Do you sell designer furniture, decorative items, or furnishings online? Do you regularly ship mirrors, vases, light fixtures, tables, or sideboards? Furniture and decorative items are among the riskiest products to ship (Upela): they are bulky, heavy, or very fragile, and therefore more susceptible to shocks and falls during handling and transport. Worse still, even professional movers can easily drop items (Boutique Déménagement), and sorting machines can only read addresses, not "Fragile" labels (Ceramiste). This guide gives you 10 professional steps for packing mirrors, ceramic vases, pendant lights, and designer furniture using the right materials and a double-packaging technique.
Bonus: discoverClaisy 0.75% delivery insurance covering up to €100,000 per parcel for premium furniture and high-value decorative items.
Why furniture and decorative items are among the riskiest items to ship
Combination of volume + weight + fragility = maximum exposure
A 120×80cm mirror weighs 15-25kg with its frame, a disassembled designer sideboard weighs 35-50kg, and a handmade ceramic vase has walls 3-5mm thick. These products combine all kinds of fragility: breakable glass surfaces (mirrors, glass table tops), brittle materials (ceramic, porcelain, blown glass), dismantlable structures with fragile joints (furniture legs, assemblies), scratchable finishes (lacquer, varnish, polished metals).
High after-sales service costs = direct impact on e-commerce margins
A €900 designer mirror broken during delivery generates: parcel return €50-80, redelivery of new mirror €50-80, reconditioning/reinforced packaging €30, after-sales service dispute management 2-3 hours = €100-150 internal cost. Total cost of loss: €230-360 minimum BEFORE Carrier compensation. If Limit standard Limit of €23/kg is applied, a 20kg mirror = €460 max compensation → net loss of €470-540 on a €900 sale.
Limits on unsuitable Limits for design/premium products
Carrier Limits are designed for small standard parcels, not for designer furniture or high-value decorative items. A marble coffee table worth €1,500, a Murano chandelier worth €2,200, or a Scandinavian sideboard worth €1,800 far exceed standard CMR compensation limits.
The main risks when shipping furniture & decorations
Structural damage: legs, shelves, joints
Moving company warning: "Accidents can happen quickly during unloading, handling furniture lifts, unpacking, or handling by Carrier, even professional movers. " Common scenarios: table legs broken clean off when pallets fall, glass tops cracked under stacking pressure, wood joints come loose due to transport vibrations, dresser drawers pulled out/broken due to repeated impacts.
Cracks & chips: wood/glass/ceramic/marble surfaces
Fragile surfaces suffer micro-impacts even in standard packaging: invisible cracks in glass that appear 24-48 hours after delivery (thermal stress), chips in mirror corners/frames during automated sorting, deep scratches on lacquered/metal trays due to direct contact with cardboard, chipping of paint/varnish due to repeated friction.
Total breakage of vases, mirrors, light fixtures
Ceramist reports: "Sorting centers contain 350 packages; containers are tipped to dump packages onto platforms. " A 30cm-high ceramic vase thrown from a height of 1.5m during sorting breaks into dozens of pieces. HappyColis specifies : "Glass and ceramics (lighting fixtures, tableware, handmade glassware) require good packaging that prevents the product from moving and absorbs impacts."
⚠️ Reality at sorting centers: La Poste machines can only read addresses, NOT labels marked "Fragile" or "Do not stack." Your package may be under 20 others, and tipped containers spill packages onto platforms. Between deposit and arrival, there are many reasons why items may be broken.
Recommended packaging materials for furniture & decor
Here is the complete list of professional equipment used by specialized movers and e-commerce design furniture companies:
General list of PRO equipment
- Double/triple wall corrugated cardboard boxes (large sizes, minimum 60×40×40cm) – Upela: crush resistance >200kg pallet stacking
- Thick bubble wrap (10mm large bubbles) – Centr'Embal: moisture and dust resistant, versatile for electronics, tableware, decorative items, and wood
- Foam sheets/blocks (minimum density 40kg/m³) – Secure feet, corners, edges, absorbs side impacts
- Cardboard/foam corner protectors – Centr'Embal: "Easy-to-cut foam profiles fit perfectly around fragile edges of mirrors, furniture, and office equipment to prevent chips and scratches during transport."
- Honeycomb cardboard/rigid panels – For glass table tops, glass surfaces, pressure crack protection
- Chips/air cushions/foam – FretBay: loose polystyrene flakes prevent impact damage; air cushions are not recommended for sharp, pointed edges.
- Support straps – Secure heavy items inside the box, preventing horizontal movement
- Stretch film – Centr'Embal: "Extra protection for fragile packages against dirt, moisture, and damage during transport."
