Poliform builds furniture in Inverigo, in the Brianza district north of Milan, and a piece bound for an American home crosses an ocean and a border before it arrives. Importing Italian furniture is routine for us and new for most buyers. Knowing the route helps you read a quote and spot the one that hides costs.
It starts with an order
Poliform builds to order. You confirm a quote, and the factory starts your piece with your cover, your finish and your size. Poliform Mondrian shows why: the sofa system has modules, two seat depths and elements such as backrests with shelves and wooden drawers, and the coffee tables come in two heights, several shapes and tops in wood, marble or lacquer. No warehouse could stock all the combinations. See the Mondrian collection.
The lead time is production time, and it moves through the year. We give the current figure with the quote.
Across the Atlantic
Most orders travel by sea. The forwarder charges by the volume and weight of the crates, so a marble top costs more to ship than a lacquered one of the same size. A sofa in modules packs smaller than a fixed sofa of the same length.
The route of an order
Each band is a stage that adds a line to the quote. We write them in this order so you can follow the furniture from the factory to the room.
Through customs
Customs gives every piece a code from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, or HTS, and the duty rate depends on it. Seating has a heading of its own; tables, cabinets and beds sit under another. Furniture from the European Union enters at a rate agreed between the EU and the United States. On top of the duty come a merchandise processing fee and, for sea freight, a harbor maintenance fee.
We give no percentages on this page, on purpose. Rates and exemptions change, and a figure printed here in autumn could be wrong by spring. The customs broker confirms the rate for your pieces, and we put it on the quote as its own line on the day we write it.
The material changes the total
Poliform Concorde is a good example. The table stands on a wooden structure, and the top comes in wood, marble or, on the rectangular version, glass in a wooden frame. The round version can carry a rotating tray in the center. Two Concorde tables of the same size can land at different totals, because the top changes the weight, the freight and the materials the broker declares. We tend to quote two tops so you can see the gap. See the Concorde collection.
Concorde, a round or rectangular table on a wooden structure. Wood, marble and glass tops can land at different totals once duty applies.
Labels and declarations for each piece
Some requirements come with the furniture itself. Upholstered pieces carry a TB 117-2013 flammability label. Anything with wood inside needs a Lacey Act declaration that lists the species and the country of harvest, part by part. Composite wood panels fall under a formaldehyde rule of the Toxic Substances Control Act. Some states ask for a Proposition 65 warning. The factory and the broker prepare these, and we list them so you know they exist.
From the port to your room
The last line covers delivery to the room: a freight elevator, a staircase, a parking permit for the truck, and fitting for wardrobes and wall systems. Tell us about your building when you ask for a price, because a fourth-floor walk-up changes that line more than any other.
The lines on an import quote
The lines of a Poliform import quote. Rates change, so we confirm each one on the day we quote. Prices on request.
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Furniture
- What sets it
- Current Poliform factory list for your configuration
- Whose job it is
- We price it
-
Sea freight
- What sets it
- Volume and weight of the crates
- Whose job it is
- Our forwarder
-
Customs duty
- What sets it
- Tariff code of the piece, by material, on the day of entry
- Whose job it is
- Customs broker
-
Processing and harbor fees
- What sets it
- Value of the shipment, sea route
- Whose job it is
- Customs broker
-
Compliance papers
- What sets it
- Wood content, upholstery, composite panels
- Whose job it is
- Factory and broker
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Delivery
- What sets it
- Stairs, elevator, parking, fitting
- Whose job it is
- Local delivery team
How to read our quote
A good import quote shows each of these lines on its own. If a figure arrives as one round number, ask what it includes. Duty and freight hidden inside the price of a table make two quotes impossible to compare.
Send us the pieces you have in mind, your city or ZIP code and a word about your building through the form at the foot of the page. Within one business day you get a written quote that shows the furniture, the freight, the duty and the delivery on separate lines.