How LCL works
With LCL, your goods share a container with other shippers' cargo, and you pay by volume rather than for the whole box. It's the natural choice for smaller first orders, but more handling — loading and unloading alongside other cargo — means more opportunity for damage to upholstered or finished pieces.
How FCL works
FCL means your order gets its own container, sealed at the factory or consolidation warehouse and opened only at destination. It costs more upfront but the goods are handled less, which matters for furniture more than almost any other product category.
The volume threshold that usually decides it
As a rough rule, once an order fills roughly half a standard container, FCL tends to work out similarly priced to LCL once damage risk and inspection convenience are factored in — and the reduced handling alone often justifies the switch earlier than the price comparison suggests.
Consolidating multiple factory orders changes the math
If you're buying from more than one factory, combining everything into a single FCL container at a consolidation warehouse — rather than shipping several separate LCL parcels — usually cuts both cost and transit time meaningfully.