- Reinforced adhesive tape – Minimum width 5 cm, strong and weather-resistant (Upela), tamper-proof gummed security tape
Sources: Upela – Packaging fragile items, Centr'Embal – 6 protection techniques, FretBay – Transporting fragile items
Equipment table by product type
Sources: Thery Moving – Professional Packing, Selency, Demenager Facile – Light fixtures and vases
✓ Quick checklist before shipping furniture/decor
- Furniture completely disassembled (separate legs/drawers labeled)
- Foam/cardboard corners ALL corners protected
- 3-layer bubble wrap for fragile surfaces, adhesive backing
- 5-8cm cardboard base (foam/air cushions)
- Zero-contact cardboard center product with walls
- Shake test = no internal impact noise tolerated
- Items >€1,000 = double packaging (box within box)
- HD photos of 4 angles before closure stored in the cloud
- Insurance 0.75% taken out BEFORE shipment
Common mistakes to avoid when shipping furniture
- Using cardboard that is too thin/worn for heavy furniture - Upela alert: "For packages >20kg, we recommend double/triple wall cardboard; >50kg, a sturdy wooden, metal, or plastic crate. " Single wall cardboard collapses under 15kg of vertical stacking pressure, corners cave in, furniture tray dents the wall = scratches + cracks. Recycled cardboard loses 60-70% of its mechanical strength when crushed.
- Do not protect corners = breakage zone no. 1 trays/mirrors – Déménager Pas Cher confirms : "Not recommended: packing several mirrors on top of each other increases the risk of scratches, cracks, and breakage. " Unprotected corners concentrate 100% of the impact energy on a surface area of 2-3 cm² = guaranteed radial cracks in glass/ceramic. Foam corners €3/set of 4 reduce the risk of damage to corners by a factor of 10.
- Leave space inside the box = furniture moves during transport - Upela INSISTS : "When shaking the package, no movement should be felt. " A 40kg sideboard that moves 5mm horizontally during 500km of transport will suffer thousands of micro-shocks to the sides = loose joints, broken drawers, scratched finish. Foam/air cushion peripheral padding is MANDATORY until the silent shake test is passed.
- Placing several fragile items in the same package without rigid dividers – Ceramist warning: "If you send several items in the same box, it is ESSENTIAL that your items do not touch each other, as this will definitely cause breakage. A small piece of bubble wrap between two plates is NOT sufficient." Three 25 cm vases in the same 60×40×40 cm box REQUIRE rigid cardboard compartments separating each vase + individual foam padding.
- Do not disassemble furniture when it is possible to transport it assembled – 120×80cm table with screwed legs transported assembled = 120cm levers amplify shocks 15× vs. disassembled legs 40cm apart. The larger the surface/lever, the greater the mechanical stress multiplied during vibrations/falls. Systematic disassembly reduces breakage by 65-75% according to FretBay.
Why parcel insurance for your furniture and decor shipments?
High unit value premium design/decoration furniture
E-commerce designer furniture sells: Scandinavian sideboard €1,800, Carrara marble table €2,500, brass mirror 120×80cm €900, Murano glass chandelier €2,200, set of 5 handmade ceramic vases €800. Average value of furniture/decor packages: €800-2,500, much higher than traditional e-commerce packages of €50-150.
Perfect packaging ≠ perfect supply chain management
Even triple-wall cardboard + foam corners + double packaging guarantees NOTHING against: cardboard falling 2m when sorting container tipped over (Ceramiste), stacking 8 25kg packages on top of a mirror despite the "Do not stack" label, rough handling by a rushed order picker (250 packages/day target), and humidity in the warehouse weakening the cardboard after 3 days of storage.
Full coverage: Total/partial breakage, significant cosmetic damage rendering the item unsellable or non-compliant with the customer's promise (deep scratches, cracks, chips), in accordance with Claisy's ad valorem parcel insurance policy.
Quick compensation: 72 hours after file validation (before photos + claim form + damage report)
Focus: Optimizing returns and reconditioning with smart logistics solutions
Beyond the initial shipment, managing returns and repackaging furniture and decorative items is a real issue for furniture brands. A returned piece of furniture or decorative item requires: quality inspection (scratches? cracks? correct assembly?), cleaning/minor repairs if applicable, repackaging in suitable packaging, restocking inventory if saleable, or disposal/recycling if unsaleable.
Specialized solutions such as SmartBack offer systems for collecting, sorting, and reusing products (furniture, decorative items, electronics, textiles) in order to extend their lifespan, reduce waste, and optimize margins on returns. Examples of services: collection of customer returns from their homes with immediate quality sorting, reconditioning/repair of scratched furniture/defective assemblies, resale of unsellable new items as second-hand goods, recycling of materials (wood, metals, glass) if destruction is necessary.
Combined with appropriate packaging (avoiding unnecessary breakages during return shipping) and effective parcel insurance (covering transport damage), this type of approach allows for better control over the entire life cycle of furniture/decor products: reduction in quality returns (professional packaging limits delivery breakage), increase in resale of reconditioned returned products (vs. total loss destruction), improvement in net margin (optimized after-sales service/reverse logistics costs).
To Go Further
- Complete guide to packing fragile items – General principles applicable to all sectors
- 2026 E-commerce Insurance Comparison – Insurance Solutions for Online Furniture/Decor E-shops
- Insure high-value parcels >€3,000 – Premium designer furniture, collectibles
- E-commerce delivery dispute management – Carrier complaint procedures
- Claisy integration with your online store – Automation of e-commerce insurance for furniture