Buying hotel furniture from Turkey: factory direct, FF&E contractor, purchasing agent or dealer

A hotel owner buying furniture from Turkey has four routes. The furniture can come from the same Turkish factory in all four. What changes is who does the work around it: reading drawings, picking and checking the factory, inspecting, packing, shipping, installing, and answering for the result.

The four routes side by side

Factory direct

Buying direct means one contract per factory and nothing in between. It suits a buyer with an FF&E team: someone to turn design intent into a BOQ, approve shop drawings, run a mock-up, visit the floor, book freight and handle import. On a full hotel the furniture is spread over several factories (casegoods, upholstery, beds, metal, stone), so “direct” usually means running several contracts at once. Each factory answers for its own goods. Gaps between them, like a headboard that doesn’t meet the wall panel, fall to the buyer.

FF&E package contractor

A package contractor takes the whole furniture scope as one job. It reads the BOQ and drawings, decides which factory builds which lines, produces shop drawings for approval, runs samples, follows production, inspects before packing, ships and installs. The owner signs one supply contract and gets one quote with every line priced. The contractor answers for the package as delivered, including the fit between items made in different shops.

The contractor picks the factory for each line. The owner sees that choice in the itemised quote, and on visits to the floor during production.

Purchasing agent

A purchasing (procurement) agent buys on the owner’s behalf. Industry write-ups describe the agent tendering to suppliers, comparing bids, tracking production, organising inspections and coordinating freight, customs and installation. Under the agent model the owner holds the contracts with each supplier, and the supplier, not the agent, is liable for defects; the agent helps resolve them. Money the agent receives from the owner is kept apart and used only for the owner’s purchases.

Agents are paid a fee: a fixed sum, a share of the managed spend, or a retainer. One 2026 industry guide puts agent fees at 3% to 6% of FF&E and OS&E procurement value (market data, Hotel Development Guide). Agents are common on branded projects and large openings, where the owner wants open supplier prices and its own name on every contract.

Dealer or importer

A dealer sells finished products from its makers’ ranges, often from stock in the buyer’s country. Delivery is fast and the product is known. The limits are the range itself and the finishes on offer: a dealer rarely builds to a hotel’s own drawings. It fits small orders, replacements and fast openings with a standard look.

Which route fits which project

The routes also combine. A purchasing agent can tender a casegoods package to a contractor, and a contractor can buy chairs from a dealer range.

The delivery term (Incoterm) is a separate choice on every route. EXW, FOB, CIF and DAP set where the seller’s job ends and the risk passes to the buyer.

Where Rovers fits

Rovers Contract is an FF&E package contractor working with Turkish partner factories. We read the BOQ and drawings, price every line with the factory that fits the project, produce shop drawings for approval, run samples, follow production on the floor, inspect before packing, pack, ship, and install outside the US. Purchasing agents and fit-out contractors can tender a package to us the same way an owner can.

What to send us

Send the BOQ or drawings, the city and the opening date. If an agent or contractor runs the tender, send their format and we fill it line by line.