or decor. The flagship deposit is the same as for lighting.

JD Worldwide charges furniture (家具) a 5% operating support fee plus a 0.9% transaction fee. A brand flagship deposits US$5,000; other store types deposit US$2,000 to US$15,000 depending on monthly sales. Source: JD Worldwide (京东全球购), category fee standard, revised September 24, 2026, effective October 1, 2026. https://jdw-rule.jd.hk/detail?ruleId=950583665543483392

Douyin has the cheapest entry and the steepest rate.

Douyin’s cross-border stores pay a 6% base rate on furniture other than children’s furniture, plus a 4% supplement on orders from specified channels. Children’s furniture pays 3% plus 3.9%. Source: Douyin E-commerce (抖音电商), cross-border technical service fee standard, July 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/articlev0/aHMYyFoqESKn

The specified channels are the Douyin Mall app and Doubao. Source: Douyin E-commerce (抖音电商), cross-border merchant rules, section 5.2.2, September 2026. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/article/108056

The cross-border base deposit is 500, 2,000 or 5,000 RMB, set each month by the store’s paid GMV the month before. Source: Douyin E-commerce (抖音电商), cross-border deposit rules, June 2025. https://school.jinritemai.com/doudian/web/articlev0/107821

The route: wood stays off the list

Start with the material. The cross-border list takes metal, plastic and other-material furniture, plus seats and furniture parts. Wooden furniture isn’t on it. Wooden-frame chairs are, upholstered ones included.

The cross-border retail import list covers seats, including wooden-frame seats (CITES-listed timber excluded), metal furniture, plastic furniture, furniture of other materials, and furniture parts. Wooden furniture (tariff lines 9403.30 to 9403.60) is not listed. Source: Ministry of Finance (财政部) and 12 other departments, list annexed to Announcement 2019 No. 96, December 2019, as published by the Ministry of Commerce. https://images.mofcom.gov.cn/cws/202001/20200110143527533.pdf

The 2022 adjustment added upholstered wooden-frame seats (94016190) and moved furniture parts to the new tariff codes. Source: Ministry of Finance (财政部) and others, Announcement 2022 No. 7, January 2022, effective March 1, 2022. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2022-02/21/content_5674854.htm

Then the tax, where furniture is unusual. China charges no import duty on it.

The 2026 most-favored-nation duty is 0% on wooden-frame and metal-frame seats and on every furniture line under heading 9403. Source: State Council Tariff Commission (国务院关税税则委员会), Customs Tariff of the PRC (2026), January 2026, as published by the Wuxi Finance Bureau (无锡市财政局). https://cz.wuxi.gov.cn/doc/2026/01/04/4711263.shtml

So a general-trade import pays 13% VAT and nothing more.

Imported goods carry value-added tax at 13%, on the dutiable value plus duty and consumption tax. Source: VAT Law (增值税法), articles 10 and 14, in force January 1, 2026, State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局) policy database. https://fgk.chinatax.gov.cn/zcfgk/c100009/c5237365/content.html

Cross-border cuts that to 9.1% (70% of 13%), a saving of 3.9 points.

The cross-border retail import tariff rate is set at 0%, and import VAT and consumption tax are levied at 70% of the statutory payable amount. Source: Ministry of Finance (财政部), 财关税〔2016〕18号, March 2016. http://www.mof.gov.cn/gp/xxgkml/gss/201603/t20160324_2510682.htm

A piece above the 5,000 RMB line can still go cross-border if it’s alone in its order, taxed in full. With zero duty, that’s 13% again, the same as general trade. So the tax gap between the routes is small, and it shouldn’t pick your route.

Where the dutiable price exceeds the 5,000 RMB single-transaction limit but stays under the 26,000 RMB annual limit, and the order holds only one item, it may enter through cross-border retail with duty, import VAT and consumption tax charged in full. Source: Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs and State Taxation Administration, 财关税〔2018〕49号, November 2018. http://gss.mof.gov.cn/gzdt/zhengcefabu/201811/t20181129_3079073.htm

The standards are the harder part. Two mandatory national standards now govern furniture: harmful substances, formaldehyde included, and fire performance. Both took effect in 2025 and replaced older editions.

GB 18584-2024, limits of harmful substances in furniture, is a mandatory standard, issued June 25, 2024 and in force since July 1, 2025. Source: State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局), national standards register, June 2024. https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbDetailed?id=1BD5B9878E5F2FCEE06397BE0A0A10CC

GB 17927-2024, safety specification for the flame-retardant performance of furniture, is mandatory, issued August 23, 2024 and in force since September 1, 2025. Source: State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局), national standards register, August 2024. https://std.samr.gov.cn/gb/search/gbDetailed?id=208DEC46F6B947EEE06397BE0A0AA4A0

GB 18584-2024 caps formaldehyde emission from furniture at 0.08 mg/m3. Source: Shenyang Administration for Market Regulation (沈阳市市场监督管理局), consumer notice, May 2026. https://scj.shenyang.gov.cn/gzhd/aqts/202605/t20260519_5028293.html

Products that do not meet mandatory standards may not be produced, sold or imported. Source: Standardization Law (标准化法), article 25, revised November 2017, National People’s Congress (全国人大). http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/xinwen/2017-11/04/content_2031446.htm

That binds general trade. A cross-border order is sold to your home market’s standard instead, and the shopper signs off on the difference.

Cross-border goods meet the quality, safety and environmental standards of their origin but may differ from China’s, and may carry no Chinese label; the order page must say so before the shopper buys. Source: Ministry of Commerce (商务部) and five other bodies, 商财发〔2018〕486号, article 4, November 2018. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2018-12/31/content_5437823.htm

A distributor’s stock is a different matter. It needs a Chinese label with the product name and the maker’s name and address, and it has to meet both standards, so budget for testing before the first container ships.

