How furniture procurement works — from brief to delivery

Most people who hire a procurement service have never done it before. That's fine — the process is straightforward. Here's how it works at DAF, step by step.

Step 1: The brief

You submit a brief through our form. It takes about five minutes. We ask for: what room or rooms you're furnishing, the style direction you're going for (photos help — mood boards, Instagram saves, anything), your budget range, and when you need it.

That's it. No lengthy design questionnaire. No sales call first. The brief is enough for us to start.

Step 2: The plan

Within 24 hours of receiving the brief, we send you a procurement plan. The plan is a line-by-line document showing every piece we're recommending: what it is, where it comes from (workshop type and country), what it costs at supplier level, and what the estimated lead time is.

The plan also shows our fee — 20% of total supplier cost — and the quoted total you'd pay. No hidden items. If something isn't right, you tell us and we revise.

The plan is not a quote from a store. It's a cost-transparent proposal from workshops. You see every number before you commit to anything.

Step 3: Approval

You review the plan and approve it. You can change anything — swap a piece, adjust the budget, remove something. Once you're happy, you digitally sign off on the plan.

Approval triggers the deposit: 50% of the quoted total. The deposit is collected via Stripe — secure, straightforward, no wire transfers.

Step 4: Sourcing

Once the deposit lands, we start placing purchase orders with the workshops. This is where the actual work happens: confirming specs, finishes, dimensions, fabric selections. We coordinate directly with each supplier.

Lead times vary by piece. A custom upholstered sofa from a workshop in Portugal takes 8–12 weeks. A dining table from a Canadian mill might take 4–6 weeks. We track every order and send you updates as things move.

• Purchase orders issued to each supplier
• Spec and finish confirmations
• Lead time tracking and client updates
• Quality review before anything ships

Step 5: Delivery

We coordinate freight from each workshop to your address. Some pieces consolidate and arrive together; others ship independently depending on lead times. We give you delivery windows for each piece and handle the logistics.

When everything is delivered and you've confirmed it's all right, we invoice the balance: the remaining 50%. You have a 14-day window if anything needs attention before the balance comes due.

What this costs

Our fee is 20% of supplier cost. On a $40,000 room of furniture at supplier prices, our fee is $8,000 — and your total is $48,000. The equivalent room through retail typically runs $100,000–$130,000 for the same quality of pieces.

There's no minimum project size, though most briefs we work on are in the $15,000–$150,000 range. Below that, the savings relative to the lead times may not justify the process for some clients.

What we don't do

• We don't design rooms — we source and procure. If you need full interior design services, we can refer you to designers who use our service.
• We don't maintain a showroom. Everything is sourced per-project from our supplier network.
• We don't add markups inside line items. What you see in the plan is what the workshop charges us.
• We don't take 'trade discounts' from suppliers and pocket them. If there's a discount, it passes to you.

If you want to see what a plan looks like before committing, we have a sample plan on the site — it shows a real brief, real line items, real pricing. Start there if you want to understand the format before submitting your own.