Sell furniture online in the UK: delivery bands, two-person delivery and returns of bulky goods
How an independent furniture seller prices delivery by band, sells two-person delivery and quoted carriage, states lead times, labels for fire safety and handles returns of sofas and beds under UK law. Checked 9 November 2026.
This guide is for an independent furniture seller who wants to sell sofas, beds, tables and wardrobes online without losing money on delivery or returns: delivery bands, two-person delivery and quoted carriage, lead times, returns of bulky goods and the fire label on upholstery. Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, a UK ecommerce platform, so weigh the Orbit parts accordingly; the rest works on any platform. Every rule and price was read at its source on 9 November 2026.
In short
- Price delivery by how an item travels (parcel, two-person, pallet, quoted), not by weight alone.
- Two-person networks price by account. Pallet couriers publish prices: Pallet2Ship listed a quarter pallet from £47.07 plus VAT on 9 November 2026.
- Buyers can cancel most furniture orders within 14 days of delivery, and pay the return cost only if you said so before the sale.
- Furniture made to the customer’s own specification is exempt; a sofa in a standard fabric usually is not.
- Since 30 October 2025 upholstery needs no swing label, but every piece except mattresses and bed-bases still needs the permanent fire label.
How should you price furniture delivery?
One flat charge cannot price a cushion and a corner sofa. Price by the way an item travels, charge once for the van reaching the door and less for each extra item on the same drop, and quote by hand where a price card stops being honest.
| Band | What goes in it | How it travels | How to price it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parcel | Cushions, lamps, a boxed dining chair | A parcel carrier | A flat rate or weight bands |
| Two-person, room of choice | Sofas, wardrobes, divans, mattresses | A two-person network or your own crew | Per drop, plus less per extra item, capped |
| Pallet, kerbside | Dining tables, stone tops, a bedroom in six boxes | A pallet network, tail-lift to the kerb | The courier’s price by pallet size, plus handling |
| Quoted | Islands, Northern Ireland, no lift, a whole house | Arranged by hand | To be confirmed, priced after the order |
Two bands have published limits and prices. Evri takes parcels up to 15kg and 120cm long (Evri size guide, read 9 November 2026). Pallet2Ship listed a quarter pallet (to 300kg) from £47.07, a half pallet (to 600kg) from £49.04 and a full pallet (to 1,200kg) from £51.85, all plus VAT and before postcode surcharges (Pallet2Ship, read 9 November 2026). Two-person networks publish no rate card: ArrowXL, a “two-person home delivery and warehousing specialist”, sends businesses to an enquiry form (arrowxl.co.uk, read 9 November 2026). A worked price card is in our post on office furniture delivery and installation charges.
Keep delivery as its own line, not hidden in the price. VAT follows the goods: where delivery is part of the contract “an additional charge for delivery will follow the liability of the goods”, so delivery of standard-rated furniture carries 20% VAT (VAT Notice 700/24, section 2.2, last updated 30 September 2022, read 9 November 2026).
How do you sell two-person delivery, pallets and quoted carriage?
Two-person delivery means two crew carry the piece to the room the customer chooses, unpack it and take the packaging, and sometimes assemble it. Collect access details in a note at checkout, agree the date by phone or email, then book the crew. Charge it as a class: sofas in a two-person class, cushions in the parcel class, so a mixed basket becomes two deliveries, each with its own price.
Pallets suit dining tables, stone tops and flat-pack bedrooms: a kerbside drop from a tail-lift lorry, so say so in the method’s name. For the islands, Northern Ireland or a fourth floor with no lift, take the order with delivery to be confirmed and add the charge before dispatch. On Orbit a method set to “charge confirmed after the order” shows “To be confirmed” until you price it, and an address outside every zone you serve is refused at checkout with a way back to the basket.
What must you tell a buyer about a made-to-order lead time?
A wait of several weeks is lawful if you say so first. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires delivery “without undue delay” and within 30 days unless a time or period has been agreed. Before a distance sale the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 require you to give “the time by which the trader undertakes to deliver the goods” (Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 28; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, Schedule 2, item (j), both read 9 November 2026). A lead time on the product page, repeated at checkout and in the confirmation, is that agreement. The 14-day cancellation period then runs from delivery, not from the order: it ends 14 days after the goods come into the buyer’s possession, or after the last lot where an order arrives in several (regulation 30, read 9 November 2026).
