Shipping Furniture from the UK to South Africa

For smaller furniture loads, a shared container is normally the most economical option.

You pay according to the space your professionally packed shipment occupies rather than paying for an entire container.

Current small part-load prices start from around £484, depending on your South African destination.

It depends on the furniture.

High-quality furniture, complete sets, bespoke pieces, antiques and sentimental items can be expensive or difficult to replace and are often good candidates for shipping.

Cheap flat-pack furniture or very bulky low-value items can be less economical. Compare the shipping cost with the price of buying an equivalent-quality replacement in South Africa.

Yes. You do not need to fill an entire shipping container.

Our shared-container service is suitable for a few individual pieces, a partial household shipment or furniture combined with boxes and personal belongings.

Yes. Sofas can be professionally export packed and shipped in either a shared or dedicated container.

Because sofas take up significant cubic space, their dimensions have a direct effect on shared-container pricing.

Sending photographs and measurements when requesting a quotation helps us estimate your packed volume more accurately.

Yes. Beds, wardrobes, tables, dining chairs, cabinets and similar household furniture can all be shipped.

Where appropriate, suitable furniture can be dismantled before packing to improve protection and reduce packed volume.

No. Where dismantling is appropriate, our packing team can handle suitable items as part of the professional packing process.

Not every piece should be dismantled. The team will determine the safest and most space-efficient method.

Yes. Shared shipments frequently contain furniture, cartons and personal belongings together.

All goods should be accurately listed on the shipment inventory and comply with South African customs requirements.

No. There is no general 12-month ownership requirement in South Africa's household-effects rebate for ordinary furniture.

The furniture must be your bona fide property and imported for your own use when changing residence.

For returning South African residents, the separate requirement is generally that you have been outside South Africa for at least six months.

Potentially, but do not assume newly purchased goods will automatically receive the same customs treatment as established household effects.

Tell us about new furniture before shipping and keep invoices or evidence of purchase available.

Your South African destination agent can advise how the item should be declared.

Current scheduled sea transit times range from around 21 to 40 days, depending on the destination and vessel.

Current estimates are around 33–40 days to Cape Town, 21–28 days to Durban, 23–30 days to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and 22–29 days to Johannesburg.

Allow additional time for UK collection and packing, South African customs clearance and final delivery.

Yes. Once the shipment has departed, you can track the container during the sea journey using the container details supplied for your move.

Your Move Manager will also keep you informed about important stages of the shipment and arrangements for customs clearance and final delivery.

They can. Household-goods shipments may be selected for Customs examination, and SARS may request further documentation or information before release.

If additional examination is required, clearance can take longer and extra handling or storage costs can sometimes arise.

DA 304 is the South African customs declaration used for household effects imported when changing residence to South Africa.

It confirms that the household furniture and effects are your bona fide property, were owned before departure for South Africa and are being imported for your own use.

P1.160 is the declaration used in connection with unaccompanied manifested household effects.

SARS lists it alongside the inventory, DA 304 and SAD 500 among the core documentation required for importing household goods and personal effects.

Ordinary finished household furniture can generally be shipped, but additional controls can apply to regulated plants, plant products, protected timber species and other natural materials.

Tell us about unusual untreated wood, cane, plant material or protected species before shipping so the relevant requirements can be checked.

Yes, subject to the materials involved and any relevant permits or restrictions.

Fragile artwork, mirrors, antiques and valuable furniture may require additional protective packing or bespoke crating.

Pieces containing protected woods or animal materials should be identified before shipment.

Shipment protection is not compulsory in every case, but internationally shipped furniture can be expensive to repair or replace.

Our Move Protect options are based on the replacement values you declare and are particularly relevant for valuable, fragile, bespoke or sentimental furniture.

We provide professional collection and packing throughout mainland UK.

Your collection is arranged ahead of the intended sailing so there is time to prepare the furniture, finalise the inventory and complete the necessary export and customs documentation.

We provide door-to-door delivery throughout South Africa.

Popular destinations include Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Gqeberha, as well as destinations throughout the Western Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and other provinces.

Provide your exact delivery address when requesting a quotation because inland delivery distance can affect the final cost.

The main controllable factor is volume.

Avoid paying international freight costs for bulky furniture that you do not want to keep. Where appropriate, dismantling suitable furniture can reduce unused container space.

For shared shipments, efficient professional packing is particularly important because the price is closely related to the final packed volume.

Booking early provides more choice over collection dates and enough time to prepare customs documentation.

If you need to ship at short notice, contact us with your intended dates and destination and we can check the next suitable collection and sailing.