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Buying café and restaurant furniture from Türkiye
Why owners do it, what it costs, how shipping and import work, and how not to get stung.
Every few months at my bar, another owner would ask me the same thing: "You're Turkish. Can you get me tables and chairs from Türkiye?" There's a good reason they asked, and there are a few good reasons to be careful. Here's both sides, plus what I actually paid in the UK.
What I paid buying in the UK
I bought my tables from a UK contract-furniture supplier in 2019 and again in 2021. From the 2021 order: a 120×70cm rectangular 25mm wooden table top was £81.60, a large round dining-height base £66.30, a 70cm round top £69.60, a small round base £49.98, all before VAT, with £48 delivery. So a finished two-top table came to roughly £120 to £150 plus VAT. Chairs from the same kind of supplier run £40 to £120 each. For a 40-seat venue that's easily £5,000 to £8,000 for tables and chairs alone.
Two things I learned the hard way: delivery is kerbside, so you need someone there to help the driver carry it in, and "in stock" means in their warehouse, not yours: allow a couple of weeks.
Why owners look at Türkiye
Türkiye has a huge café and restaurant furniture industry, centred on Istanbul, Bursa and Kayseri. Many of the chairs sold in the UK are made there anyway. Buying direct, the factory price is often a third to a half of the UK retail price for the same quality, and you can get custom sizes, finishes and fabrics made to order.
What it really costs once it's in your venue
- Factory price: for example a solid-wood café chair at £25 to £45 instead of £80 to £120.
- Shipping: furniture ships by sea in a shared container (a "groupage" load) from Istanbul to a UK port. Allow 4 to 8 weeks and roughly £1,200 to £2,500 for a part-container, depending on volume.
- Import duty and VAT: since Brexit, furniture from Türkiye attracts UK import duty (often 0% to 2.7% on seating, check the commodity code) plus 20% VAT on the goods and the shipping, paid before customs releases it. If you're VAT-registered you claim the VAT back.
- Customs agent: £100 to £250 to handle the paperwork. Worth every penny the first time.
- Delivery from the port to your venue, and someone to unload.
Rule of thumb: for a full venue, buying from Türkiye can save 30% to 50% after all of that. For a few tables, it doesn't: the shipping and paperwork eat the saving. It makes sense at the £5,000-plus order size.
How not to get stung
- Buy from a manufacturer with an export history, not a shop. Ask for references of UK deliveries.
- Get samples first. One chair by courier costs £60 to £100 and tells you more than a hundred photos.
- Ask for the fire-safety certificate. UK contract furniture should meet BS 7176 (upholstery) and the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations. Your insurer and your EHO may ask.
- Pay in stages: a deposit, the balance against the bill of lading, never all up front.
- Agree Incoterms in writing. "FOB Istanbul" means you arrange shipping; "DAP London" means they deliver to your door. Know which one you've agreed.
- Have everything in writing in Turkish and English. This is where speaking the language helps enormously, and where most UK buyers get lost.
If you want help talking to Turkish manufacturers, or you're a manufacturer who ships to the UK, email me. I'm building a list of suppliers I'd trust with my own venue.