Guides
Trade furniture guides
Practical answers for Canadian retailers, online stores, interior designers, home stagers and builders buying trade furniture.
Buying and tax
Sales tax on trade furniture in Canada: GST, HST, PST and QST explained
How Canadian retailers and designers handle tax on furniture bought for resale: input tax credits, PST exemptions in BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and Quebec.
Wholesale furniture with no minimum order in Canada
Where Canadian retailers, online stores and designers can buy trade furniture one piece at a time: what MOQs are, typical opening orders, and how no-MOQ supply works.
Duties, taxes and brokerage on furniture shipped into Canada
What Canadian customers pay when furniture is shipped across the border: customs duty, GST/HST on imports, broker charges, the CUSMA low-value limits, and how to avoid them.
How to open a furniture trade account in Canada
Who qualifies for a furniture trade account, which business numbers you need, how approval works and what you can see once you're signed up as a Canadian trade buyer.
Furniture trade programs in Canada compared
Discounts, minimums, approval times and delivery across Canadian furniture trade programs for designers, stagers and retailers, side by side in one table.
What to look for in a furniture trade program: a 10-point checklist
Before you sign up to a supplier's designer or wholesale scheme, check the discount, minimums, approval, delivery, spec data, tax handling and support. A printable checklist.
What trade discount should interior designers expect on furniture?
Typical furniture trade pricing for designers, stagers and retailers, from 10% retail-store programs to 25% trade accounts and 50% bulk wholesale, and what each means for margin.
How much margin do you make buying furniture at a discount off MSRP?
Work out the gross profit and markup you earn reselling furniture bought below retail list price, with worked examples for trade, wholesale and sale pricing.
Dropshipping and delivery
Canadian furniture dropshipping suppliers with stock in Canada
How to find a furniture dropshipper that ships from a Canadian warehouse: delivery times by province, white-label packing slips, product feeds and margins in CAD.
How to vet a furniture dropshipping supplier before you list its range
Furniture-specific checks before you list a dropship supplier's catalogue in your store: warehouse location, freight, damage claims, packaging, data feeds and trade terms.
Delivering trade furniture straight to your client's home in Canada
How designers, stagers and retailers ship furniture straight to a customer's address: residential delivery, access checks, unbranded paperwork and timing by province.
Designers, stagers and builders
Where home stagers buy furniture in Canada
The main sources of staging furniture for Canadian home stagers and property stylists: wholesale trade accounts, rental companies, retail stores and resale, with pros and cons.
Should home stagers buy or rent staging furniture?
Should a home staging business own its inventory or hire it per job? A break-even method, the hidden costs of each, and when a mix of owned and rented pieces works best.
How builders and designers source furniture for model homes and show suites
How Canadian builders and model-home designers furnish show homes, show suites and presentation centres: coordinated room sets, lead times, bulk pricing and repeat supply.
How interior designers stop clients price-shopping their furniture
Practical ways interior designers protect their product margin when clients search for the same pieces online: trade-only sourcing, unbranded quotes, fee models and contracts.