Who carries the risk when a sofa is damaged in transit?
You do, until the customer has it. Goods “remain at the trader’s risk until they come into the physical possession of” the consumer or the person they name, unless the consumer arranged a carrier you did not offer (Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 29, read 9 November 2026). A cracked frame on arrival is yours to put right and your claim against the carrier, so photograph every piece as it leaves. Faulty goods are a different law from change of mind: within 30 days of delivery the buyer may reject them for a refund, and “the trader must bear any reasonable costs of returning them” (section 22 and section 20, read 9 November 2026). For a sofa, you collect.
Can a customer return a sofa or a bed bought online?
Usually yes, and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 decide who pays; our post on what UK returns law actually requires covers the basics. For bulky goods, as the Regulations read on 9 November 2026:
- The right. A distance buyer can cancel without a reason within 14 days of delivery (regulation 30), and you refund within 14 days of getting the goods back or of proof they were sent (regulation 34(5)).
- Return costs. The customer bears the direct cost only if you said so before the sale, and for goods that “cannot normally be returned by post” you must state what the return will cost (regulation 35(5) and Schedule 2, item (m)). Miss either and the cost is yours (regulation 35(6)). If you offer to collect, you can charge only a fee the customer agreed (regulation 35(8)).
- Deductions. You can deduct for lost value from handling beyond what a shop would allow, but not if you failed to give the cancellation information (regulation 34(9), (11) and (12)). Trading Standards’ Business Companion gives partly assembling flat-pack furniture as an example, and says you cannot charge a cancellation or restocking fee (Business Companion, distance sales, last reviewed April 2025, read 9 November 2026).
- Bespoke. The right to cancel does not cover goods made to the consumer’s specifications or clearly personalised (regulation 28(1)(b)). A sofa cut to the customer’s measurements is exempt; a standard sofa in one of your forty fabrics is much less clearly so, and Business Companion says the exemption does not cover items assembled from stock parts.
- Mattresses. The right ends for sealed goods unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons once unsealed (regulation 28(3)(a)). The Regulations do not name mattresses, and the exemption needs a real seal and a real hygiene reason.
| Return of a sofa | Who pays to get it back | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| You said before the sale that the customer pays, and stated the cost | The customer, the direct cost | Regulation 35(5), Schedule 2 item (m) |
| You said nothing about return costs | You | Regulation 35(6) |
| You offered to collect and the customer agreed a fee | The customer, the agreed fee | Regulation 35(8) |
| The sofa is faulty and rejected within 30 days | You, the reasonable cost of return | Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 20(8) |
Write the policy before the first sale, with the collection charge in pounds for each band, on the product page and at checkout.
What do the fire safety labels on upholstered furniture require?
Upholstered furniture for the home must meet the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, which set ignition tests for fillings and covers and require labels (SI 1988/1324, read 9 November 2026). On 30 October 2025 an amendment removed the display label (the swing label), took cots, prams, pushchairs and similar baby products out of scope, and extended the time limit for prosecutions from six to twelve months (SI 2025/531; OPSS statutory guidance, published 30 April 2025, both read 9 November 2026).
The permanent label stays. Schedule 7 applies it to all furniture except mattresses and bed-bases: it opens with “CARELESSNESS CAUSES FIRE”, then names the first UK supplier, the fillings and the covers, and it must be durable and securely attached, one per piece of a suite (Schedule 7, read 9 November 2026). Business Companion, the Trading Standards guidance site, says a retailer must check each new item carries that label and keep invoices, and that mattresses, divans and bed-bases are covered by BS 7177 instead (Business Companion, upholstered furniture, last reviewed October 2025, read 9 November 2026). The maker, or the importer when a piece is made abroad, is the first supplier, so the tests and the label are theirs. If that is you, ask the Office for Product Safety and Standards or your local Trading Standards office.
How do you show furniture nobody can sit on?
Buyers worry about size, colour and comfort, and a photo settles none of them. Give width, depth, height and seat height as fields that read the same on every product, and say whether arms and feet come off. Sell fabric samples as a cheap parcel product beside every fabric picker: a sample sent this week can save a sofa coming back on a van next month.