Product labels must give the product name and the maker’s name and address in Chinese, plus specification, grade and main components where the product calls for them. Source: Product Quality Law (产品质量法), article 27, as amended December 2018, published by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (国家知识产权局), July 2019. https://www.cnipa.gov.cn/art/2019/7/31/art_104_67810.html

What one furniture order costs

Begin with the box, because the carrier does. Big parcels are billed by volume. China Post’s rule for international mail, the service a direct-mail order from abroad rides on, reads like this.

Volumetric weight is length times width times height in centimeters, divided by 6,000, and parcels with any side of 40 cm or more are billed by volume. Source: China Post EMS (中国邮政速递物流), notice on volumetric billing for international and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan mail, May 2022. https://my.ems.com.cn/pcp-web/f/pcp/indexController/tonoticeindex?ntificationId=af3b06f2d6c6c51244472ad090c23ef9

Take two assumed pieces. A metal side table at 1,500 RMB, boxed at 60 by 60 by 55 cm, bills as 33 kg. An upholstered armchair at 4,800 RMB, boxed at 85 by 80 by 90 cm, bills as 102 kg. Our cross-border models price the last mile at 11 RMB, a figure set for a small parcel. Neither box comes close.

Breakeven at an assumed 50% gross margin, with the model’s fixed costs: a 35,000 RMB monthly operating partner, a 25,000 RMB store build written off over three years, and the 60,000 RMB annual fee. Delivery per order is an input, not a quote. Source: TheChinaPath calculator data, November 2026.

Look at the fee columns. On the side table, Tmall and JD differ by about 1.50 RMB an order. Delivery at 400 RMB, if that’s what your carrier quotes, more than doubles the orders you need. On JD, the same table breaks even at about 650 orders with no delivery cost, and about 1,640 with it.

In cash, the fixed side comes to about 505,000 RMB for year one on Tmall and 445,000 on JD, before stock, ads, delivery and the refundable deposit. Nearly all of it is the operating partner.

Then there’s the doorstep. Tmall sells delivery with assembly as a service of its own, and it comes with penalties.

Under Tmall’s delivery-and-install service, which covers residential furniture, a Tmall partner provider delivers and installs on the agreed day. The merchant pays the buyer 300 RMB per order line when the service isn’t provided and 50 RMB when it’s late. Source: Tmall (天猫), delivery-and-install service rules, May 2026. https://rule.tmall.com/?type=detail&ruleId=20004939&cId=393

That rule sits on Tmall’s domestic marketplace, where a distributor’s store trades. A cross-border shopper gets a box at the door.

Which route first

General trade, with a distributor, for anything larger than a side table. The goods travel by container and clear customs once. The importer runs the domestic store. And the market is big enough to justify the testing bill:

Retail sales of furniture by enterprises above the size threshold reached 209.2 billion RMB in 2025, up 14.6% in nominal terms. Source: National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局), December 2025 retail sales release, January 2026. https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202601/t20260119_1962323.html

Last-mile delivery and installation in China is a service your brand doesn’t own. The distributor buys it, or a platform partner does. Price it into the distributor’s margin from the first meeting.

One case flips the order. If your best sellers pack small (a stool, a metal side table, a dining chair), a JD Worldwide flagship can test demand on 35,500 RMB of refundable deposit and no annual fee. Wooden case goods can’t take that route at all. Our distribution in China team handles the importer side.

Our record in this category

Furniture isn’t a category our team has worked in, so there’s no case to show here.

Run your own numbers

Open the Tmall Global setup and run calculator with “Home, bedding, kitchenware” selected. Its 50,000 RMB deposit, 5% commission and 60,000 RMB annual fee match the furniture line. The JD Worldwide calculator has no furniture row, so pick Custom and type 35,500 RMB and 5%; the 0.9% transaction fee is already loaded. In both, replace the 11 RMB last-mile default with your carrier’s quote for the boxed piece.

Questions we get asked

Can I sell wooden furniture through Tmall Global or JD Worldwide?

Not as a cross-border import. Wooden furniture under tariff lines 9403.30 to 9403.60 is missing from the cross-border retail import list, while wooden-frame seats and furniture parts are on it. A solid oak dining table goes through general trade, with a Chinese importer, a Chinese label and testing to the mandatory standards.

Does imported furniture pay duty in China?

No. China’s 2026 tariff sets the most-favored-nation duty on furniture and on wooden-frame and metal-frame seats at 0%. A general-trade import pays 13% VAT. A cross-border order pays 9.1% inside the 5,000 RMB limit, and the full 13% on a single piece above it.

Which standards apply to furniture sold in China?

GB 18584-2024 covers harmful substances, formaldehyde included, and has been mandatory since July 1, 2025. GB 17927-2024 covers fire performance and has been mandatory since September 1, 2025. Anything sold through general trade must meet both. A cross-border order is sold to your home market’s standard, with a risk notice on the order page.

Is Douyin a good place to test furniture?

It’s the cheapest place to open, with a 500 RMB deposit for a new cross-border store and no annual fee. Per order it costs the most: 6% on most furniture, and 10% when the order comes through the Douyin Mall app or Doubao. Children’s furniture is the exception, at 3% plus 3.9%. Wooden pieces are off the cross-border list there too.

Tell us your best-selling pieces with box sizes and retail prices, and we’ll shortlist importers that handle delivery and installation: find a furniture distributor in China.