Shipping furniture across country might seem a little bit intimating. But it doesn’t have to be! There are many options to choose from to get your furniture safely to it’s new home.
For more tips and tricks, visit our How to Ship Furniture hub! We’re adding more information every day!
We’ve been shipping our painted furniture across the country for a few years now. Here are some great tips to get you started! Whether you are shipping furniture across country to a customer, or if you’re sending it to a family member, or your new home.
This will be more focused more on how to ship furniture across the country for a customer, but the same things apply if you’re shipping one piece, or even only a few pieces of furniture to anyone across the country.
Shipping Furniture Across Country
Shipping furniture across country and shipping furniture locally can be very similar, and very different.
A hundred mile journey is definitely easier on a piece of furniture than a couple of thousand miles!
To ship furniture across the country you will want to make sure your furniture is well protected and packaged since there will be more ways for it to get damaged.
Your location and your customer’s location can also play a big role in shipping.
Locations can have a huge impact on cost! If you are out of the way, or in a high density city, the cost will most likely be higher. The further the distance between you and your customer will also make the cost of shipping furniture higher.
Likewise, a short journey and locations near main highways can really cut down on cost.
You’ll also want to consider these things.
- How much does it weigh? More or less than 100 pounds? (and how do you weigh furniture??)
- Do you need it to be delivered into the home, or just outside the home?
- Do you want to box it up or do you want someone to do that for you?
- What is your timeframe? Is it time-sensitive?
- Are you looking for a cheap way to ship furniture?
How Do You Weigh Furniture?
One of the biggest mysteries is knowing how much your dresser, nightstand, or buffet even weighs. I’ve got a simple hack that you can do at home to find out the weight of your furniture.
Most shippers need to know how much your piece weighs (with packaging) to give you a quote. So this is pretty important to figure out.
Gather up two regular home scales, and two pieces of wood (at least a few inches wide and a bit longer than your furniture is deep).
Make sure that these scales are pretty accurate so you can get an accurate weight!
Spread the two scales out to the length of your piece of furniture. Place one board on each scale, so the legs of your furniture can sit on the boards.
Then place one end of your furniture on one scale and piece of wood, and the other side of your furniture on the other scale and piece of wood.
Now add the two weights together. That is how much your piece of furniture weighs!
I’ve used this method numerous times, and have tested it against the large scales at a few shipping companies. It’s very accurate!
How much does furniture weigh?
Now, if it weighs less than 100 lbs with packaging materials, you have some more options as far as shipping companies go.
If it weighs more than 100 lbs, your options are a little bit more limited.
Typically nightstands, end tables, chairs, and small dressers are under 100 pounds. Medium-sized and large dressers, buffets, tv stands etc usually weigh more than 100 pounds. (Of course each piece varies depending on how it was built.)
Keep the weight in mind as we talk about the options!
Shipping Services – Inside the home, or curbside delivery?
Some companies will offer delivery into your home, and even take all of the packaging materials with them.
This is usually called White Glove Delivery.
White Glove Delivery is a premium shipping service, and it comes with a higher cost. Usually, the furniture is wrapped in shipping blankets and padding and is then secured in the back of a box truck or enclosed trailer.
Other companies only offer curbside delivery or even only offer pickup at the nearest terminal.
This can definitely a cheaper option compared to the premium white glove delivery. It will depend on the size of the piece, and how far away it is being shipped.
How to Package Furniture For Shipping
No Packing
If you don’t want to hassle with boxing up your furniture, white glove delivery is the best option for you! They will come and blanket wrap your furniture for you, and then unwrap it when it’s at the destination.
Or, some companies will package your furniture for you for an extra fee.
There is peace in mind when the company boxes it up themselves! But you will pay for the convenience.
Boxing Up Furniture
If you’re willing to spend the time and money packaging furniture yourself, you may have a few more options.
If it’s a small piece of furniture, (less than 165″ length and girth combined) and less than 150 pounds or 70 pounds (depending on the company you choose) you can easily box it up and ship it through UPS or Fed Ex. Here are some UPS guidelines, and here are some Fed-Ex guidelines on weight and size.
You need to be very careful about packing your furniture for these companies though. They are rough on packages, and so extra care in packing will go a long way!
Shipping Furniture on a Pallet – Freight Shipping
Both UPS and Fed-Ex offer freight shipping as well.
This is for larger and heavier items.
The furniture must still be wrapped up well, and then secured to a pallet that is larger than your furniture.
How Long Does it Take to Ship Furniture?
Do you have your mind almost made up about your preferences? Well, your time frame might put a wrench in those plans.
Of course, everyone wants to get their new furniture as soon as possible. Especially in this day and age of Amazon’s one-day shipping available all across the country!
But shipping furniture isn’t going to be a one-day thing.
Freight Shipping
Shipping freight is usually the fastest method of delivery. With an expected delivery of 2-5 business days (depending on how far it has to go).
Ground Shipping
Companies like UPS and Fex-Ex can usually get your package to the destination the next fastest (about 3-7 business days)
White Glove Delivery
White glove delivery usually takes the very longest. You have to wait for them to be in your part of the country for pickup, and then you have to wait until they are in the customer’s neck of the woods for delivery.
This can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
If you and your customer live in easy to reach areas, off of main highways, your time-frame should be a lot shorter. But for areas that are out of the way, you will see longer wait times.
Looking for a Cheap Way to Ship Furniture?
Of course, this is going to depend on where you live and where your customer lives.
But, one secret shipping company is actually a bus company that takes people to destinations across the country.
You can ship furniture with Greyhound Package Express!
They ship packages now too!
There is a catch though. Most of the time you have to drop your package off at the terminal in your town, and the customer has to pick it up at their nearest terminal.
Your packages must be under 100 pounds each, and they must be packaged well in a box.
But, they have some of the cheapest shipping rates out there!
How to Ship Furniture – The Ultimate Guide
Want to know more about how to ship furniture? We’ve only skimmed the very surface!
Learn how to package furniture to prevent damage, the best companies that ship furniture, how to ship furniture on Etsy, and a whole lot more!
We answer your burning questions that will make it easy. You’ll be shipping furniture across country in no time!
Be sure to pin this for your future reference!! And happy shipping!!
Natalie
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