For many finishes, a 3D model that changes finish as the shopper picks it does the work of a photo shoot. On Orbit the 3D Product Configurator add-on takes the manufacturer’s model as a GLB file, follows your option names and offers View in your room on a phone (configurators). Show moderated reviews (Orbit’s free Product Reviews plugin holds each one until you approve it, see reviews) and the returns policy. Consumer credit is regulated by the FCA, so write nothing about finance the lender has not confirmed; our post on buy now, pay later after the FCA rules changed covers Klarna at checkout.
What the first ten orders should teach you
- Whether the delivery charge covered each order, band by band.
- What customers asked about access and dates after ordering.
- Whether your dispatch promise held.
- Why anything came back: wrong size is a page problem, wrong colour a sample problem.
Where Orbit fits
Everything below is on every Orbit plan, from Solo at £25 a month ex VAT, with a 14-day free trial and no card.
- Shipping classes with a cost per class. Group products into classes (Orbit’s own examples are “Heavy Items” and “Furniture”) and give each a cost on each delivery method. A class can carry a checkout label such as “Made to order” or “Two-person delivery” that heads that delivery at checkout and on the order emails, and a mixed basket becomes several deliveries, each with its own method. See the guide to advanced shipping rules and shipping and fulfilment.
- Quoted carriage. A method set to “charge confirmed after the order” shows “To be confirmed” until you price it, and an address no method serves is refused at checkout with a way back to the basket.
- Delivery estimates and ship-by dates. Give a method handling days, transit days, an order-by cut-off and a holiday calendar: the estimate shows at checkout, the promised dates go on the order emails, every order carries a ship-by date and the Orders list flags Late and Due today.
- The facts a buyer needs. Weight, dimensions and a shipping class sit on every product, and custom fields add seat height or “arms removable” at product or variant level, shown on the page.
- Returns in the dashboard. The customer asks from their order page inside the window you set, counted from delivery. You approve or decline with a reason they read in their email, record the collection’s tracking, mark each item’s condition and restock or write it off, then refund from the order (returns guide, returns).
- Deposits agreed by hand. Checkout takes the full price. A deposit you agree with a customer is its own draft order with a custom line, sent as a payment link that works for 7 days; the balance is a second order or a payment-due invoice before delivery (orders).
The 3D Product Configurator and Product Reviews come from the plugin store, Reviews free and the configurator priced on its own listing. In the theme store, Mid is a calm mid-century theme for furniture labels selling into homes and offices, and Terra a warm theme for home decor and soft furnishings. Pick either and change its colours, fonts and logo in the dashboard.
Read next: selling baby and nursery goods online, a kitchen and bathroom showroom website and choosing a theme for your shop type.
Questions people ask about selling furniture online
Can a customer return a sofa they ordered online after it has been delivered?
Usually yes. A distance buyer can cancel within 14 days of delivery without a reason under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, and you refund within 14 days of getting the goods back. The exceptions are goods made to the customer’s specifications or clearly personalised, and sealed goods unsuitable for return on hygiene grounds once unsealed.
Who pays to return a sofa or a bed bought online?
The customer pays the direct cost only if you said so before the sale and, because a sofa cannot normally go back by post, stated what the return would cost. Say nothing and the cost is yours. If you offer to collect, you can charge only a fee the customer agreed.
Can I charge a restocking fee on furniture returns?
No. Trading Standards guidance on distance sales says you cannot charge cancellation or restocking fees. You can deduct for a loss in value caused by handling beyond what a shop would allow, such as partly assembling flat-pack furniture, and only if you gave the cancellation information before the sale.
How much does two-person furniture delivery cost in the UK?
The two-person networks do not publish prices; ArrowXL, for example, routes businesses to an enquiry form, so your cost comes from a quote or your own van and crew. Pallet couriers do publish: on 9 November 2026 Pallet2Ship listed a quarter pallet from £47.07 and a full pallet from £51.85, both plus VAT.
Do I still need a fire label on a sofa I sell online?
Yes, the permanent label. Since 30 October 2025 the display (swing) label is no longer required, but every piece of upholstered furniture for the home still needs a permanent label that begins “CARELESSNESS CAUSES FIRE” and identifies the first UK supplier, the fillings and the covers. Mattresses and bed-bases are outside that rule and are tested to BS 7177 instead.
Start the 14-day free trial, no card required, and test a sofa and a cushion in one basket before a customer does.