Doorstep vs Threshold vs Room of Choice vs White Glove Delivery

When you buy a sofa online, one line at checkout decides whether it ends up in your living room or on your driveway. Carriers use four names for four very different days, and the difference is not small when the box weighs 150 pounds and you live on the third floor. Doorstep leaves it outside your door, threshold brings it to the first dry covered spot inside, room of choice carries it to the room you name, and white glove also unpacks, assembles and takes the packaging away.

TL;DR

• Doorstep leaves your furniture outside the door. Threshold brings it to the first dry covered spot, such as an entryway, garage or lobby.
• Room of choice carries it to the room you name, including upstairs. White glove adds unpacking, assembly and packaging removal.
• At Sohnne, what you are offered depends on whether you are delivering to a house or an apartment.
• Houses get free Doorstep Delivery or White Glove at $259 per item. Apartments get free Threshold, Inside Delivery from $259, or White Glove from $518.
• If your furniture has to go above the entry level of your home, the free tier will not take it there.

The four delivery levels at a glance

Doorstep delivery

The driver carries your package to the front door, the porch, or the top of your apartment stairs, and leaves. Nothing is opened, nothing is carried further, and on many routes nobody needs to be home.

This works well for parcels. It works badly for furniture. A boxed armchair left on an open porch is exposed to rain and to anyone walking past, and if you cannot lift it, it stays where the driver put it.

A word on curbside. You may also see curbside delivery, which is one step below doorstep. The item comes off the truck at the street or the end of your driveway and the driver is finished. Freight carriers often treat this as the default for large items, which is why it is worth checking what your order actually includes before the truck arrives.

Threshold delivery

Threshold means the first dry, covered spot on your property. That could be just inside your front door, your building lobby, your garage, or a covered patio. The item is out of the weather and out of public view, which solves the two things that go wrong most often with doorstep.

It stops there. Threshold does not include unboxing, assembly, or carrying the item to a particular room, and it does not go up a flight of stairs.

Threshold delivery ends at the first dry covered spot, not at the curb.

Room of choice delivery

Room of choice is the first level where the crew keeps going past your entryway. They carry the item to the room you name, upstairs included where the building allows it. Depending on the carrier, unboxing and packaging removal may or may not be part of it, so ask.

This is the level most people picture when they imagine furniture being delivered, and it is the one that matters if you live above the ground floor, have no elevator, or simply cannot move a crated sofa on your own.

White glove delivery

White glove is the full service. The crew brings the item to the room you choose, unpacks it, assembles it, and takes every piece of packaging away with them. You end the day with furniture you can sit on and no cardboard to break down.

It costs more and it needs a scheduled appointment with an adult present. In exchange it is the only level where nothing is left for you to do.

White glove is the only level that unpacks, assembles and removes the packaging.

Which one do you actually need

The honest answer depends on three things: how heavy the item is, how far it has to travel inside your home, and whether you can be there.

• Small or light boxes, ground floor, someone usually home. Doorstep is fine.
• Large boxed furniture, or weather you would not leave a cardboard box out in. Threshold at minimum. It is the cheapest upgrade that prevents the two most common problems, water damage and theft.
• Stairs, no elevator, or any floor above the entry level. Room of choice or white glove. Threshold crews stop at your lobby and they are within their rights to.
• A sofa, sectional, bed or wardrobe you do not want to assemble. White glove.
• You live alone, or lifting is not an option. White glove, without hesitation.

What you will see at Sohnne checkout

Sohnne prices delivery on one thing: whether your furniture is going to a house or an apartment. An apartment costs a delivery crew more, because of stairs, elevator bookings and loading dock windows, so an apartment address is offered an extra tier in the middle instead of one free option and one premium one.

Delivering to a house

Delivering to an apartment

The percentage replaces the standard rate rather than stacking on top of it, so you pick one tier and that is your shipping price.

One note on names. Our house tier is called Doorstep Delivery, but it includes bringing your furniture to the nearest dry area such as a garage or entryway, which is a step beyond the strict carrier definition of doorstep above. For an apartment we use the carrier’s own word, Threshold, because in a building the first entrance is the lobby.

Every tier except white glove leaves the packaging with you.

Five things to know before you choose

• White Glove assembly happens after delivery, not during it. A third-party assembly team is scheduled for the next available day once your furniture has arrived.
• You have 7 days to confirm your installation appointment. Miss that window and rescheduling fees may apply.
• White Glove does not include removing your existing furniture or any structural work in your home.
• Someone 18 or older has to be there. Delivery appointments are booked in advance, and missed appointments can carry a rescheduling fee.
• You can add White Glove after ordering by contacting our support team, if you decide later that you need it.

Full terms are on our Shipping and Delivery page, and you can book your White Glove slot on the assembly appointment page.

Frequently asked questions

Is threshold delivery the same as doorstep delivery?

No. Doorstep ends outside your door. Threshold ends at the first dry covered spot inside or under cover, such as your entryway or garage. The difference is whether your furniture spends the night in the rain.

Will the delivery crew carry my furniture upstairs?

Only with room of choice or white glove service. Doorstep and threshold crews stop at the entry level. At Sohnne that means White Glove for a house, or Inside Delivery and above for an apartment.

What happens if nobody is home?

For any level that requires a signature or an appointment, the delivery is rescheduled and some carriers charge for the second attempt. Make sure someone 18 or older can be there in the agreed window.

Do they take the boxes away?

With white glove, yes. With every other level the packaging stays with you.

Is white glove worth paying for?

If the item is heavy, needs assembly, or has to go up stairs, it usually costs less than hiring help separately and it removes the risk of damaging the furniture or your home while moving it yourself.

Why does an apartment cost more to deliver to than a house?

Stairs, elevator bookings, loading dock windows and two-person crews are real costs that a kerbside drop at a house does not carry. The middle tiers exist so an apartment buyer is not forced to choose between a lobby drop and full white glove.