Domestic furniture manufacturing in Los Angeles
E and J Furniture builds upholstered furniture for brands in its factory in Carson, Los Angeles County, and ships it to all 50 states and internationally on consolidated freight. There's no minimum order, and lead time is 4–8 weeks, plus freight. This page lists the six costs to compare with an overseas quote and says when overseas wins.
Domestic vs overseas, compared: Six costs to compare before choosing overseas.
Compare landed cost: the unit price plus freight, duty and the other costs of getting a piece to your warehouse. On unit price alone, overseas can look cheaper than it is.
- Unit price
- The number most comparisons use, and usually lower on an overseas quote.
- Freight and duty
- Ocean freight, drayage (trucking the container from the port), customs and the tariff in force when your container ships.
- Working capital
- Cash tied up in inventory while it's at sea is a financing cost on every long crossing. Compare how long each supplier's terms tie up your cash, from the deposit until the pieces arrive. Our payment terms are 50% deposit at order, balance due before shipping.
- Minimum order quantity
- Shipping economics push overseas minimum order quantities (MOQs) up. Buying more than you can sell lowers the unit price but leaves you holding unsold stock. We have no minimum order: a program can start at a single piece.
- Lead time
- The longer the lead time, the earlier you have to commit to quantities, before you know what's selling. Ours is 4–8 weeks, plus freight.
- The cost of a bad run
- Rework, return freight and selling time lost on a production run that arrives wrong all add cost, and none of it appears on the quote.
Building in Los Angeles County: Within the continental US, samples and returned pieces travel with no ocean leg or customs.
- 01
Samples don't wait on ocean freight
A sample built in Carson ships to your reviewer anywhere in the continental US, so a sample round isn't held at a port.
- 02
Returns from the continental US skip customs
If pieces from a production run have to come back to Carson from within the continental US, they don't go through a port or customs. What happens if a run doesn't match the approved sample is set out in your program agreement.
- 03
Ask about a factory visit
You can ask about a visit before you commit to a program, wherever you're based.
Where we are: Our factory is in Carson, in Los Angeles County.
Office hours: Mon–Sat, 8:00am–5:00pm PT. Closed Sunday.
Domestic manufacturing questions: Answers on cost and tariffs, including when overseas wins.
01Is domestic furniture manufacturing more expensive?
Per unit, usually. On landed cost the gap is often smaller than the unit price suggests, and it narrows on smaller runs, because overseas quotes assume large volumes. The pricing guide explains what moves the unit price.
02Where do you manufacture?
In our factory in Carson, Los Angeles County. Our frame shop, cut and sew, foam, finishing and shipping departments are all in-house.
03Where do you ship?
All 50 states and internationally, on consolidated freight.
04How should we account for tariffs in a comparison?
Model the duty rate as a variable and test more than one rate. A domestic quote moves far less with it, though imported fabric or hardware can still carry duty. The landed-cost guide sets out how to build that model.
05When does overseas manufacturing win?
On long, high-volume runs of a settled design on a predictable schedule, where the unit price gap is large enough to cover freight, duty, working capital, minimum orders and the cost of a bad run. To test your own program, compare our quote with an overseas quote on landed cost.
06Can we visit the factory before committing?
Ask about a visit in your program brief or by email, and tell us when you'd like to come. We'll confirm what we can arrange.
Next step
Send a brief and compare our quote on landed cost.
Include the quantity, whether the program reorders and where the pieces ship. Every program is quoted, and nothing is priced publicly.
Only your name and email are required. We reply by email with questions, or with a quote if the brief has enough to price.