Furniture assembly cost in Singapore: what decides the price

1What a furniture assembly quote depends on

Assembly is priced on time and skill, and both come from the furniture itself. A per-item rate card looks simple, but the same word, wardrobe, covers a two-door flat-pack from a local shop and a four-metre run with sliding doors from Taobao that has to be cut around the skirting. The honest way to price assembly is from a photo of the actual piece. These are the things that move the figure.

This is why we do not publish a price list for the assembly service. It would be either wrong for most people or padded for everyone. The quote comes from your photos, within a few hours, and it is final.

2What a cheap assembly quote usually leaves out

Marketplace listings advertise assembly at a low price per item, and some of them are fine. The low figure is only part of the cost, though, and three things decide the rest.

• A fee when the job fails. Many general handymen collect a call-out or transport fee even when they cannot finish the piece, so you pay once for nothing and again for someone who can. Ask what happens if they give up on site. With us, if the job cannot be done properly you pay nothing, and the deposit is refunded in full.
• A top-up on site. The quote assumed an easy job; the piece turned out to have sliding doors, or needed drilling, or took three hours instead of one, and the price goes up with the cartons already open. Ask whether the quote is final. Ours is: nothing is added when the team reaches you.
• No cover for breakage. A cracked panel on a cheap job is your loss. Ask who pays if they damage the item. Our team compensates you at the amount on your purchase invoice.

3What a fair furniture assembly quote covers

A quote you can compare with others should say, in one figure, what is included. Ours covers:

• The assembly of every item in the photos, including unpacking, checking the parts against the list, building the piece and clearing the packaging into a pile for disposal.
• Fixing to the wall where the design needs it, with the right anchors for a concrete, brick or plaster wall.
• Fitting, where quoted: cutting to clear skirting, trimming panels, infills and scribing, done by a team with a furniture factory behind it.
• The team and their transport, however many people the job needs.
• The promises: no payment if the job cannot be done properly, the quote final, breakage compensated at invoice value.

Not included unless you ask for it: dismantling old furniture, moving pieces between addresses, and disposal, which we quote as their own lines through our uncrating and disposal service. Tell us about them with the photos and they go on the same quote.

4How you pay: half on booking, half when it is done

Half the quote is paid on booking, by PayNow or bank transfer, and that holds the date. The balance is paid after the job, when you have looked the furniture over and the doors close and the drawers run. If the team cannot do the job properly, you pay nothing for it and the deposit comes back in full. There is no card payment and no cash to hand over on the day.

5Six questions to ask any furniture assembler before you book

1. Is the quote final, or an estimate? If anything can be added on site, ask for the list of what and how much.
2. What do I pay if you cannot finish the job? The answer should be nothing.
3. Who pays if you break it? Ask for the amount: the invoice value, or a token sum.
4. Have you assembled this kind of piece before? For Taobao or 1688 furniture, ask whether they read a Chinese parts list. Our guide to Taobao furniture assembly explains why it matters.
5. Can you fit it, or only assemble it? Skirting, beams and uneven walls need cutting and scribing, which needs a workshop behind the team.
6. When do I pay? A full payment up front leaves you nothing to hold back if the work is poor.

6Shipping the furniture from China as well? Two quotes, one plan

If the furniture is still in China, the assembly is one of two figures. The freight is priced on volume, hub to door, with the import permit, customs clearance and delivery to your Singapore address included, as our guide to shipping from China to Singapore explains; put the carton sizes from the listing into our CBM calculator and get an instant quote. Knock-down furniture is cheaper to ship precisely because it is in pieces, which our guide to shipping furniture from China goes into, so the assembly quote is the other half of the sum. Send the same photos for both and book the team for delivery day.