Coffee shop notes

Shipping Booth Seating to a Cafe Site

Volume, not weight, sets the freight. LCL against a full container, and the delivery day plan.

Updated 2026-11-07

Volume decides the freight, not weight

Furniture is light and bulky. Containers fill on cubic metres long before it reaches a weight limit, which is why nesting and knock-down designs cut cost so sharply.

Ask for carton dimensions on every quote. cafe chairs changes the ocean freight line more than the unit price does.

LCL or FCL, honestly

Below about 15 cubic metres, LCL is cheaper and slower. Above 20, a 20-foot container wins on both cost and damage rate.

Between 15 and 20 it depends on the route. Ask for both numbers before deciding; the crossover moves with the season.

Mixed containers and the gaps

Tables, chairs and booth frames load together badly unless the packing is planned. Chairs go into the gaps between table tops, and booth frames go last.

Ask the factory for a loading plan drawing. Containers loaded from a plan arrive with the weight low and nothing crushed.

Customs is a document problem

Most holds are a wrong HS code, a missing declaration or a value that does not match the invoice. None of them are about the furniture.

Send the commercial invoice and packing list to the broker a week before the vessel sails. Clearance takes 2–5 days when the paperwork is early and 2–5 weeks when it is not.

Damage in transit and how to prevent it

Corner protectors, foam at frame contacts, and cartons that do not flex. Most transit damage happens in the last mile, not at sea.

Photograph the container seal and the first three cartons on opening. That set of photos is what makes a claim possible.

The delivery day plan

Book the lift, the parking bay and two people before the truck arrives. Deliveries that waits costs by the hour.

Unload by zone: seating to the back, tables to the middle, small pieces to the counter. cafe table and chair sets arrives better than a room full of open cartons.

Photographing the room for the listing

Shoot at counter height, not standing height. The room reads bigger and the seat mix is visible in one frame.

Two frames do most of the work: the counter with seating in front, and a corner with the booth and one table. Everything else is detail.

Writing the spec sheet once

Model, finish code, upholstery code, overall size with a plus or minus 5 mm tolerance, carton count, spare parts. Six lines, and they replace a conversation.

Spec sheets also make a second supplier comparable. Without one, every quote is a different product at a different price.

The three numbers to bring to any supplier

Finished floor to underside of the counter, the longest clear wall, and the width of the door opening. Those three decide what fits before any catalogue is opened.

Add 600–650 mm of depth per side, 1200 mm of run per two if the room is on a raised platform. Twenty millimetres of step under a table leg is a wobble that no spec sheet warns about.

Signing off before production

Approve three things on the sample: the finish under your own lighting, the seat height against your table, and the stack height if you plan to stack.

Then put the approval date in writing. Production starts from that date, not from the deposit date, and the difference is often a week.

Questions we get asked

What lead time should I plan for?

15 days of sampling, 25–35 days of production on a stock finish, and 30–40 days at sea. Add a fortnight of buffer before opening.

What matters most on the sample?

The seat height against your table, the finish under your lighting, and whether the frame rocks on a flat floor.

Can I reorder the same model in two years?

With the finish and upholstery codes on file, yes. Without them, the frame matches and the seat may not.

Where the rest of it lives

Everything in this note comes from the same catalogue: cafe layout support, cafe furniture projects, cafe furniture quality and cafe furniture manufacturer. Floor plans sent to that desk come back as a seat count and a price, not a brochure.