Service route: Beijing to Hamilton, New Zealand; 
Service model: one-stop door-to-door moving service; 
Case overview: Mr. Qi commissioned Seapoe to ship all the furniture from his Beijing home to Hamilton, New Zealand by sea.

Mr. Qi planned to settle in Hamilton. Over the years he had picked out every piece in his Beijing home one by one: the solid wood bed, glass display cabinet, dining table and chairs, chest of drawers, and desk. Leaving them to gather dust in Beijing felt like a waste, and buying the same furniture locally would have cost a lot, so he decided to ship everything by sea.

He had two main concerns. First, the one-piece glass cabinet could not be dismantled. It was heavy and the glass was fragile, so the bumps of a long sea voyage could easily crack it. Second, New Zealand's biosecurity declaration requirements are strict, and he worried that an improper declaration would delay customs clearance. After comparing several providers, he chose Seapoe's one-stop door-to-door shipping and moving service.

1. Packing at the home

The Seapoe packing team arrived at Mr. Qi's home at the agreed time and packed the furniture by category as he requested.

The solid wood bed was taken apart first, with the frame and bed boards separated. All hardware was sealed in individual bags and labeled with numbers to avoid loss or mix-ups. Corner protectors were fitted to the bed frame, the whole piece was wrapped tightly in multiple layers of EPE foam, and the outside was reinforced with corrugated cardboard to prevent paint rubbing off or dents during shipping.

The one-piece glass cabinet was the hardest part of the job. It could not be taken apart, so it had to be protected as a whole. The team wrapped the entire cabinet tightly in thick EPE foam, leaving no gaps. Once the foam was on, they covered the whole unit with corrugated cardboard and secured it with tape, keeping the cabinet firmly protected.

The sideboard, coffee table and other furniture were also fully protected. Every item was numbered, and the whole packing process was photographed for later checking. Once packed, the items were loaded onto a truck and taken to the warehouse to wait for container loading.

2. Export declaration, ocean shipping and New Zealand customs clearance

After the goods arrived at the warehouse, we prepared the packing list and handled the China export declaration on his behalf. We also tracked the shipping schedule, and Mr. Qi could check the shipment status at any time.

Used solid wood furniture for personal use counts as personal effects for long-term use and does not require fumigation. Still, we cleaned the furniture in advance, declared it in line with MPI requirements, and helped prepare the visa, item list and other documents. We handled the duty-free declaration for used personal effects, and the goods passed quarantine and customs inspection without extra port storage fees.

3. Delivery and placement in Hamilton

After customs released the shipment, the local delivery team sent a dedicated truck to Mr. Qi's home. They removed the outer packaging, checked the furniture for damage, and placed the solid wood bed, glass cabinet and other items where he wanted them. All foam, cardboard boxes and other packing waste were cleared away, so Mr. Qi did not have to deal with any of it himself.